Man Gets 10 Years for Sword Assault

[sadlsor]

Don't know how long this link will be active; it was in today's Birmingham News. (I really should refresh my HTML to properly post a link, but...)

http://www.al.com/birminghamnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/120954352399410.xml&coll=2

In short, teenager Matt West and friends showed up uninvited to a beer party in 2005 (kinda shows you where this story is going), hosted at the home of Stephen Jones' parents. Jones was also a teenager at the time of this incident. Jones and West got into an argument, which ended with Jones swinging a samurai sword, severing the hand of party crasher West.

The instigator(-s) of the ensuing argument remain unclear; accounts differ as to how the argument escalated into a fight. Of course Jones plead self-defense at trial, but I think it should be noted that Jones has faced 8 more charges since that debacle, including DUI and carrying a pistol without a permit. He also has been arrested on a drug charge since the trial.

Hmmm... I think there's a pattern here.

 

[CWL]

Sounds like both of them will be burdens to our legal and welfare systems for their entire lives.

 

[AndyC]

Unless they knuckle under. It's sad when both seemed to exhibit IQ's in the single digit range, but perhaps if life had dealt them a good hand, the Jones kid wouldn't have been awristed and printed. Now he stands to get nailed; I'm wondering if he was middle-eastern, perhaps a Phalangist.

 

[hobgob]

they both have since gotten arrested for criminal acts it seems, one for drugs the other for carrying without a permit. class acts ...these two!

 

[Dksimon]

There was an incident in a near by town where a teenager killed his mother with a sword and then was trying to attack the police when he was gunned down. I dont know what kind of mental problems the kid had but he definitely snapped.

 

[Stainz]

Well, at least no firehoses were involved. Sadly, if the fecal matter would finally impact the air movement device re the Jefferson County sewer debacle, the Birmingham area news would likely make nation-wide headlines, too. Heads would roll - even the new mayor's - and the largest municipal system to go bankrupt. too.

Yeah, the two spoiled children were 'bad' before - and since. You have to hand it to West - carefully - selling one-handed should get him some disability income, too. I guess sword inflicted murder/suicides are waning in numbers these days.

Stainz

PS I am proud to be a JeffCo resident on a septic tank!

 

[sadlsor]

Update

Sword "victim" is drug case defendant.
Quoting the Birmingham News, "The victim in an assault case involving a Samurai sword now is the defendant in a drug case in Shelby County."
"West is free on $10,000 bond since his arrest April 28 by the Shelby County Drug Task Force.
"Authorities held up on the arrest until the conclusion of Stephen Jones's (sic) second-degree assault trial in March. Jones was convicted and sentenced to 10 years on April 29 for incident that cost West his hand."

This was in today's paper, but I didn't see the story on www.al.com, as was the original article I referred to at the start of this thread.

While generally Alabama has fairly liberal self-defense laws, I suppose the alcohol factor was a major consideration. A whole lot of poor judgement in this incident, probably starting with Jones' parents hosting beer parties for high school students at the Jones home.