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Culpeper shooting

marshaul

marshaul

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No news? Tomorrow, then?

Harmon-Wright Jury Deliberations Continue
At 3:15 p.m., the jury asked for the exact code on counts two and three: malicious shooting and shooting into an occupied vehicle resulting in death. The judge told them she couldn't provide that, and to rely on the jury instructions.
Click to expand...
OK? They're just supposed to decide guilt based on the description of the charge, then? Interesting. Is that usually the case? What about cases where the precise wording of the statute is under dispute? How does that come about?

Then again:

§ 18.2-51. Shooting, stabbing, etc., with intent to maim, kill, etc.

If any person maliciously shoot, stab, cut, or wound any person or by any means cause him bodily injury, with the intent to maim, disfigure, disable, or kill, he shall, except where it is otherwise provided, be guilty of a Class 3 felony. If such act be done unlawfully but not maliciously, with the intent aforesaid, the offender shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony.
Click to expand...

§ 18.2-154. Shooting at or throwing missiles, etc., at train, car, vessel, etc.; penalty.

Any person who maliciously shoots at, or maliciously throws any missile at or against, any train or cars on any railroad or other transportation company or any vessel or other watercraft, or any motor vehicle or other vehicles when occupied by one or more persons, whereby the life of any person on such train, car, vessel, or other watercraft, or in such motor vehicle or other vehicle, may be put in peril, is guilty of a Class 4 felony. In the event of the death of any such person, resulting from such malicious shooting or throwing, the person so offending is guilty of murder in the second degree. However, if the homicide is willful, deliberate and premeditated, he is guilty of murder in the first degree.

If any such act is committed unlawfully, but not maliciously, the person so offending is guilty of a Class 6 felony and, in the event of the death of any such person, resulting from such unlawful act, the person so offending is guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

If any person commits a violation of this section by maliciously or unlawfully shooting, with a firearm, at a conspicuously marked law-enforcement, fire or rescue squad vehicle, ambulance or any other emergency medical vehicle, the sentence imposed shall include a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of one year.
Click to expand...
 
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marshaul

marshaul

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ed said:
Guilty.. common law voluntary manslaughter;also guilty of statutory involuntary manslaughter for shooting into a motor vehicle resulting in death; guilty of unlawfully shooting into occupied vehicle.
Click to expand...

Based on the charges "offered", and the time spent in deliberation, this is pretty much the result I expected; a middle ground. No murder conviction but not a complete acquittal either, by any stretch.
 
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peter nap

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marshaul said:
Based on the charges "offered", and the time spent in deliberation, this is pretty much the result I expected; a middle ground. No murder conviction but not a complete acquittal either, by any stretch.
Click to expand...

Now that that part is over...I expected a verdict yesterday of guilty of murder.
By 2:00 today, it was obvious they were considering everything carefully.

Also now that that part is over, I'd have to say Dan did a damn fine job defending him considering the eyewitness testimony and his abandonment by the PD...as well as the outrage in the community.
 
peter nap

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§ 18.2-10. Punishment for conviction of felony; penalty.
The authorized punishments for conviction of a felony are:
(a) For Class 1 felonies, death, if the person so convicted was 18 years of age or older at the time of the offense and is not determined to be mentally retarded pursuant to § 19.2-264.3:1.1, or imprisonment for life and, subject to subdivision (g), a fine of not more than $100,000. If the person was under 18 years of age at the time of the offense or is determined to be mentally retarded pursuant to § 19.2-264.3:1.1, the punishment shall be imprisonment for life and, subject to subdivision (g), a fine of not more than $100,000.
(b) For Class 2 felonies, imprisonment for life or for any term not less than 20 years and, subject to subdivision (g), a fine of not more than $100,000.
(c) For Class 3 felonies, a term of imprisonment of not less than five years nor more than 20 years and, subject to subdivision (g), a fine of not more than $100,000.
(d) For Class 4 felonies, a term of imprisonment of not less than two years nor more than 10 years and, subject to subdivision (g), a fine of not more than $100,000.
(e) For Class 5 felonies, a term of imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than 10 years, or in the discretion of the jury or the court trying the case without a jury, confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both.
(f) For Class 6 felonies, a term of imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than five years, or in the discretion of the jury or the court trying the case without a jury, confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both.
(g) Except as specifically authorized in subdivision (e) or (f), or in Class 1 felonies for which a sentence of death is imposed, the court shall impose either a sentence of imprisonment together with a fine, or imprisonment only. However, if the defendant is not a natural person, the court shall impose only a fine.
For any felony offense committed (i) on or after January 1, 1995, the court may, and (ii) on or after July 1, 2000, shall, except in cases in which the court orders a suspended term of confinement of at least six months, impose an additional term of not less than six months nor more than three years, which shall be suspended conditioned upon successful completion of a period of post-release supervision pursuant to § 19.2-295.2 and compliance with such other terms as the sentencing court may require. However, such additional term may only be imposed when the sentence includes an active term of incarceration in a correctional facility.
For a felony offense prohibiting proximity to children as described in subsection A of § 18.2-370.2, the sentencing court is authorized to impose the punishment set forth in that section in addition to any other penalty provided by law.
(1975, cc. 14, 15; 1977, c. 492; 1990, c. 788; 1991, c. 7; 1994, 2nd Sp. Sess., cc. 1, 2; 1995, c. 427; 2000, cc. 361,767, 770; 2003, cc. 1031, 1040; 2006,
 
Esanders2008

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peter nap said:
§ 18.2-10. Punishment for conviction of felony; penalty.
The authorized punishments for conviction of a felony are:
(a) For Class 1 felonies, death, if the person so convicted was 18 years of age or older at the time of the offense and is not determined to be mentally retarded pursuant to § 19.2-264.3:1.1, or imprisonment for life and, subject to subdivision (g), a fine of not more than $100,000. If the person was under 18 years of age at the time of the offense or is determined to be mentally retarded pursuant to § 19.2-264.3:1.1, the punishment shall be imprisonment for life and, subject to subdivision (g), a fine of not more than $100,000.
(b) For Class 2 felonies, imprisonment for life or for any term not less than 20 years and, subject to subdivision (g), a fine of not more than $100,000.
(c) For Class 3 felonies, a term of imprisonment of not less than five years nor more than 20 years and, subject to subdivision (g), a fine of not more than $100,000.
(d) For Class 4 felonies, a term of imprisonment of not less than two years nor more than 10 years and, subject to subdivision (g), a fine of not more than $100,000.
(e) For Class 5 felonies, a term of imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than 10 years, or in the discretion of the jury or the court trying the case without a jury, confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both.
(f) For Class 6 felonies, a term of imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than five years, or in the discretion of the jury or the court trying the case without a jury, confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both.
(g) Except as specifically authorized in subdivision (e) or (f), or in Class 1 felonies for which a sentence of death is imposed, the court shall impose either a sentence of imprisonment together with a fine, or imprisonment only. However, if the defendant is not a natural person, the court shall impose only a fine.
For any felony offense committed (i) on or after January 1, 1995, the court may, and (ii) on or after July 1, 2000, shall, except in cases in which the court orders a suspended term of confinement of at least six months, impose an additional term of not less than six months nor more than three years, which shall be suspended conditioned upon successful completion of a period of post-release supervision pursuant to § 19.2-295.2 and compliance with such other terms as the sentencing court may require. However, such additional term may only be imposed when the sentence includes an active term of incarceration in a correctional facility.
For a felony offense prohibiting proximity to children as described in subsection A of § 18.2-370.2, the sentencing court is authorized to impose the punishment set forth in that section in addition to any other penalty provided by law.
(1975, cc. 14, 15; 1977, c. 492; 1990, c. 788; 1991, c. 7; 1994, 2nd Sp. Sess., cc. 1, 2; 1995, c. 427; 2000, cc. 361,767, 770; 2003, cc. 1031, 1040; 2006,
Click to expand...

Life in prison is 30 years, right?
EDIT: Never mind, I did some research, and apparently some countries have capped it at 30 years or so, but not the US
 
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peter nap

peter nap

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I don't know but both manslaughter charges are a class 5 felony if I read the code right and shooting into an occupied vehicle and causing death is punished as second degree murder which is 5-40 years..

I looks like if the sentence runs concurrently, he would be out in 5 years less good behavior.
Worst case would be 60 years.
That's based an an uneducated reading.
 
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S

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Justice was served...,

after my time in courts, what that means to me, "Justice was served", is nothing more than a punctuation mark to indicate that the process of a particular legal action has concluded and at times may indicate time for another legal process to begin, nothing more. Nothing to indicate right or wrong, true or false, fair or biased, and I learned never to equate fairness with justice in any way, shape or form. That's my opinion, YMMV.

sidestreet

Jeremiah 29 v. 11-13

we are not equal, we will never be equal, but we must be relentless.
 
marshaul

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peter nap said:
Also now that that part is over, I'd have to say Dan did a damn fine job defending him considering the eyewitness testimony and his abandonment by the PD...as well as the outrage in the community.
Click to expand...

+100

I may have criticized some of his arguments in a general context, and wished him failure, but I think we can all agree Dan did a truly excellent job with, well, not much to work with.
 
C

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I would like to hear the jury's rationale. I'm not questioning it; I'd just like to find out what they were thinking and how they evaluated the evidence.

Separately, I'm thinking the civil suit just got a little easier for the accusers. But, I don't know much about the law on this, so I'm mostly speculating. Basically, all I'm doing is evaluating that the civil accusers don't have to argue around a not-guilty verdict.
 
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ryan7068

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It is also good to see that police officers aren't getting blind "benefit of the doubt/ extra credibility " as seems to be the case from judges in bench trials in some I've sat in on. Also, I wonder if after his bond and legal fees and this time unemployed if it will even be cost effective to file suit against him?!

In any case, I certainly hope both families the best and hope the convicted fends well in the corrections system. I figure he would get some sort of special housing unit treatment?!
 
nuc65

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Most likely still to come...

Dan has not even begun the appeals process. Since I was not there I do not know if he has grounds for such that may get the case reversed or remanded.

The process is not over until the appeals are exhausted.
 
peter nap

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nuc65 said:
Dan has not even begun the appeals process. Since I was not there I do not know if he has grounds for such that may get the case reversed or remanded.

The process is not over until the appeals are exhausted.
Click to expand...

That's true Nuc. I don't have a clue what the financial arrangements are, but appeals are costly.

It may be that he simply can't afford an appeal. That's just another sad chunk of reality that reared it's ugly head in this case.

Lawyers have to eat and defendants have to pay.
His department should be paying this or at least have insurance to cover the fees.
 
ProShooter

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I know some folks here have been waiting for me to weigh in. After a long day of getting ready to move to our new office and then the evening event at the Times-Dispatch, I'm pretty beat and not really in the mood to type all that I'm feeling about this decision.

Since there are probably appeals still to be filed, I'm not going to get into specifics about the case or my involvement. I will say this - the jury got this one wrong.
 
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