General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRoad-Rage Incident/ Court Hearing
Let justice flow down like water, and righteousness a mighty stream.
-- Amos 5:24
There was a pre-trial court hearing in Norwich, NY, today for John Guzy, the man who shot my cousin and his son last October. The incident, which was a case of road rage, is something that Ive wrote about here on DU:GD previously. In fact, with the support of the DU community, we were able to set the countys record for both contacts with the District Attorney and Judge, with people demanding that bail not be set for Guzy.
In todays hearing, the defendants attorney requested that the judge block the prosecutor from using any of the physical evidence and all statements his client made to police, before being arrested. This is because Guzy has recently decided upon another lie that he hopes to tell the jury -- that his victims had been stalking him, and that a desperate last resort, he had to shoot them to save his own life.
The attorney also requested the court bar any mention of a similar case, just two months prior, where Guzy had dogged another vehicle on Rt. 17 -- a four-lane highway, in which he could have simply passed -- then pulled ahead, slammed on his brakes, and got out of his vehicle and pointed his handgun at the other vehicle. They escaped injury, but reported the incident to police. Guzy pleaded guilty, apparently to a lesser charge. This was one of four very similar incidents of Guzy -- a retired NYC cop, who was employed by the county Sheriffs department in October -- threatening peoples lives with his gun. In fact, he had discharged the weapon in the direction of his neighbors children last summer, while they were on their own property, because they were making noise that annoyed him.
My youngest daughter and I were among nine of our extended family in court today. It is extremely rough for my cousin, who held his son while he bled to death on a gravel parking lot, and my aunt and uncle (in their late 80s). To sit and look at this vile individual was difficult. I was glad that he was chained, hands and feet.
The decision about the evidence will take at least two months. We are confident that he doesnt have a leg to stand on. Two NYS Police officers, including a Senior Investigator for the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, testified. They also produced recordings of Guzys initial lies to police, when on his own accord, he went to press charges against his victims. He believed at the time that both were dead, and thus that there were no witnesses to dispute his lies.
The actual trial hasnt been scheduled yet. It could be in October, or perhaps later. (One scheduling issue is that my cousin and I are planning a trip to Ireland and Scotland. Im just getting a one-way ticket. I expect he may opt to return.)
I will keep folks here updated as things progress.
Peace,
H2O Man
malaise
(268,724 posts)cousin faced as his son bled to death.
Keep us posted WaterMan
scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)May the prosecutor prevail!
Suich
(10,642 posts)kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)May there be a just and favorable outcome for your family.l
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)AuntPatsy
(9,904 posts)niyad
(113,095 posts)absolutely sickening piece of scum that guy is.
I am going to continue to hope that the outcome is correct. a friend who was a victim of a bizarre road rage situation at about the same time as yours, has now seen the would-be-murderer sentenced to 30 years.
onecaliberal
(32,786 posts)Raine1967
(11,589 posts)msanthrope
(37,549 posts)NBachers
(17,085 posts)CaliforniaPeggy
(149,534 posts)Unbelievable, the lies people think they can get away with. I am aghast.
I trust the judge will refuse to allow this to happen.
Stalking! I have no words.
My heart is with you and your cousin.
calimary
(81,139 posts)So sorry that you all have to go through this! What a nightmare.
I hope this guy gets what's coming to him. Keeping you in our thoughts.
kairos12
(12,844 posts)My condolences.
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)Everything he does just screams cowardice.
I wish you and your family well, and I hope the judge does the right thing.
Hekate
(90,565 posts)Downwinder
(12,869 posts)and law enforcement in general.
lovemydog
(11,833 posts)Peace.
H2O Man
(73,513 posts)everyone who responded. I appreciate the "recommends" and especially the kind and caring messages of support.
mmonk
(52,589 posts)Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
malthaussen
(17,175 posts)Refuse to admit any evidence that may tend to prove the defendent is a rabid animal that should be locked away for the good of society.
Two months to rule on such idiocy? It shouldn't take two minutes.
-- Mal
erronis
(15,185 posts)I haven't gone back to your earlier postings but I do remember the horror I felt when you presented this a few months ago.
While I understand that defense attorneys have an obligation to represent their client, I wonder at what might go through this particular one's mind when having to make a case for someone like Guzy.
Perhaps the defense attorney is doing this as part of the common good - court-appointed, or perhaps this attorney thinks that Guzy is actually innocent of the crime. Or perhaps this attorney believes that this will bring notoriety to his/her reputation.
annabanana
(52,791 posts)I can't imagine that this attempt to block pretty much ALL the evidence will stick.
immoderate
(20,885 posts)--imm
Phentex
(16,330 posts)He'll get his.
Thinking of you and your family!!!
samsingh
(17,593 posts)hootinholler
(26,449 posts)Are you planning on moving to Ireland?
Thanks for the update, sending my thought your family's way.
a kennedy
(29,618 posts)Warpy
(111,175 posts)to consider the case before them, only. So brace yourselves for that one. As for suppressing physical evidence, the judge will likely tell them to go pound sand. As for the statements he made to the cops, that can be iffy territory.
If he was fully shackled in court, it's likely he's been misbehaving in jail. Even in preliminary hearings, defense attorneys generally like to present these bastards as the soul of innocence and upstanding members of the upper middle class.
I hope Guzy's guy manages to talk his client into pleading down to manslaughter. That would keep him in a cage until he's too old to remember which end of a gun the bullet comes out of and public safety will be served.
I'm just sorry you have to go through this. Been there.
peace13
(11,076 posts)I am so sorry for your loss and these difficult times that drag on. I send you love and healing energy. Tears and sadness here, for the pain that your family has endured. Stay strong and visualize justice for the crimes and a day when breathing will be easier.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Plato Compares Human Memory to Wax Tablets
(Circa 369 BCE)
Socrates: Please assume, then, for the sake of argument, that there is in our souls a block of wax, in one case larger, in another smaller, in one case the wax is purer, in another more impure and harder, in some cases softer.
Theaetetus: I assume all that.
Socrates: Let us, then, say that this is the gift of Memory, the mother of the Muses, and that whenever we wish to remember anything we see or hear or think of in our own minds, we hold this wax under the perceptions and thoughts and imprint them upon it, just as we make impressions from seal rings; and whatever is imprinted we remember and know as long as its image lasts, but whatever is rubbed out or (191e) cannot be imprinted we forget and do not know.
Theaetetus: Let us assume that.
Socrates: Now take a man who knows the things which he sees and hears, and is considering some one of them; observe whether he may not gain a false opinion in the following manner.
Theaetetus: In what manner?
Socrates: By thinking that the things which he knows are sometimes things which he knows and sometimes things which he does not know. For we were wrong before in agreeing that this is impossible.
Theaetetus: What do you say about it now?
---------------------------------------------------
Plato's complete discussion in the Theaetetus of false judgment as the inappropriate linkage of a perception to a memory the mind as a wax tablet appears in lines 191a196c of the dialogue.
SOURCE: http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=3993
Memories. They're how we build the future. Keep going forward, noble H2O Man. Walk far and see all you can in Ireland and Scotland. Come back Stateside when you're ready, if you want.
AwakeAtLast
(14,124 posts)For peace and healing, as well as justice.
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)Ilsa
(61,690 posts)for your family and others awaiting justice. We'll wait with you. (I can't imagine the pain and anger.)