Gun crime: Is this justice?

[vraiblonde]

Go read:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4174-2005Mar3.html

By pleading guilty to manslaughter instead of manslaughter while armed, Boykin avoids, on that charge, the mandatory minimum five-year term for using a gun in the killing.

Yes, Alice, you can kill someone with a gun then plead you killed them but you were unarmed and thus not be charged with being armed...which is how you killed someone in the first place.

Fearful of the Condon Terrace students, especially Richardson, Boykin and a couple of his friends bought a gun and smuggled it into school on the day of the shooting, witnesses testified.

and...

"I didn't intend on hurting anyone," Boykin told the judge.

Oh, thank God. What with the gun and all, one could get the wrong impression.

The .380-caliber pistol was in Boykin's pocket when he saw Richardson near the cafeteria that morning. Smiling at Boykin, Richardson called him "pretty." The taunt enraged Boykin, who punched Richardson, sending him to the floor and setting off the brawl, witnesses said.

In his testimony last fall, Boykin told the jury that he reached for the gun and began firing because he thought Richardson was reaching for a knife or gun.

So, while not intending to hurt anyone our fine young man attacked the kid he soon murdered?

And, you're not gonna believe this:

The jury convicted Boykin of assault with a dangerous weapon and a firearms offense, both stemming from the grazing of the second student. The firearms charge carries a five-year minimum prison term.

HE WAS NOT CONVICTED OF KILLING THE OTHER KID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Larry Gude]

Oopsie....

...while the picture is somewhat representative of me on Abba night, the name is wrong.

It should say "VraiLarry"

 

[kwillia]

...while the picture is somewhat representative of me on Abba night, the name is wrong.

It should say "VraiLarry"

*whew* I was starting to think Vrai has been spending way to much time with you...

 

[RoseRed]

...while the picture is somewhat representative of me on Abba night, the name is wrong.

It should say "VraiLarry"

 

[aps45819]

What do you expect from the "I ain't responsible District of Columbia"

 

[Sharon]

Couldn't have happened...

GUNS are banned in DC.

 

[Larry Gude]

I dunno...

GUNS are banned in DC.

...I re-read it. Maybe somebody didn't get the word? Maybe his lawyer said 'Your Honor, guns are, as you well know, illegal in the District, therefore, your honor, my client couldn't possibly have shot anyone..."

Dismissed!

 

[Ken King]

This is the scary part "The case went to trial in November. The jury acquitted Boykin two weeks later of first- and second-degree murder charges after hearing him testify about the fear that he said led him to open fire. Jurors were split on the manslaughter charge."