Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:News reports that he initially lied about having a knife until video showed the clip in his pocket.
Lying=bad result.
Knife=notoriously harder to defend use of, even as compared to a firearm.
Duty to retreat/no duty to retreat. If he had just given up and tried to leave early in the encounter that might’ve been the end of it, regardless of duty.
Once he went down in the water surrounded by hostiles, I think he probably did fear for his life. I sure would.
He was found guilty of the lesser charge of First degree reckless homicide. He acted with utter disregard of human life.
The jury didn’t think the prosecutor proved intent beyond a reasonable doubt. So he didn’t get “first degree intentional”; however, the knife was the issue….. “Use of dangerous weapon” and “Reckless disregard”.
This is our justice process…. Unanimous by a jury of his peers. He can appeal, but likely in the meantime he will rot.
Anonymous wrote:I mean, someone's child died. A teenager.
This is a grown-ass man. He should have left. He should have gotten in his vehicle and drove away, and called the cops to provide an account of what happened in the river.
It couldn't have been easy for the jury to find him guilty. They reviewed the video over and over again, from the sounds of it.
Haven't seen the video, and don't know all the facts. From my viewpoint as a casual observer, it makes sense to me they found him guilty. It's a tragedy all around, but bottom line is a teenager lost his life.Also it's not good optics that he lied about the knife. That's strike one. He could have walked away from the confrontation. Strike two. He killed the teenager, strike three.
Anonymous wrote:This is one of the best closing arguments I've ever seen - over years of CourtTV watching and years as a trial attorney myself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grxq266ZeqI
Anonymous wrote:News reports that he initially lied about having a knife until video showed the clip in his pocket.
Lying=bad result.
Knife=notoriously harder to defend use of, even as compared to a firearm.
Duty to retreat/no duty to retreat. If he had just given up and tried to leave early in the encounter that might’ve been the end of it, regardless of duty.
Once he went down in the water surrounded by hostiles, I think he probably did fear for his life. I sure would.