Phamacist convicted: 1st degree muder.

[M29since14]

Nobody would be dead, no-one shot...
If the two punks stayed at home.
The only "Victim" here is the pharmacist. He didn't plan his day around shooting someone to death.
The two perps put him in that position. They stayed out of his store, didn't' threaten his life .... They would still be fine.
Instead, their choices put him in a untenable position.....not of his choosing. He didn't ask for this...he just responded.

Thinking about this incident in the quiet of the night last night got to bothering me, as these things sometimes do. Most of the cops and the lawyers have been dancing around on the heads of pins, which is fine. That is what they do. But Gizamo has it right. To convict this guy of anything seems a travesty. I would not say he is a hero, or that he did nothing wrong, or anything like that. He made a mistake at a time when he was under great stress, and he's going to have to live with that, conviction or not. And maybe he should get a good (verbal) shellacking for his mistake with the admonition that it better never happen again. But to throw him in jail - for "life" - it's just absurd. Why? Because it appears we are not able to untangle what should be the overriding "common sense" of the situation from law?

I do not believe a shop owner, on his own property, should be held to the same standards as a professional who studies, and who is constantly trained and re-trained in the use of deadly force, as part of his job. That is just unreasonable.

I wasn't there and I didn't hear and see what the jury saw, so I won't be critical of them. But I do view this as another in the increasingly long line of incidents like it proving that "the law is a crude instrument." It seems that it is getting cruder and cruder all the time.

I'm in with Oldman45. I hope something happens that allows that man to get out of prison sooner rather than later (NO medal for him, please). There is nothing in the reports I have read that indicates he is any sort of danger to society. He was in great danger and he made a mistake. Unfortunate, but he didn't ask for any of it. Let it go.

 

[DeadAye]

He was in great danger and he made a mistake. Unfortunate, but he didn't ask for any of it. Let it go.

ABSOLUTELY! It' not like Mr. Pharmacist went to the crack house and shot the fool(s).
I'll bet that no one on the jury had ever been robbed by an armed ****.

Too bad Mr. P didn't have a real gun or - at least had his Judge loaded with .45s - at the onset of the robbery. Things may have turned out very different for him (and the goblins).

 

[straightshooter1]

I am at a loss to understand how anyone could think there was any justification at all for the use of the second gun to shoot the young man after seeing the video.

You have seen the video, haven't you?

This man, while a participant in the robbery, was apparently not armed and was trying to put on a mask. I certainly don't expect the pharmacist to have known whether or not he was armed for sure when he fired the initial shot to the young man's head, but, given his actions and demeanor after he re-entered the store, I don't see how anyone can seriously say he didn't commit a murder.

What some seem to be saying is that it is alright to murder someone sometimes. I don't think it is.

Self defense is a right, but in going beyond that and exacting punishment by executing the perp is murder. No one has the right to do that.

Bob

 

[russp1]

AMEN, was the punk still armed when he hit the floor? anybody know?

From what I've read, the guy lying on the floor wasn't even armed. That, casually stepping over him to get a second gun and then emptying it while standing over him all led to the jury deciding this was over kill (literally) and not self defense.

 

[Steve in Vermont]

What was his minimum sentence? Was it 20 years to life, life w/o parole? A sentence of zero to life would seem appropriate, leaving the amount of time served up to a parole board.

 

[handejector]

Defining moments.
We all have them.

Do I understand his motives, his feelings?
Sure. I've been around violence.

The trouble is............
Rules, and definitions. They are necessary for running any society.

A society defines murder as, let's keep it simple, and say "killing the defenseless, or someone who is not about to cause you iminent harm". That seems OK when you and yours are being protected from a whimsical killer. The definition says to kill you when you are not about to harm him is murder, and he does not possess the right to make that decision.
Then, society makes a rule, and says you can't do murder.
It is not wise or effective to write many exceptions into that rule. Otherwise, history has proven the exceptions will possibly be abused with things like stratas in that society, purges, camps, and ovens.
So, society applies the rule in a fairly universal manner- kill someone NOT about to harm you, and you have committed murder.

Quite simple, really.

Some murders seem worse than others. That is just the nature of life on earth.

I agree- he should have thought it through. If one is going to commit murder, don't tape it.

 

[Black_Sheep]

Judging by the Pharmacist's body language the perp was no longer a threat. He casually stepped over the downed perp and turned his back to him at least a couple of times before he retrieved the second gun and finished him off.

It was made very clear during CCW class that following a defensive shooting, once the threat has been eliminated it is incumbent upon the shooter to render aid if at all possible. If the pharmacist had called 911 and covered the perp until authorities arrived he would likely be a free man today.

Once he made the unfortunate decision to shoot the defenseless perp it went from being an act of self defense to cold blooded murder. IMHO the jury got this one right...

 

[oldman45]

Lots of things could have been but probably wasn't. There was a video so we don't have to speculate about what happened.

As with many trials, we cannot say things probably did or did not happen. The video does not show what was going on with the perp on the floor. I have seen people jerk, twitch and go into spasms while dying before an ambulance arrives. Maybe the druggist knew that happens, maybe he did not but I have learned from many Judges telling me that we cannot say what is in a person's mind.

The video showed the druggist walking around the perp, getting a second gun and shooting the perp. What was the perp doing is anyone's guess. I read that an medical expert say the perp was not killed instantly and there may have been movement. Then another medical expert said the perp was killed instantly and there would not have been movement.

Either way, the perp would not have been killed that particular day had he not chosen to do what he did.

 

[feralmerril]

With todays jurys anything can happen. Witness the anthony trial. If true justice is found I am beginning to think it is just by coincidence once in awhile. I have never shot anyone and hope I dont ever have to. Yet in at least three different incidents many years ago I belive I would have been justified in useing lethal force. One incident I really knew I didnt have to in my mind yet legaly probley could have, in fact twice in several months with that mentaly challanged person. He busted in my house and I came from my bedroom to find him holding a loaded model 60 of mine at about 4 am. Another time I came home and caught him in my house. I was armed with my gun in my hand both times. Both times I gave him a pass but he had to do a clean up job.
The other time was with two sure enough BGs and even though they broke in my appartment to do me harm I was able to turn it around and gave them a pass too. After all, that incident was over a woman. In truth as it turned out she wasnt worth the hell she eventualy brought on me anyway. Today I bet she is some prim and proper 70 year old christian. I watched that video. It would be a long stretch to honestly defend it by the letter of the law to me. Yet had I anything to do with it I wouldnt have tried very hard to hang the pharmacist either.
It aint about justice at all, it`s just about winning. Wish that wasnt a fact!