Patterico's Pontifications

5/22/2019

HPD: Teen killed after group reportedly targets east Houston home with paintball guns

Filed under: Crime,Law — DRJ @ 6:51 am



[Headline from DRJ]

Houston ChronicleHPD: Teen killed after group reportedly targets east Houston home with paintball guns:

Police said a group of teens with paintball guns were outside the home in the 13300 block of Force about 11:30 p.m. to target the 17-year-old who lived there. At one point, 10 to 15 people were outside the home, police said.

When the family heard a disturbance outside, the father walked out and approached one of the teens, police said.

The father fired one round at him and multiple rounds at a nearby vehicle, which the teen was supposed to get into, according to police. The father told police that he believed the group was a threat and feared for his life.

— DRJ

7 Responses to “HPD: Teen killed after group reportedly targets east Houston home with paintball guns”

  1. This kind of thing has happened before in other places (owner of home firing gun at crowd of teenage boys) and we don’t even know whether his claim of being afraid is true, let alone if that gets him off.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/23/nyregion/23trial.html

    [The prosecutor] cited trial testimony that indicated that Mr. White fanned the gun menacingly at each teenager and that Daniel did not lunge, but rather defiantly slapped the gun away, with Mr. White retraining it on him, then shooting him point-blank in the face.

    But Mr. White said the shooting happened accidentally after he began turning to retreat and Daniel lunged at the gun. He testified that he told his wife to call 911. The killed teenager must have thought the homeowner was bluffing, and the jury evuidently did not believe the homeowner’s version at trial.

    He got more time in jail for the gun possession than for killing the boy. Two years for possession of the gun, and 1 1/3 to four years for manslaughter.

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/man-set-free-in-teens-racially-charged-death

    Sammy Finkelman (db7fea)

  2. The words starting with:

    “The killed teenager must have thought the homeowner was bluffing,”

    are mine and are not from the New York Times.

    The words starting with:

    “Two years for”

    are from the CBS story. New York Governor David Paterson commuted the man’s sentence on his last day in office to time served, which was a little less than six months.

    Sammy Finkelman (db7fea)

  3. In the New York case, the father probably killed the teenager because the teenager did not show that he was afraid of the gun. He might still have gotten off, depending on the judge;s instructions, if he hadn’t lied to the jury.

    Sammy Finkelman (db7fea)

  4. I’m sorry, Sammy, but Texas laws and New York state laws regarding gun ownership, and defense of yourself, your family, or your property after 7:00 p.m., are as different as … well … Texas and New York. The only thing they have in common is that they are both written in English.

    nk (dbc370)

  5. I think anyone would feel anxiety at having 10-15 older teens with any kind of “guns” outside their home and late at night, but walking outside and then spraying the car doesn’t sound right.

    It reminds me of the Joe Horn case. Ultimately, Horn was not indicted.

    DRJ (15874d)

  6. As I recall, Texas Penal Code Section 9.31 (self-defense) and 9.41 (defense of property) are the applicable laws.

    DRJ (15874d)

  7. Here is the New York version of stupid, dangerous teens, Sammy.

    DRJ (15874d)


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.1119 secs.