No one wins in that situation. But, that homeowner better damn well be able to articulate why he grabbed a gun and fired at a flashlight beam.
The homeowner, Charles Wilson, won't have to articulate anything of the sort.
His attorney has already issued a statement on his behalf:
"David Wilson believed that his family was experiencing a home invasion and only fired his weapon to protect his family."
The only thing he's required to do right now is enter a plea, which he may have already done.
Unless I'm mistaken, if this goes to trial, he won't even have to testify unless advised to do so by his attorney.
I have no doubt those on scene officers identified themselves.
I'm sure they did. Reports say the police "went to the front door and loudly announced who they were." Some questions that can arise out of that will be how many times did they announce, and did Charles Wilson actually
hear them. The defense will probably ask did they continue to announce once inside the residence. Where was Wilson in relation to the police. If this goes to trial, I could see at
least one whole day being devoted to testimony about just those issues alone.
Some background information on Charles Wilson, if anyone's interested (info courtesy of reporter Tom Cleary):
"
Wilson is 37-years-old, is married and has three children. Wilson is the president and CEO of Unitex Oil & Gas LLC, an energy investment company based in Midland, according to his Linkedin profile.
He was profiled in Forbes Magazine approximately eight years ago as one of it's 30 Under 30 best in the field of energy.
According to the Unitex website, “Wilson bought his first west Texas oil wells at the ripe age of 20. Now in his early 30's he has over 250 wells producing about 450 bbl per day."
Regarding this situation, every officer on this forum knows no one behind a computer knows all the case facts. None of us were there and hopefully no one believes just what was written by the press. A court of law will make the final call, not the court of public (internet) opinion.
Absolutely. Not just every officer...every forum member who's commented here, including me,
should know it. Every forum member laments the death of a law enforcement officer and any other emergency responder.
Regarding not believing just what was written by the press...the press has reported what its been told about this case. They're all saying more or less the same thing, and nothing new has been released for two days now. I haven't seen any editorializing going on in any of the news reports I've read. I did find one actual editorial about this in the
Midland Reporter-Telegram.
A brief quote from that editorial (bold print is mine):
"We hope our readers refrain from casting blame regarding the tragic events of Tuesday morning.
We don’t know all the facts yet, and therefore, no one should rush to judgment – especially on social media. Eventually, we will know all of the facts, and we believe the justice system will be fair to all involved -- including homeowner
David Wilson, who has been charged with manslaughter, a second-degree felony, but who is innocent until proven guilty."
Interested forum members may read the whole editorial by clicking
here.
There's also another story in the
Reporter-Telegram about the officers' affidavit. Click
here to read it.
