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He deserves a fair trial. His sentence is not for you to decide. Seems that Texas is sympathetic to crimes of passion and if anyone's actions come under this heading, this father's defintely does.
You reponded to my post by simply stating that you knew what a crime of passion was, but what you don't know or cannot relate to, is the state of mind that the father was in. I can only imagine, but clearly you cannot. Do you actually believe that this man was thinking lucidly and with foresight seeing his two sons dead and most likely mangled? I don't!
You reponded to my post by simply stating that you knew what a crime of passion was, but what you don't know or cannot relate to, is the state of mind that the father was in. I can only imagine, but clearly you cannot. Do you actually believe that this man was thinking lucidly and with foresight seeing his two sons dead and most likely mangled? I don't!
No, probably not. But that doesn't mean he is not responsible for his actions.
I agree, but sometimes that is not satisfactory, either. This woman who is supposedly some kind of actress killed a woman while driving drunk and she got the minimum sentence yesterday.
And has the nerve to sit there in court in front of the family of the woman she killed unsuccessfully trying to suppress a grin at her light sentence. Scroll down and see her.
In this case, there is obviously some special treatment involved, and whatever the source of the smile, be it happy relief for not being sentenced to a much longer term, or whatever, is extremely inappropriate to say the least. It certainly doesn't reflect the appropriate level of remorse one should be feeling in that situation. And that may be explained by the simple fact that it is estimated that up to 10% of people are sociopaths ... meaning that they are incapable of feeling the empathy for others that normal people feel. I cannot imagine the pain I would personally feel if my actions led to someone's death. I might be somewhat relieved if I received a 3 year sentence instead of 10, but it would not have resulted in a smile, that's for sure. I'm not sure how I would cope with the guilt, but the sadness would be far more intense than any prison sentence could impose.
With that said, I do have a problem with generalizing such as is the case at the end of that article:
Hearing ‘what good would it do?’ about longer sentences, we would never say that about a murder by a gun or knife or any other means,” she said. “We only hear it when we talk about drunk-driving homicides. That is really sad. This is a violent crime and it is completely preventable.”
I fear for a society when it's people demonstrate this level of hatred and vindictiveness that can confuse a deliberate act of murdering someone with a weapon, and an accident that causes death. To the person who lost their life, it really makes no difference if it was deliberate or accidental ... but to the rest of us, it certainly should.
As the old saying goes, and eye for an eye will eventually lead to a world filled with blind people, and if we want to be a society of justice and fairness and compassion, we have to be able to distinguish between accidents and lapses of judgement, with gross negligence and willful recklessness, and realize what justice is for. Even though it's too easy and very understandable that someone would desire harsh retribution and punishment for the perpetrator, and I might feel the same way if it were my loved one killed, that's precisely why we have to have unbiased people making such difficult judgement calls.
In this case, I think the judge erred on the side of too much leniency for a grown adult who should have known better, and who should have had to face more difficult consequences, we also have others cases where other people demand that the law literally crucifies a dumb kid for making a dumb decision .. and that's not real justice either. There is a big difference between administering harsh punishment for violent criminals and keeping them off the streets for the benefit of everyone else's safety, and ensuring that those who may act negligently suffer the appropriate level of consequences necessary to ensure that they will never make such a mistake again.
People have accidents that cause death all of the time that do not involve alcohol, but result from distractions, lapses of concentration, and simple fatigue. We must be able to distinguish between mistakes and intentional acts ... they are not at all the same even if the outcome is the same. We have to understand the differences, and act accordingly.
And, of course, just because an accident occurs, and one of the involved had been drinking .. doesn't automatically make alcohol the cause of the accident. The case of the father/killer ... seems that there is pretty good anecdotal evidence pointing to the father himself and his poor judgement as the primary cause.
If the defense attorney is smart, he will go for jury nullification.
Jurors are triers of fact and law, that would be the best defense. If you can get a juror who is a parent, there is a very good chance of it being successful.
If the defense attorney is smart, he will go for jury nullification.
Jurors are triers of fact and law, that would be the best defense. If you can get a juror who is a parent, there is a very good chance of it being successful.
I'm a parent and I wouldn't automatically give this guy a pass on murder.
There is a reason why temporary insanity is a defense. For cases just like this situation. I wouldn't convict him on the facts as presented so far. Probably why I have never served on a jury in my life and always get excused.
I most likely would have off'd the POS as well but with my bare hands immediately. Makes the temporary insanity defense that much more successful. I also know my wife and kids would be taken care of if I did serve anytime. Intact extended families who still have real MEN in them talk about these things and come to verbal agreements.
I'm a parent and I wouldn't automatically give this guy a pass on murder.
I'm not saying a pass, but only a parent would be able to comprehend the sheer terror this guy probably went through watching his 2 sons get killed.
Everyone could imagine it, but people with kids of their own would have their own perspective on it.
Given a murder charge or an acquittal, As a parent I dont think I could vote guilty on murder. If the DA was smart, he would leave himself an out for a lesser charge.
No, probably not. But that doesn't mean he is not responsible for his actions.
Wrong, because he might not be judged as responsible for his actions. Nowhere in any of my posts did I state that he should not go thru the due process of the law, but when all evidence is presented, I would not be at all surpised if it is proven that this father was not in charge of his faculties at the time of the shooting and therefore, not responsible for what transpired.
temporary insanity
n. in a criminal prosecution, a defense by the accused that he/she was briefly insane at the time the crime was committed and therefore was incapable of knowing the nature of his/her alleged criminal act. Temporary insanity is claimed as a defense whether or not the accused is mentally stable at the time of trial. One difficulty with a temporary insanity defense is the problem of proof, since any examination by psychiatrists had to be after the fact, so the only evidence must be the conduct of the accused immediately before or after the crime. It is similar to the defenses of "diminished capacity" to understand one's own actions, the so-called "Twinkie defense," the "abuse excuse," "heat of passion" and other claims of mental disturbance which raise the issue of criminal intent based on modern psychiatry and/or sociology. However, mental derangement at the time of an abrupt crime, such as a sudden attack or crime of passion, can be a valid defense or at least show lack of premeditation to reduce the degree of the crime.
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