For the past couple of weeks, I've had to drive long distances back and forth from various points to and from New Jersey, and the driving is never pleasant. The roads are medieval, and tempers flare. Fortunately I am capable of holding my temper, at least to a certain degree.

No matter how angry New Jersey driving might make me, though, I've never been even close to resorting to conduct like this:

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. -- Enraged after being cut off by a teen driver, authorities say a man then followed the high school athlete home and tried to run the youth down with his car. Instead, the 53-year-old was punched into unconsciousness and died Tuesday.

The teen was jailed, charged with aggravated assault.

Jeffrey Zucker, a lawyer for the 17-year-old, said it was a case of self-defense.

The charges against the boy, whose name was not released because of his age, were filed before James D. Munter died late Tuesday morning. The charges could be upgraded, but Bill Shralow, a spokesman for the Camden County prosecutor's office, said that decision would not be made Tuesday.

...Authorities said Munter followed the teen three miles to the student's home in Lindenwold, screaming through his window all the way. The teen used a cell phone to call his father, who told him to drive home, officials said.

When the teen arrived home, Zucker said, he ran across the street to his home from his still-idling truck, but he was not fast enough. With the teen's father watching, Munter drove into the youth, authorities said.

The teen, who Zucker said is about 6-foot-6 and 300 pounds, rolled off the hood of Munter's 1999 Mercury Sable, landed on his feet, walked to the driver's side of the car and punched Munter twice in the head.

Munter's son-in-law, Mark Serota, who described the man as "nice, fun-loving, goodhearted," said he lost consciousness instantly and never regained it.

I don't think the kid should be charged with any crime. The driver who tried to run him down brought it all on himself.

Life's short enough. Why make it shorter?

UPDATE (09/16/05): The District Attorney has not yet decided whether or how to charge the teen. Newsday has more:

First Assistant Camden County Prosecutor James P. Lynch said an autopsy conducted Wednesday showed both blows were on left side of Munter's head _ one near his eye and one on his ear. The force caused a blood vessel to break and Munter to lose blood to his head. He never regained consciousness before he died.

Lynch said Thursday that investigators were still gathering facts to help decide whether and how to prosecute the teen. "This case could not be more serious," Lynch said. "A gentleman lost his life."

Zucker said he hopes prosecutors will drop charges. If they do not, he said, he would argue that the teen acted in self-defense, punching Munter in the heat of the moment when he legitimately feared for his life.

It was the teen, Zucker said, who called an ambulance immediately after he punched the man.

Munter's family declined to speak with reporters after Thursday's court hearing. But his widow, Nadine Munter, told the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill for Thursday's newspapers that she did not believe the teen was acting in self-defense.

"My husband never got out of the car," she said. "He was strapped to his seat. He never had a chance."

Rocco Cipparone, a criminal defense lawyer who also teaches a criminal law course at Rutgers University School of Law in Camden, said to establish self-defense in New Jersey, a suspect must show that there was a reasonable expectation of death or serious bodily harm, must not have had an escape route and must use the minimum amount of force necessary to get out of the situation.

Cipparone said that even though the teen killed Munter with his fists, usually punches would not be considered deadly force.

It also occurs to me that if an aggressor chases a person all the way to his home and then attacks him there with deadly force, his victim is under no further duty to retreat. He's basically cornered.

MORE (09/19/05): There's still no word on whether the charges against this kid will be dropped, but I see that he's being forced to wear an electronic bracelet, and according to NBC, the dead man's family "wants the death penalty." Incredible.