Posted on 05/02/2016 2:25:05 PM PDT by Chasaway
I need some general firearms/ballistics information.
I'm working on a criminal defense case. The defendant is accused by the state of shooting his girlfriend in the back of the head with an AR-15 at 10 feet...using a .223 round.
The defendant is a real scumbag and knows he's going to the pen over this. BUT, he claims he accidentally discharged the gun, it caromed off of a linoleum-covered concrete floor and then struck her. It all occurred in a very small kitchen.
My working hypothesis is that this WAS an accidental shooting and that the bullet DID ricochet off of the floor. That means that the defendant couldn't have MEANT to shoot her, because there is no way to accurately predict, ad hoc, the performance of a bullet after caroming off of a concrete floor.
Also, if he HAD shot her directly from 10 feet, I wouldn't expect the round to fragment and stay in her brain pan and I would expect to see some other residue from the round on her clothes or in her hair, etc.
Actually, this is how this started.
My attorney client wanted me to find an expert on guns and we started talking about the case. He wanted someone to evaluate the status of the rifle (working order, trigger mechanism, etc.) and as we talked I realized that wasn't at all where the case's fulcrum was.
The case hinged on whether the defendant's gun shot at the floor first, or at the victim.
If at the floor, then no murder.
Thus, my questions.
We haven't ruled out any experts. It's just that the target (excuse the pun) needs to be calibrated.
The floor was concrete with a linoleum covering.Most .223 bullets would break up when hitting the concrete,the fragments coming off the floor should be in a shotgun like pattern.
There is no indication of such. Once the defense attorney (court appointed) got the case, the concrete had been patched and new linoleum had been installed.
“Aha!” said Watson....”Defense has had no chance to examine the evidence.”
There’s some else to consider. A light powder loaded cartridge that reduced velocity.
Here is a photo of a jihadi reportedly shot at close range with an M4 (the military version of the AR-15). WARNING VERY GRAPHIC
http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp57/IkeMcgowan/sniper_shot2_292.jpg
If her head is intact, and the bullet fragmented and the bulk of it was in the skull as opposed to retaining it's shape and exiting. The ricochet story may have merit.
That’s the way I see it, too.
If it didn’t go completely through.
As I told the client, I would’ve expected it to be through her and out the kitchen window before she knew what hit her.
Thanks
C
don’t hate on laz, he has a big point in which why are you soliciting info form a political web site. your boss the real lawyer is gonna have to subpoena people who’s info he uses to testify, and transport/lodge them at his expense for the trial.
and everybody seems to be missing the boat - if your case hinges on the projectile remaining in the skull, you need to prove the absence of a squibb load
Thanks...
That fits.
I can’t make a straight shot work without some powder/bullet variant.
And I can’t see this guy having that.
What does the guy’s defense attorney say? You’re not the guy’s attorney.
He’s not an attorney. He is an “investigator.”
Dude!
I’m working for the guy’s attorney! He’s retained ME!
I’m doing the research for him.
Compared to me, he doesn’t know anything about firearms/ballistics.
It may be that he’s in his own little bubble, but he hasn’t thought about even asking any of these questions until I brought them up.
Unless it can be somehow established beyond a reasonable doubt that he only fired one round, it’s possible he put one round into her head and then fired a second round into the floor to generate an “accidental discharge” alibi.
Are there any indications of another bullet impact anywhere else in the room?
I don’t see how the bullet didn’t fragment into bits when it hit the deck. I’ve recovered a fair amount of spent rounds mostly from damp ground, and anything high-velocity always comes apart pretty well. Mind you, these were all mostly magnum handgun JHP stuff, but it should be very similar in performance to the AR ammo. Seems like she should have been hit with a bunch of fragments, not a [more-or-less] intact bullet. Just my 2 cents from an old gunner...
Nope. The state needs to prove the likely PRESENCE of a squib load. Burden of proof. Innocent until proven guilty. Reasonable doubt.
They've got a hole in the floor their own detectives on scene photographed. The hole indicates a shot, deflecting towards where the victim was positioned.
There is absolutely no reason to suspect a "squib". Nothing anywhere, no evidence, indicates there was one.
What I'm TRYING to do on this thread, is get ideas....threads to pull on. I think my hypothesis when held up against the evidence. I'm trying to determine what OTHER holes are in the DA's case.
I know what my "boss" needs to do. I do this every day. What I'm trying to do is help my "boss" where he's clueless.
And while FR is a "political web site" in one sense, there are probably hundreds of gun enthusiasts that could add something here if they see the request and want to.
I hope you're not suggesting that the only posts here should be political in nature. Because that's not been my experience. If that has changed, I'm sure someone will alert me to that fact.
But thanks for you kind help and encouragement.
I get your point, but how do you shoot a person in the head from 10 feet with a .223 and have it fragment in their skull?
And nothing was mentioned about any other bullet impacts anywhere in the room.
Good thoughts, though.
I'm a member at Armed Citizens Legal Defense Network, where there are attorneys that know guns.
I’m not an attorney.
To learn about .223 ballistics, I recommend you GOOGLE Beltway Sniper Ballistics and read everything written about this subject back when it occurred.
Another thing you might want to consider is the rifle’s firing pin. If this rifle had a free floating steel firing pin as most do, the firing pin could have detonated the cartridge primer when the bolt was released, as commercial .223 has softer primers than military 556 primers. I once saw this happen inside an aircraft when a man using commercial hollow point .223 and a steel firing pin in his M-4 charged his weapon slightly before he departed the aircraft and put a hole through the aircraft’s floor. Needless to say that really pissed off the pilot.
If your shooter used a rifle with a steel firing pin and commercial .223 ammunition, an accidental/negligent discharge could be an alibi.
OK, PI.
And I don’t “...have to post on FR...”.
Geez.
This used to be a community. We’d post lots of gun stuff: questions, brags, etc.
Now, there’s a bunch of nags, naysayers and desk jockeys who don’t know what they’re talking about.
I don’t know you, so I don’t know if you fit in any or those categories.
Suffice it to say, FR used to be a tremendous resource for people looking for information.
I used to consider it such.
According to you, should I not?
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