LadyLuna
Inactive Cam Model
- Mar 8, 2010
- 6,710
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- Twitter Username
- @EveMatteo
- MFC Username
- LadyLuna
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- Lady_Luna
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- http://clips4sale.com/store/42697/LadyLuna
Guys, really, read the article Jerry posted.
So he shot at the car, and accidentally killed her with a stray bullet fragment. Manslaughter (when a deliberate action which is not intended to kill someone ends up killing them). Not murder (when an action that is intended to kill someone succeeds in killing them). The defense attorney used the theft law to try to get him acquitted entirely, but that doesn't mean that the jury agrees with the defense attorney's use of the law. And the defense attorney is legally required to use any laws which might possibly apply in the defense.
The much more plausible reason for the verdict is that the jury believed the defendant’s claim that he didn’t intend to shoot the victim. Per Texas’ homicide statute, the prosecution needed to prove that Gilbert “intentionally or knowingly” killed Frago or intended to cause her “serious bodily injury.” The defense argued that Gilbert lacked the requisite intent for murder because when he shot at the car as Frago and the owner of the escort service drove away, he was aiming for the tire. The bullet hit the tire and a fragment, “literally the size of your fingernail,” according to Defense Attorney Bobby Barrera, hit Frago. Barrera does not believe the jury acquitted because of the defense of property law. He believes they acquitted because they believed Gilbert didn’t mean to shoot her.
One would expect the jury to find that shooting at a car with an AK-47 is at least “reckless,” in which case he could have been convicted of manslaughter. But the prosecution didn’t charge him with manslaughter, only murder. Manslaughter is a “lesser included offense” of murder and the judge is entitled to instruct the jury if the evidence supports that charge, but it appears she did not. The jury can’t convict on a charge that isn’t before them.
So he shot at the car, and accidentally killed her with a stray bullet fragment. Manslaughter (when a deliberate action which is not intended to kill someone ends up killing them). Not murder (when an action that is intended to kill someone succeeds in killing them). The defense attorney used the theft law to try to get him acquitted entirely, but that doesn't mean that the jury agrees with the defense attorney's use of the law. And the defense attorney is legally required to use any laws which might possibly apply in the defense.