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Original publication date : Wednesday, April 29, 1992
Delivery date : Wednesday, August 31, 2005 10:02:08 am
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Cause of justice served in fatal shooting case DEAR READER John R . Starr

Bruce Leasure , a Little Rock druggist, took a bite out of crime Monday and early indications were that he may be in trouble for doing so.
   He shouldn't be.
   Leasure chased, shot and killed Stephen Cole after Cole took drugs from Leasure ' s pharmacy at knife point.
   Police interviewed Leasure and released him without charging him. They said Prosecutor Mark Stodola would review the case and he would decide if Leasure is to be charged.
   The investigation apparently will center on whether Cole was threatening Leasure with the knife and how close he was to Leasure when the shots were fired.
   Speaking as an average citizen and one who was once threatened with a knife, I'd say that a man waving a knife at you is always too close.
   According to' witnesses, Cole held Holly Garner, an employee of the pharmacy, at knife-point and forced Leasure to give him drugs. He then ran out of the store.
   Leasure grabbed a.357 Magnum pistol and followed. He told police that Cole stopped and threatened him with the knife and he fired three shots. Two struck Cole, one in the leg and one in the side. Cole died at University Hospital about 50 minutes after the shooting.
   While it is difficult to condone the use of deadly force, it is easy to understand why an outraged citizen in an era of accelerating crime might react the way Leasure did to a rob bery . In this case, it would seem that the cause of justice has already been served. He's working hard!
   As you read this, I am five days into what is for me a different kind of vacation.
    i am taking a week off with nothing on my schedule.
   This is the first time I have ever taken a vacation without some place to go or something specific to do. As any regular reader of this column knows, I am given to hard traveling while on vacation.
   The way I travel, vacations are usually more physically demanding than work. My wife jokes, "You have to go back to work to get some rest."
   You might say I am rehearsing for retirement.
   So far I like it. Although I haven't scheduled anything, I've got a lot of things done that I've been putting off. Like cleaning out storerooms and pruning shrubs.
   So far I haven't had time to go to the lake. On the money Sometimes you get lucky.
   I went to Sears to buy a part for my lawnmower . The part cost $1,99. Tax was 11 cents. Total $2.10. Counting the dime that my wife found and gave me earlier that day while we were mowing the lawn, I had exactly enough money to pay the bill. Another lawyer joke Q . What is black and brown and would look good on a lawyer ?
   A. A Doberman pinscher . On the radio My guest on tonight's John R. Starr talk show ( KBIS-AM , 1010, 6:30) will be Tracy Barger , state coordinator for the Jerry Brown presidential campaign.
   Managing Editor John R. Starr ' s column appears every day.







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