Legal Homicide in Texas

[catskills]

The law in Texas seems upside down to me. :blink: Wife gets caught and over reacts. Yes she is partially responsible for some of what happened. This doesn't mean her husband has the right to go on a killing spree and has no responsibility for his actions. Texas has some weird laws. Note to self don't visit Texas. :smash:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/05/03/texas.slaying.ap/index.html

 

[riverc0il]

I can see the wife being partially responsible in such a case. However; clearly, the husband who fired shots and did the killing should have been the one going to jail and doing time. I could see a very light sentence as an accomplice for the wife. Sounds a bit like the legal system and the jury might have had it out for her because she was caught cheating. There are self defense clauses that knock down homicide charges depending on various circumstances. Perhaps they are looking at self defense extending to a good Samaritan saving someone who is being physically attacked in the worst way short of death. Seems like a very short news article on a story with a lot of nuance. Hard to judge something like that without all the information.

 

[severine]

Sadly, that sort of thing happens a lot. There was a case like that (well, maybe not the wife lying and claiming rape) in my own small town a couple years ago. Temporary insanity? I could see how the rage would blind someone like that and shut off the parts of the brain that control right and wrong. I definitely see the wife as partly responsible in this case because had she not claimed rape, MAYBE her husband wouldn't have killed the guy. MAYBE.

Touchy situation.

 

[catskills]

Sadly, that sort of thing happens a lot. There was a case like that (well, maybe not the wife lying and claiming rape) in my own small town a couple years ago. Temporary insanity? I could see how the rage would blind someone like that and shut off the parts of the brain that control right and wrong. I definitely see the wife as partly responsible in this case because had she not claimed rape, MAYBE her husband wouldn't have killed the guy. MAYBE.

Touchy situation.

MAybe. If she did not cry rape, her husband would have probably killed both his wife and her lover, then he would have gone to jail for sure. The lover was dead either way. So she took full responsibility by calling rape, she lived and her husband got off. On the other hand maybe she wanted to end the marriage and planned this whole thing out thinking he would go to jail for life. Unfortunately, she forgot what state she was in. :uzi:

 

[severine]

Not necessarily (re: the lover was dead either way). Perhaps the husband was shooting under "self-defense"? Just because you catch your spouse with another doesn't automatically = shooting them. KWIM?

 

[andyzee]

I think justice was served. Three cheers for Texas!

 

[marcski]

It's not so far fetched. Part of any criminal trial is the "mens rea" or intent of the defendant. (There can be "transferred intent" but that's another story). The classic example of "temporary insanity" is killing the other man who's with your wife, which in some states would insulate the person from the killing.

In this case, he had no reason not to believe his wife, when "she cried rape". If I had a gun and someone was raping my wife, I think I'd use it too!

 

[ComeBackMudPuddles]

If I had a gun and someone was raping my wife, I think I'd use it too!

Yeah, but the facts were different....

"and her husband fired four shots into the truck as Devin LaSalle drove off, killing him"

The husband wasn't trying to save his wife from being raped, he shot at the victim while the dude was driving away....

 

[catskills]

Yeah, but the facts were different....

"and her husband fired four shots into the truck as Devin LaSalle drove off, killing him"

The husband wasn't trying to save his wife from being raped, he shot at the victim while the dude was driving away....

Wow shot him in the back running away and he still got off. I wonder what his defense was? Texas sure is different.

Tonight I was real late getting out of work. Loss track of time. Called home and my wife was pissed because she was going to cook those nice steaks the were marinating in fridge overnight. Wife said I had to get Chinese take out food on the way home. I was thinking. I bet if we lived in Texas I could demand the wife to cook the steaks even though I was going to be late. :smash: Both my wife and I had a good laugh at that one.