Texas homeowner acquitted of shooting 13 year old.

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Note to Assistant District Attorney Uriel Druker:
The jury says otherwise. Your comment is despicable and you might want to consider seeking another line of work.
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He's about to be out of work anyway. The defense attorney in this case was elected District Attorney, he just hasn't taken office yet :)
 
A 13 year old is dead, that's unfortunate. It's more unfortunate that he chose to live by sword (being a criminal) and as such he died by that sword. Hate to be the guy to say it but another criminal made six feet shorter isn't such a bad thing, the fact it was a 'kid' is tragic and sad but he was a criminal and reaped his reward for being one.

The more we as a society say that if a criminal violates you and you kill him, so long as it is done in a legal manner, you get off scott free (no lawsuits can be brought even like with Castle Doctrine here in Florida). It's not like we're going to run out of criminals anytime soon. Unfortunately the law makers won't come up with a hunting season of kind anytime, might thin out those dens of murder that call themselves cities.
 
This goes back to my line of thinking, if there is a law on the books to cover an incident, then no trial is needed with sufficient evidence. But if not covered, then a trial there shall be to prepare an enacted law for the next time it occurs.
 
He's about to be out of work anyway. The defense attorney in this case was elected District Attorney, he just hasn't taken office yet
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That's nice to know. Thanks for the update.

Texas is beginning to look sweeter every day... :D

Zip
 
The jury has spoken, and it didn't take them long to decide. Justice has been served.

As suspected, the liberal news media did some "truth-twisting" in their reporting of the original event.

Moral of the story---if you don't want to get shot, don't go breaking into people's homes.
 
I think that instead of making them stay there, on the floor, he should've gotten out of the house(escaped.)
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David,
What in the H%ll are you thinking? Escape from his own home? You need a sheep badge to wear. Has anyone ever explained to you that as a free American you have the OBLIGATION to defend your home, family and property? Was his wife in the home with him? Should he just abandon his family and turn yellow and run? Geeze, move to Europe dude, you do not belong here in the land of the free. These punks invade my home while I am home, my family and property come first, all three leave in a black bag.
 
Juries often make their decisions based on community standards and outrage at the system. The jury system is far from perfect. Remember a jury acquitted OJ Simpson of a double murder based on community standards and outrage about racism. It's quite possible this jury was commenting on the crime problem in Larado, not trying the facts.

Jeff
 
how is it vigilantism??? read up on Texas law before making an absurb claim like that.

4 human beings break into home, man DOESNT shoot on site and instead has said CRIMINALS at gunpoint waiting for help, subject gets up, intentions uknown, homeowner reasonably believes his life is in danger of serious bodily injury or death. Vigilantism??? Wrong.
 
how is it vigilantism???
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How can you be certain it's not?? No one here saw any of the evidence that was presented. There were two news articles posted. The jury ruled on the side that reinforced your personal values, so it must be right? Does that mean that the OJ Simpson verdict was right? The American people saw virtually all of the evidence that was presented in that case and the general opinion is that the jury got it wrong, knew they got it wrong and used that trial as venue for the community to express it's displeasure over racism in the LAPD.

Laredo is crime riddled. It's entirely possible the jury was sending a message to the criminal element that burglaries were no longer being tolerated.

I'm going to withhold judgment until I see some facts.

Jeff
 


Juries often make their decisions based on community standards and outrage at the system. The jury system is far from perfect. Remember a jury acquitted OJ Simpson of a double murder based on community standards and outrage about racism. It's quite possible this jury was commenting on the crime problem in Larado, not trying the facts.
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IMNSHO, Furman messed the case up planting evidence. And don't confuse Lareado with Nuevo Laredo which is just across the river in Mexico.

​
 
It is my belief that even though he had the best of intentions in the heat of the moment he forgot that we are given the right to carry guns to defend our property but also that human life is a valuable thing which should be protected at all costs if possible.

I wasn't in the court room so I did not hear all the facts presented that the jury did.

So maybe I jumped the gun in calling him in a vigilante since he did not actively seek out people to hunt down. You're right.

However, I still think he is a poor victim who just let things get out of hand in the heat of the moment.
 
Hi Jeff White,

If you are going on the basis of not enough information. What evidence is present to give you the impression of vigilantism?

It is a given the 'boys' were committing an act of burglary. It is a given they were in the house illegally. The reasonable person is inclined to believe the man acted in defense of property not outrage. If I missed something that points to outrage please educate me.

Selena
 
I think it is signifigant that he let the other three live when he had legal standing to shoot them, that sheds at least a little light on his character
 
What different perspective?

If you happen to get a criminal down on the ground at gunpoint and he refuses to obey your orders to stay down it is entirely reasonable to believe that he intends to attack you once he's on his feet.
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You misunderstand my point. Earlier speculation was that the homeowner had the four criminals subdued, but that he simply opted to execute one. The earlier speculation was based upon the homeowner's contention that he was forced to shoot because the youth "lunged" at him.

Nobody could figure how the youth could "lunge" if the youth was down on his knees with the homeowner holding a gun to the youth's back.

The speculation was that the homeowner was lying.

But that's not what happened. The criminal didn't "lunge." That's just what the reporter said.

What happened was that the criminal started getting to his feet. That's when the homeowner fired. That's different. That's a justifiable shooting.
 
t is a given the 'boys' were committing an act of burglary. It is a given they were in the house illegally. The reasonable person is inclined to believe the man acted in defense of property not outrage.
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It also is undisputed that the boys surrendered and the man was holding them at gun point. Then after he shot and killed the boy, he didn't call the police, but called his son who is a Customs and Border Patrol agent for advice.
http://www.lmtonline.com/articles/2008/09/26/news/doc48dc8b71cdef9527878788.txt
"He (Alaniz) may allege that the boys had time to come up with a story, but testimony revealed that (the juveniles) were more concerned with getting their friend to safety," said prosecutor Brenda Anderson. "And we would also counter by arguing that the defendant had time to come up with a story and that he also called his son instead of calling 911. He was the one that had the opportunity to get advice from his son, who is a law enforcement officer, and from there come up with the self-defense argument."

Gonzalez's son, Vidal Gonzalez, testified he is a Customs and Border Protection agent and it was his Russian-made semiautomatic shotgun his father used in the slaying. He testified that after the shooting, Gonzalez called his house and said he had just shot an intruder.
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He lied to the police about what gun he shot the boy with.

http://www.lmtonline.com/articles/2008/09/26/news/doc48dc8b71cdef9527878788.txt
Investigators testified earlier in the week that Gonzalez first told deputies a 16-gauge shotgun was used in the slaying but they determined that gun had not been fired that night. That weapon, deputies added, was also reported stolen before the incident.
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These are hardly the actions of someone who thought he was justified in killing someone.

From what has been reported in the news articles there are problems with both sides of the story. That's why I'm withholding judgment. I'd like to see all the evidence. I doubt that the prosecutor filed murder charges just because....A murder trial is very expensive and prosecutors and courts are on a budget just like everyone else. I'm sure that he thought he had enough evidence to convict. If he didn't, he wouldn't have gone forward.

Was it vigilantism? I'm not prepared to say. Was it self defense? Again, I'm not prepared to say. Did the jury say it was self defense to send a message about crime in Laredo? Maybe, juries do things like that sometimes.

Maybe if Gonzales had not muddied up his story and lied about the shotgun used, it wouldn't have ended up in a murder charge?

All I'm saying is that from the information we have, the water over this case is pretty muddy.

Jeff
 
It is my belief that even though he had the best of intentions in the heat of the moment he forgot that we are given the right to carry guns to defend our property but also that human life is a valuable thing which should be protected at all costs if possible.
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My thirteen year old son is just shy of six feet tall and weighs over two hundred pounds. Just because someone is barely a teen doesn't mean that they cannot appear to be a viable threat.

If these kids wanted someone to protect them at all costs, they should have done so themselves and not gone thievin'. I'm reasonably convinced that these four picked what appeared to be a soft target and went predating. It is not the responsibility of the prey to protect the life of the predator.
 
It also is undisputed that the boys surrendered and the man was holding them at gun point. Then after he shot and killed the boy, he didn't call the police, but called his son who is a Customs and Border Patrol agent for advice.
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In the same circumstance I would probably call either my Dad or my brother for moral support before I called the police. Mainly because I would assume the investigating officers would put me through hell when they arrived.

As for the 'surrender', this came on the testimony of the deceased co-perperitrators. I'm not inclined to accept that testimony as gospel truth. The 'surrender' may have been a feint to secure the elderly man's confidence in an attempt to outwit him and turn the situation back to their favor. I do not know, I was not there.

As for lying about the weapon, it could very well be he did not want his security arm taken as evidence leaving him with a less than suitable weapon. I wasn't there to see the questioning so I cannot vouch for either the investigator attempting to trip up the old man's story or his intentional lying. Given the policy of 'reasonable deception' and the location of the incident I am inclined to give the resident the benefit of the doubt.

I would appear, a jury that DID hear the full evidence had a similar inclination. Vigilanty justise is an accusion that could be arrested for vagrancy as it has no visible means of support.

Selena
 
I didn't see the original case. I am very slow to accuse anyone of vigilantism since that is a term the media and the liberal sheep throw out all too quickly even if someone is simply defending themselves.

I guess I view a vigilante as someone who finds out who robbed them and then goes and hunts them down after the fact. While this could fit that category, it seems the jury didn't think so.
 
Jeff White said:
These are hardly the actions of someone who thought he was justified in killing someone.
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Not everyone pays attention to the fine points of these laws like we do. Most people, especially after shooting a 13 year old, are gonna lose their freaking minds, no matter how justified it may turn out to be later.

You can't read much into an old guy freaking out because he just shot a kid. Hell, if he was calm and collected about it I'd be MORE concerned.

Maybe if Gonzales had not muddied up his story and lied about the shotgun used, it wouldn't have ended up in a murder charge?
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Absolutely, he clearly made it worse on himself. Who knows what went through his mind though, not being an amateur lawyer like all of us :)

"Not my gun, is that bad? Semi auto, is that bad? 13 year old, is there ever justification? They were not armed, was I wrong? My son is a cop, he will know what to do."

I can't find much fault with that, if that's what went through his mind.
 
I'm glad to see this play out in the way that it did. Since the jury came to a conclusion so quickly, it's obvious that the evidence was on the homeowners side.

Somebody now needs to go after that slanted reporter that made it sound like the man murdered the kid.
 
It is not the responsibility of the prey to protect the life of the predator.
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Now this has my vote for Post of the Week. As our society continues to devolve, younger predators continue to take advantage of the loophole that does not view them as "adults" in the eyes of the law.

Occasionally, Darwin's theory upsets their game plan....aided and abetted by Texas law.

No tears shed here. You want to play big-boy games? Learn and understand the rules of the game, as well as the consequences. ;)
 
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