General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat. The. Fuck.
I can't believe this is happening in our United States.
Jury Acquits Texas Man For Murder Of Escort Who Refused Sex
A Texas jury acquitted a man for the murder of a woman he hired as an escort, after his lawyers claimed he was authorized to use deadly force because she refused sex.
Ezekiel Gilbert shot Lenora Ivie Frago in the neck on Christmas Eve, after she denied his requests for sex and wouldnt return the $150 he had paid her, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Under Texas law, an individual is authorized to use deadly force to retrieve stolen property at night, and Gilberts lawyers cited that provision as justification for Gilberts action, reasoning that Frago had stolen $150 from him by taking his money without delivering sex. In a police interview played for jurors, Gilbert never mentioned anything about theft, a detective told the San Antonio Express-News. Frago, who was 21, was critically injured and died several months later.
While the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida has generated notoriety for NRA-backed Stand Your Ground laws, which authorize the unfettered use of deadly force without a duty to retreat in defense of ones person or home, Texas exceedingly broad law goes well beyond this, to allow deadly force in protection of any piece of tangible or movable property.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/06/06/2117161/jury-acquits-texas-man-for-murder-of-escort-who-refused-sex/
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)now that this story has come to light.
Curmudgeoness
(18,219 posts)Texas law allows for just about an deadly force with a gun....
Read those words carefully. Under Texas law, if I see some kid getting ready to spray-paint his name on an underpass after dark, I can kill him. Criminal mischief at night can be a Class C misdemeanor involving less than $50 in damages, but in Texas, it effectively carries the death penalty. (Unlessand I can say this for damn surethe youngster is a wealthy white boy. Then the murder charges will come raining down.) The enraged shooter can also kill anyone fleeing with a piece of property that isnt his.
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/eichenwald/2013/05/why-ezekiel-gilbert-s-acquittal-proves-the-lunacy-of-texas-s-gun-laws
I lived in Texas....I have heard all about these laws, but at the time, I thought that it was just talk. Lately, the lunatics have started to run the asylum.
JanetLovesObama
(548 posts)You'd have to live here in Texas to know just how fucked up this state is. I hate this shit hole. Planning to move to Oregon at the end of this year. Wish me luck !
Maraya1969
(22,497 posts)OrwellwasRight
(5,170 posts)Especially to a Californian.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)I would go back to Cleveland. Of course lately my home state has been doing crazy shit, too. Wish I could afford the PNW
BootinUp
(47,187 posts)we'd be within our rights if we shot you where you stand."
Guess the movie.
Maraya1969
(22,497 posts)BootinUp
(47,187 posts)And they would not have been within their rights, they would have just lied after t hey killed the guy they were talking to. Sounds like Texas is sort of like a cowboy movie.
Skittles
(153,193 posts)I believe that gal got spooked and was running for her life
BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)This story is just sick.
Skittles
(153,193 posts)my guess is, he's the kind of guy who REALLY gets off on fear, and pulled the gun as part of a sex game - he is indeed one sick fuck
Maraya1969
(22,497 posts)I can't believe I just wrote that sentence.
MattBaggins
(7,904 posts)This was a bad definition of theft.
Any money that guy gave her for coming to her house was a gift. I can't believe that even under Texas law, you can demand a gift back and then claim theft. This was murder.
Prosecutor was not very good.
madokie
(51,076 posts)I think this is an indictment on how a lot of people view a prostitute and this young woman would clearly be in their minds a prostitute. This verdict does not surprise me one bit