Friday, May 29, 2009

 

Here we go again: Not sure Oklahoma can stand another gun-toting 'folk hero'

OKC druggist charged for killing would-be robber



--ER

Comments:
Bernie Goetz of the plains.
 
Man, he spilled his guts to the paper, and I thought he was justified, under the law anyway, until I saw the vid.

I figured the DA went for first-degree murder so he could have a high point for a plea agreement, and that still might be the case. Because the defense attorney, they say, is a master of negotiations and not know for his courtroom ability.

But now, I think the DA today charged everybody invlolved, including all the people who were IN ON the robbery, with first-degree murder. I don't know what to think!
 
Clarification: The pharmacist has to be adjudicated for this. Even after seeing the vid, I still don't thing first-degree murder is what he did. Maybe I'll think the plea bargain fits. ...
 
It's first degree. The kid was down, he no longer posed a threat, the pharmacist had plenty of time to think about it -- the fact he went back behind the counter, and then returned to put five shots into the robber who was helpless on the floor moves it from self defense into an execution.

In fact, once the first robber left the store, the pharmacist had no business chasing him. Self defense applies when your life is in danger; not when you're tearing down the sidewalk after someone.

Throw the book at him. We need to stop making folk heroes out of idiot vigilantes.
 
Yeah, you're right. Weird the way this came out. Coverage, in order: 1. pharmacist talking at length with the paper, banner story, etc. 2., the charge filed and the video released. It was a whipsaw: When I read the interview story with him, I came away thinking it all made sense; then when I heard the charge, I couldn't believe it. Then when I saw the video, the charge made sense.

I still think the DA filed first-degree with an eye toward a plea. Because unless a jury was put together very carefully, I think jurors would apply the unwritten "He needed killin' " law to their deliberations.
 
Went in the back got another gun and then shot the kid on floor five times point blank.

He might get off on a first degree murder charge, but I doubt it. Not with an Oklahoma County jury of his "peers".

If he does, he will not suceed in a wrongful death civil case or survive an appearance in front of a Federal Judge for the kids civil rights violations.

Even in Oklahoma it is against the "rules" to kick a guy when his down and helpless, much less shoot him five times after you went looking for a gun.
 
Actually upon reflection this is a "hate crime". They guy is a Gulf War vet, so he should know that being shot in the stomach is a painful prolonged way to die. He shot the kid in the stomach after a minutes interval or so from the first shot in the head. That's anger and hate not adrenaline or reacting to threat of harm. When I read the comments of his "supporters" the hate seeps through as well.

Well, no matter what happens in court or in the public. The guy has at least one spirit of the dead who lives with him now.

He was so "cool" about it. Has he done this before?
 
I think as the depravity of this sinks in, all but the most hate-addled wackjobs will come to see this just as you described: Kicking a man when he was down. Not going to deny this teenager the manhood he so clearly craved. He died a man. A desperate maybe, stupid maybe, drug-addled (?) maybe man, but a man.
 
I disagree, the stomach shots were the ones that killed him. He was executed like a dog.
 
My thoughts have always been; fight 'till there's no threat, then offer aid to those who need it.
I think that those are the priciples of most of the civilized world.
Unfortunatly, when it comes to self-defense, our laws have gotten less and less civilized. I think he'll get off scott free.
That is the purpose of the "Stand your ground" laws, to enable these events. They are working. It would seem that a majority of our citizens want it that way.
 
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