Is Texas dad who killed man to protect his 5-year-old daughter a criminal?

[jimmy olsen]

Good luck finding a jury willing to convict that guy.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2012/0616/Is-Texas-dad-who-killed-man-to-protect-his-5-year-old-daughter-a-criminal

Is Texas dad who killed man to protect his 5-year-old daughter a criminal?

A Texas grand jury must decide whether to charge a father who killed a man after finding the man molesting his 5-year-old daughter. Does deadly force extend to a father protecting his daughter?

By Patrik Jonsson, Staff writer / June 16, 2012
298 and 0 StumbleUpon E-mail

ATLANTA

In Shiner, Texas, there's little doubt among residents that a 23-year-old man who reportedly killed a man he found molesting his 5-year-old daughter in a horse barn should be hailed as a hero, not denounced as a criminal.

Yet some legal experts question why the father hasn't yet been arrested and charged with murder, saying vigilante justice, no matter how the circumstances come about, can't be tolerated in a civil society.

A Texas grand jury will have to deal with those questions next week as it takes a deeper look at the circumstances of the killing, and whether the father was justified in hitting the man so hard with his fists that he died.

In most jurisdictions, according to "Criminal Law," a widely used textbook, the use of fists in defense if there are no other weapons present is automatically an example of reasonable force. But in this case, were emotions an extenuating circumstance that caused the angry dad to go too far? More broadly, when is a person in a defensive fight required to stop?

"Assuming it's true that this guy was molesting the daughter ... he would then have the right to defend her and hit him enough to have him stop," James Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project, told Foxnews.com. "But you cannot summarily execute him, even though I can understand the anger he would have."

He added: "The question is: When does it move beyond self-defense?"

And there's another quirk to the case, suggests radio talk show host Geraldo Rivera, a lawyer.

"If he had a weapon and he used it to stop a sexual assault, he would not be indicted, but, ironically, the fact that he didn't have a weapon leaves him more legally vulnerable than otherwise he would be," Mr. Rivera told Bill O'Reilly Friday on Fox News. "In this case, you grab him off, now you've stopped the sexual assault, but now what are you doing? At what point does prevention of the sex assault become revenge, the implementation of vigilante justice?"

So far, the court of public opinion has stood steadfastly behind the father.

"Any father would have done that," Michael James Veit, a neighbor, told CNN on Thursday. "Everybody is saying the father is justified."

The killing happened last Saturday, according to Lacava County Sheriff Micah Harmon, after the man's daughter had gone to a barn to feed the family's chickens, and then began screaming.

When the father ran to investigate, he found a man described as a family acquaintance, a horse groomer, sexually abusing the girl. Police have not released any names, in part to protect the girl's identity, and, in the case of the man who was killed, because they have not yet located his relatives in Mexico.

According to the county coroner, the man died of blunt force trauma to the head and neck. Eyewitnesses arrived to see the alleged molester already on the ground, not moving. The girl was taken to a hospital, where she was treated and released for minor injuries.

While police continue to investigate, they have so far found no reason to disbelieve the man's story. The dad "had remorse," says Sheriff Harmon. "It wasn't his intent [to kill anybody]. He was protecting his daughter and doing what he thought he had to do to protect his daughter."

Despite the dad's potential legal liability, Rivera said, most American jurors – given the facts as known at the moment – would agree with Harmon.

[CountDeMoney]

It is the responsibility of the state to charge him.  What the jury does, well, that's the jury's problem.

[Siege]

If this goes to court it would a shame on Texas.
This guy is a fucking hero.

[Neil]

If this goes to court it would a shame on Texas.
This guy is a fucking hero.

How would you feel if somebody killed you while you were molesting a five-year old girl?

[Eddie Teach]

If this goes to court it would a shame on Texas.
This guy is a fucking hero.

How would you feel if somebody killed you while you were molesting a five-year old girl?

He'd feel warm.

[Martinus]

Whatever the moral justification of this, I can't see how this can be seen as "protecting". It's revenge.

Edit: Oh he killed him while in the act? Then I'd say it qualifies as a crime of passion, even if force was excessive.

[Darth Wagtaros]

I think any case of someone getting kilt should result of an investigation.  Mass media is nice and all but it shouldn't really dictate how the justice system works.

[Darth Wagtaros]

If this goes to court it would a shame on Texas.
This guy is a fucking hero.

How would you feel if somebody killed you while you were molesting a five-year old girl?

Depends on if the killer were a gentile or not.

[Martinus]

I think any case of someone getting kilt should result of an investigation.  Mass media is nice and all but it shouldn't really dictate how the justice system works.

Definitely. The guy could be lying - I find it unbelievable that people are willing to believe any story they are told without expecting anyone to check the facts.

[Syt]

I think any case of someone getting kilt should result of an investigation. 

Why do you hate the Scots?

[Darth Wagtaros]

I think any case of someone getting kilt should result of an investigation. 

Why do you hate the Scots?

Haggis.  Sheep abuse.  Mel Gibson.

[Richard Hakluyt]

I think any case of someone getting kilt should result of an investigation.  Mass media is nice and all but it shouldn't really dictate how the justice system works.

Definitely. The guy could be lying - I find it unbelievable that people are willing to believe any story they are told without expecting anyone to check the facts.

Yes, one can hardly take at face value the mere assertion that "he was molesting my child". There should be an investigation.

[Ed Anger]

I'll give my stock off the cuff answer, without reading the OP (Which I'll never do):

Kill the pervert. Open season on kiddie diddlers.

[Ideologue]

I like how stupidly (biased?) the article is written.

A Texas grand jury must decide whether to charge a father who killed a man after finding the man molesting his 5-year-old daughter. Does deadly force extend to a father protecting his daughter?

Answer: Yes.

A+ I get a CALI.

To answer the actual content of the controversy, obviously if he sat there and tortured him, sure, I suppose that's illegal.  But it's difficult to determine when a human has been fully neutralized as a threat, and usually they're only obviously rendered harmless if they've stopped breathing.  It would be a waste of resources, time, and goodwill to attempt to prosecute.  Plus, he did the horse groomer pedo a mercy, by simply killing him instead of sending him to prison.

[Martinus]

I like how stupidly (biased?) the article is written.

A Texas grand jury must decide whether to charge a father who killed a man after finding the man molesting his 5-year-old daughter. Does deadly force extend to a father protecting his daughter?

Answer: Yes.

A+ I get a CALI.

To answer the actual content of the controversy, obviously if he sat there and tortured him, sure, I suppose that's illegal.  But it's difficult to determine when a human has been fully neutralized as a threat, and usually they're only obviously rendered harmless if they've stopped breathing.  It would be a waste of resources, time, and goodwill to attempt to prosecute.  Plus, he did the horse groomer pedo a mercy, by simply killing him instead of sending him to prison.

I think I'm beginning to see why you are unable to find a well-paid job as a lawyer.