In Texas trial of "I'm standing my ground" shooter, the defense rests without calling witnesses.

[pnwmom]

This is about Raul Rodriguez, who took his gun to complain about noise from a birthday party, and ended up shooting three people (and killing one). Apparently, his lawyer thinks his case is so strong he doesn't need to put on a defense.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gzUdfO5rVo8BMPCpfgPnMn3qrU-g?docId=e38cbcaf286949899a57bfe2a0d00beb

Stradley then said the defense would rest without presenting any testimony.

Prosecutors have tried to show during the trial that Rodriguez had a history of not getting along with Danaher and other neighbors.

One neighbor, Terri Hackathorn, told jurors Tuesday that Rodriguez bragged about his guns and told her one could avoid prosecution in a shooting by telling authorities you were in fear of your life and were standing your ground and defending yourself.

Texas' version of a stand-your-ground law is known as the Castle Doctrine. It was revised in 2007 to expand the right to use deadly force. It allows people to defend themselves in their homes, workplaces or vehicles.

____________________________________

And here's an edited video, where you can hear him claiming, among other things, that a police officer is drunk.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Wife-of-man-shot-by-neighbor-over-loud-party-3628006.php

[TheWraith]

1. Well, he's about to go to prison. nt

[awoke_in_2003]

7. I wouldn't bet money on that...

the jury comes from Texas, after all.

[freshwest]

10. Texans have no problem with sending people to prison for gun crimes.

And if jurors are squeamish about the death penalty in capital cases, they aren't seated. Don't know if this guy will get off.

[awoke_in_2003]

12. True...

But many down here will feel he was defending himself, which is, of course, ludicrous.

[freshwest]

13. Maybe some will, but by the time the law charges someone, there's a chance they've got a good case.

Texas has had a lot of violent crime and people don't care for it. The witnesses to his behavior may sway the jury.

I think it odd the defense didn't go the full way. It might be grounds for him to make an appeal later.

[freshwest]

2. Or they felt they had no defense? I'll be disappointed if they let him walk. So will LEO's, I bet.

[Xipe Totec]

3. The key word in "Stand Your Ground" is "Your"

If it's not YOUR ground, you have no right to defend it, anymore than a thief can stand his ground in your living room.

I hope he fires for this.

[freshwest]

8. I keep saying that. Plain language doesn't work when people don't think.

I suspect from previous threads that this guy had a lot of problems with being logical. He'd even been kicked out of his fire fighting group, had tried to bully neighbors with a gun. No respect for the consequences, but illogical folks don't think there ever is a consequence. I'll be looking at LBN to see what the jury did.

[HopeHoops]

4. They call it "castle doctrine" in PA too - it means "shoot minorities at will".

[onehandle]

5. Another hero of gun culture. nt

[MagickMuffin]

6. Well let's see shall we, he was not at his home, workplace, or vehicle

He went out of his way to walk to his neighbor's house and let the situation escalate out of control. So, he shot off his mouth and used a gun to kill someone and harming others.

And video tapes it to boot. What a moran

[freshwest]

9. Operative words, 'not' and 'his' ground. This seems a simple case of if not murder, manslaughter.

[MagickMuffin]

11. I would opt for murder

He deliberately took the law into his own hands and decided he would put an end to his troubles. Only thing is this is just the beginning of his troubles.

With that said if he gets off the hook with his nonsense of SYG, then he should have his license to carry a weapon revoked. Since he doesn't understand the law and obviously goes looking for trouble while carrying his big gun and threatening people with it.

Hopefully the jury will see through his bs.

[freshwest]

14. I'm surprised they didn't use an insanity defense, really, for him or Zimmerman.

[obamanut2012]

15. That is... odd

[pnwmom]

16. Isn't it? How can the defense attorney be so confident? n/t

[Initech]

17. They should change the name of "Stand Your Ground" to "Do You Feel Lucky Punk?"