GA: Black CCW holder exonerated; 2011 case dismissed as Self Defense

Gun Watch ^ | 4 August, 2015 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Four years later, a black man is exonerated by the criminal justice system.  In September, 2011, Vernon Michael Rich, Jr. pictured above, gave a ride to co-worker who was worried about a violent attack by her ex.  From savannahnow.cm:

The woman told police Wells walked up behind her as Rich was turning his car around to leave. Wells started arguing with her, demanding to know who Rich was. Wells tried to hit the woman, police said, but she backed away and sprayed him with Mace.

That’s when Wells allegedly walked over to Rich’s car and started hitting him as he sat in the driver’s seat. The woman said she heard a gunshot. Police said Rich called 911, admitted to shooting Wells in his upper torso, and gave them the gun used to do it.

The police arrested Vernon Rich, and charged him with voluntary manslaughter for shooting Wells.  It took four years, but a court finally dismissed the charges:

“Based on the testimony, the court finds that defendant had a reasonable belief that he needed to defend himself from a violent attack by the victim,” Karpf said.

He also ruled the defendant’s use of force was not excessive under the circumstances, the defendant “was lawfully carrying the weapon, and that he did not leave the scene, but instead immediately called 911.”

It is this sort of application of the law that will convince black men that they can find justice inside of the system.   The ability to legally carry a weapon is a powerful incentive to use it responsibly;  use it irresponsibly, and you lose the legal ability to possess it.

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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[marktwain]

For black people to be integrated into society, they have to believe that the criminal justice system works better than street justice.

The left has been indoctrinating them in the opposite for 50 years.

[Sasparilla]

Too bad it took four years. Lawsuit coming for abusive prosecution/false imprisonment. Hope its a big payday.

[BykrBayb]

It is this sort of application of the law that will convince black men that they can find justice inside of the system.

They held this over his head for four years.

[LambSlave]

Four years?!? I bet he spent a bit of that time in jail, and spent tens of thousands in legal fees for a decision that should have been made without the need for a jury at all. This is not justice.

[Bogey78O]

Courts are getting gummed up by naive liberals who ignore centuries of lethal force precedent all because they think it’s never appropriate to shoot a man attacking you unless he has a gun out and pointed at you.

[Mount Athos]

Four years of thinking you’re likely to go to jail for a long time. That’s horrible.

[FreedomPoster]

Doubt it. I’d bet the DA’s office is covered via soverign immunity.

I just looked, and the current Chatham County DA was elected in 2012, after this case was well under way. FWIW.

[penguinhunter]

“liberals ........think it’s never appropriate to shoot a man attacking you unless he has a gun out and pointed at you.”

Not just pointed at you. The bad guy has to have actually shot at you and either hit you or just barely missed you to be justified in shooting back.

[Stentor]

Perhaps he could have drove away being he was in his car, but that would have left the women alone with Wells. However, Rich looks to be a good sized man so why didn't he just man handle the situation, unless Wells was a big man too.

Comment from the article above; No one will be allowed to have the chance to hit me in the head because of the potential for serious damage. This is especially true since I've been on Effient. My time on the street is not about some boxing contest.

[ontap]

Who’s the idiot DA that brought the charges. He needs to be prosecuted for unwarranted prosecution.....if that is even possible!!

[marktwain]

The Supreme Court has ruled that prosecutors have absolute immunity in the performance of their official duties.

There was a case just a few years ago where a prosecutor had a witness lie, more than once, to persecute a local whistleblower. The case was thrown out of court two or three times, but the court ruled that the prosecutor and witnesses working for him had absolute immunity.

http://reason.com/blog/2015/03/09/the-problem-with-prosecutorial-immunity

http://watchdog.org/134476/immunity-prosecutor-lawsuit/

[jwalsh07]

Good on him.