Current Affairs The " another shooting in America " thread

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Ghoat said:
I wouldn't read too much into the manslaughter charge. They were under a lot of pressure (rightfully) to arrest her, and it's easier (and faster) to get a warrant issued for manslaughter than it is for murder. The prosecutor can modify the charge or add charges as the investigation unfolds - but it was important to begin the process.

Police Chief Renee Hall said at a news conference on Friday that the incident appears to be a "very unique situation".
Unrelated to the issue and irrelevant to the situation, uggg that's a pet peeve, especially from someone in a leadership position.
It can't be kinda or very unique. It's unique or it's not, period.
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I don't claim to be an expert on American law but I do know 'stacking' is a thing.They throw as much as they can at the suspect to make them more likely to accept a plea bargain etc.

I just think if it was reversed they'd have taken the time to get the murder warrants. And it's looking more and more likely that it's murder.
 
Steve0 said:
I don't claim to be an expert on American law but I do know 'stacking' is a thing.They throw as much as they can at the suspect to make them more likely to accept a plea bargain etc.
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It is, but usually not when there is a death, especially if it's a single victim and single suspect. Often/typically in a plea bargain, the "biggest" charge is what's negotiated for a guilty plea on a lesser charge. But typically a prosecutor isn't going to plea a murder or manslaughter to a lesser charge, there is too much difference between the charges and the sentences.

In a similar situation, where the victim was injured, but lived, you may see a pile of charges. The prosecutor may really feel that attempted murder is the appropriate charge, but have concerns of getting a conviction because the charge itself contains "intent". So he/she may include lesser charges in the indictment - assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, unlawful discharge of a firearm, reckless endangerment, trespassing, unlawful possession of a firearm etc etc.
That gives the prosecutor the flexibility to plea out the attempted murder and some the lesser charges but still have a couple of hefty felonies convictions. Or if it actually went to trial, and the jury didn't convict on the attempted murder, they could still convict on other serious felonies.
 
Bear in mind, in the US if a prosecutor takes a murder charge to trial, the jury has NO option to convict on a lesser charge like manslaughter, it's all or nothing They can only judge guilty or not guilty on the murder charge, nothing else. So it can come down to what the prosecutor thinks they can prove, not what they think really or probably happened.

If the final indictment is manslaughter, there will be backlash and accusations of discrimination or favoritism even if Guyger is convicted and sentenced.
If the final indictment is a murder charge the prosecutor has doubts about (or worse is pressured into against better judgement) and the jury has reasonable doubts and doesn't return a guilty verdict....that's a far worse backlash, as it appears she "got away with murder".

It appears she went to his apartment and straight up murdered him. Regardless, she went in his apartment and shot him dead. period. If the prosecutor feels pretty confident that murder can be proved, I hope he does. If there is any real doubt, get a manslaughter conviction and lock her up.
 
I just looked this up - appears there are 3 different charges that could be brought in Texas:
Murder - 5 to 99 years, with a possibility of parole after 30 years.
Capital Murder - Death or life without parole
Manslaughter - 2 to 20 years

Texas doesn't differentiate into voluntary and involuntary, it's a single charge that "must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant recklessly caused the death of another individual"

Murder conviction has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt one of three cases
- intentionally and knowingly caused the death
- intended to cause serious harm and committed a dangerous act and the act caused an individuals death
- committed or attempted to commit a felony (other than manslaughter) and in doing so committed a clearly dangerous act, and the act caused the death of an individual

I have learned more about Texas law this morning than I ever would have guessed
 
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