Here is another case of citizen intervention that was not needed (no threat to life of another) and then went very bad.
Like many such cases, there are a lot of undisputed facts. Nobody disputes that the defendant initiated an encounter with the deceased. Nobody disputes that the defendant was struck, nor that he caused the death of Hernandez. The difference, however, is in the spins put on those facts: Well intentioned citizen gets overwhelmed by the situation vs "Regulator" who started an incident- then takes it too far.
After a deadlock, the defendants are being re-tried for the murder of John Hernandez. The first trial got off to a rocky start for the prosecution as the jury came very close to a not guilty verdict on the Second Degree murder charge and only showed tepid support for a conviction on several lesser charges. For this trial, the Houston County DA has assigned new, experienced prosecutors and plans to introduce new evidence.
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-...g-case-set-to-begin-second-trial-13316088.php
Given the totality, I would support a Manslaughter conviction, but not a Second Degree Murder unless the prosecution could show that the defendant had a pre-conceived intent to go on say, “regulator” patrols and confront those engaged in poor social conduct. Regardless of who pushed who first, TT initiated the confrontation, and then had total physical control over Hernandez, yet continued to maintain a chokehold after being repeatedly told that it was endangering the victim’s life.
As a side note, Terry Thompson was also acting under the guidance of his wife, a Houston deputy. Given how the “arrest” was so botched, my guess is that she was not a patrol deputy and had very little or no real world law enforcement experience.
Like many such cases, there are a lot of undisputed facts. Nobody disputes that the defendant initiated an encounter with the deceased. Nobody disputes that the defendant was struck, nor that he caused the death of Hernandez. The difference, however, is in the spins put on those facts: Well intentioned citizen gets overwhelmed by the situation vs "Regulator" who started an incident- then takes it too far.
After a deadlock, the defendants are being re-tried for the murder of John Hernandez. The first trial got off to a rocky start for the prosecution as the jury came very close to a not guilty verdict on the Second Degree murder charge and only showed tepid support for a conviction on several lesser charges. For this trial, the Houston County DA has assigned new, experienced prosecutors and plans to introduce new evidence.
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-...g-case-set-to-begin-second-trial-13316088.php
Given the totality, I would support a Manslaughter conviction, but not a Second Degree Murder unless the prosecution could show that the defendant had a pre-conceived intent to go on say, “regulator” patrols and confront those engaged in poor social conduct. Regardless of who pushed who first, TT initiated the confrontation, and then had total physical control over Hernandez, yet continued to maintain a chokehold after being repeatedly told that it was endangering the victim’s life.
As a side note, Terry Thompson was also acting under the guidance of his wife, a Houston deputy. Given how the “arrest” was so botched, my guess is that she was not a patrol deputy and had very little or no real world law enforcement experience.
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