Shooting in Florida

[Michael]

I'd rather see him vs. Danny Bonnaduce.

[windwalker]

"I was polite. I asked them nicely. ... I said, 'Hey, would you guys mind turning that down?' They shut it off, and I was like, 'Thank you,' " Dunn tells police.

One of the passengers became "agitated," Dunn further explains, and someone turned the music back up. Dunn says he wasn't sure if the teens were singing, but he heard someone say, "Kill him," so he rolled down his window and asked if they were talking about him.

"It was like, um, 'Kill that bitch,' " Dunn says, claiming that he saw one of the Durango's occupants produce what looked like a shotgun and open the vehicle's door.
Asked later if he was certain he saw a gun, he replies, "I saw a barrel come up on the window, like a single-shot shotgun ... It was either a barrel or a stick."

"I'm sh***ing bricks, but that's when I reached in my glove box, unholstered my pistol ... and so quicker than a flash I had a round chambered in it, and I shot," he says, adding that he has owned the 9mm handgun since 1990 and "always" keeps it fully loaded in his glove compartment.

He initially fired his weapon four times, Dunn tells police, and the Durango began to pull away.
"I was still scared and so I shot four more times ... trying to keep their heads down to not catch any return fire. And that was it," he says.

His girlfriend exited the convenience store to see what was happening, and Dunn told her, " 'Get in the car. We have to go.' I didn't feel safe there," he recalls during the interrogation.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/05/justice/f ... der-trial/

again whats up with Florida

[vadaga]

we talked about that gas station shooting when it happened. The evidence from the security cameras from the gas station will probably provide a much less contested verdict than what happened in the Zimmerman/Martin case

BTW have dash cams started to take off in the USA yet?

[windwalker]

funny you should ask that, just visited taiwan last yr,
a friend said that they use them all the time there for proof
when an accident happens.

http://dashcamtalk.com/dash-cam-manufacturers/

[gzregorz]

we talked about that gas station shooting when it happened. The evidence from the security cameras from the gas station will probably provide a much less contested verdict than what happened in the Zimmerman/Martin case

BTW have dash cams started to take off in the USA yet?

Just on police cars.

[Steve James]

Cameras are becoming standard on many US cars. However, they are for backing up. Many taxis in NYC have interior cameras. But, forward looking cameras are not common yet --except as G noted, on police cars.

Imo, there's a fear of privacy invasion, especially when cameras are connected to recording devices or the internet. Poor drivers wouldn't want records of their driving, and they might resent being watched by other drivers. Imagine if all cars were information highways for the police searching for suspects?

I think there'd be an incentive to install those cameras if there were an insurance discount.

[Steve James]

Ya know, this brings us to google glass, or, more generally, to the ability of an individual to record everything he or she sees. Just like the Gopro cameras athletes have been using. It would certainly affect cases where someone claims "I thought he had a weapon." There might be less debate when it comes to charging an individual, though interpreting audio/visual material isn't foolproof either.

Otoh, what that would also mean is that someone would always be watching you. There was a show on UK tv called "Black Mirror." One of the episodes showed a world where everyone recorded everything they saw and heard and could upload it to the internet or to a tv, etc. So, if your gf asked where you were last night, she could also ask for the tape. Imagine. The accused could have their tapes reviewed to find out whether they were guilty.

Ok, otooh, people could always just rerun the favorite times in their lives. That might be an entirely different problem.

Anyway, Florida is having some interesting cases for a place that is touted as being so safe. None of these are gang related, inner city or drug crimes. Just killings. To be fair, I have heard of people being killed over loud music or even for more trivial reasons, like stepping on someone's sneakers or wearing the wrong color handkerchief. Then again, that's the point. The plea wasn't "self defense." It can't be first degree, but "unintentional manslaughter" or "depraved indifference" murder charges can carry relatively light charges. It's the difference between claiming that you intended to kill, as opposed to it being the unfortunate result. Hey, the guy who shot the kid in the van says he saw a gun being pointed at him as the van started to drive away.

[windwalker]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/201 ... munication

soon they will be able to do a lot more then just record things
hey it wasnt me the car did it

[grzegorz]

I think it's a foregone conclusion that in all these stand your ground cases the defendant is almost always going to say, "I thought I saw a gun."

But I'm willing to wait to see how this case plays out, at least the police did their job this time.

Here's the full CNN story.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/06/justice/f ... ?c=&page=1

[Steve James]

at least the police did their job this time.

Actually, the defense is claiming that the police didn't do their job. The guy claims there was a gun, but none was found. The defense says that the police didn't do enough to search the area, though they did find a knife in one of the teen's pockets. Iirc, it was the one who was killed. The defense also says that the teens probably ditched the weapon when they were driving away. Witnesses say that the vehicle went 100 yards away before returning to the station and calling 911. Otoh, the shooter did not call 911. Rather, they packed up and went on a trip after seeing the reports on the news. He didn't turn himself in; he was "apprehended" elsewhere.

I was just reading an article about the trial. The lead defense attorney said that "God didn't make men equal. Colt did, and that's a firearm." So, it's gonna be a "man's got the right to defend himself" case. Shucks, who can argue with that. Waiting for a verdict is anticlimactic. The only surprising thing to me would be if the defendant (in lots of these cases) said that he made a mistake. In the big scheme of things, more people get killed by drunk drivers.

[grzegorz]

I hear you, I read the complete CNN article too. By the police doing their job I meant they actually conducted an investigation and the shooter was brought to trial without the need for the public to push for a trial. Obviously if the man can prove that be was in fear of his life he'll probably be set free. To me the real tragedy is that had he not had a gun he probably would have just parked somewhere else.

[Michael]

I think it's a foregone conclusion that in all these stand your ground cases the defendant is almost always going to say, "I thought I saw a gun."

Don't forget the police favorite, "He made a furtive movement."

[grzegorz]

Also today in Florida bail was denied for the shooter in the movie theater texting argument.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/07/justice/f ... -shooting/

[Steve James]

I don't know if I could live with myself if I killed someone over loud music, texting, thrown popcorn or even words. Guns give people the opportunity, true. But, in all these cases, there was the opportunity to simply walk away. Fear is always the reason given.

I wonder about their connection of fear to shooting. Damn, I'd hate to be that fearful.

[vadaga]

Ya know, this brings us to google glass, or, more generally, to the ability of an individual to record everything he or she sees. Just like the Gopro cameras athletes have been using. It would certainly affect cases where someone claims "I thought he had a weapon." There might be less debate when it comes to charging an individual, though interpreting audio/visual material isn't foolproof either.

Otoh, what that would also mean is that someone would always be watching you. There was a show on UK tv called "Black Mirror." One of the episodes showed a world where everyone recorded everything they saw and heard and could upload it to the internet or to a tv, etc. So, if your gf asked where you were last night, she could also ask for the tape. Imagine. The accused could have their tapes reviewed to find out whether they were guilty.

Ok, otooh, people could always just rerun the favorite times in their lives. That might be an entirely different problem.

Anyway, Florida is having some interesting cases for a place that is touted as being so safe. None of these are gang related, inner city or drug crimes. Just killings. To be fair, I have heard of people being killed over loud music or even for more trivial reasons, like stepping on someone's sneakers or wearing the wrong color handkerchief. Then again, that's the point. The plea wasn't "self defense." It can't be first degree, but "unintentional manslaughter" or "depraved indifference" murder charges can carry relatively light charges. It's the difference between claiming that you intended to kill, as opposed to it being the unfortunate result. Hey, the guy who shot the kid in the van says he saw a gun being pointed at him as the van started to drive away.

i expect that the google car won't last long to be honest, eventually it will just be a 'google taxi' unless you are willing to pay extra to have a fulltime on-call google taxi sitting next to the door on your personal dwelling capsule.

Here in Taipei there are security cameras in many public places although i think the nighttime areas still have a ways to go