Posted on 10/06/2014 10:36:10 AM PDT by Cheerio
(Newser) – A man who fired a warning shot at his daughter's troubled boyfriend and told him "the next one's between your eyes" got 20 years for doing it—and by law has to serve every day of the sentence, CBS News reports. "And I was just like, 'What?'" says Florida resident Lee Wollard, who insists he was defending his family. "You know, the blood just drained out of my head. I almost passed out." But the charges against Wollard were serious: child endangerment, aggravated assault, and shooting into a building with a firearm. He was also swept up in a US legal movement known as mandatory minimum sentencing, which appeared in the late 1980s as a way to lock up drug dealers and customers, including first offenders, in America's "war on drugs."
Activists say it has led to prison overcrowding and cases that strike some as extreme—like the music producer with no criminal record who got 55 years for selling marijuana to cops while carrying a firearm, or a 19-year-old in Texas who may face 20 years over a tray of hash brownies. But supporters argue that the threat of harsh sentences enables prosecutors to persuade suspects to plea bargain rather than enter costly, time-consuming trials. The debate is ongoing, as Maine Gov. Paul LePage argues for mandatory sentencing in domestic violence cases, the Bangor Daily News reports, and California quietly nixes a mandatory 90-day jail term for those under the influence of narcotics, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Even Florida ended its current penalty for firing warning shots, but too late for Wollard. "Everything, everything is gone," he says.
If he shot to kill he would proabably have gotten half the time...
Could the guy get a governor’s pardon?
Too bad he didn’t fire a shotgun. He could have gotten Joe Biden to testify for the defence.
Yep, just kill ‘em next time.
I did some checking about, and this story is even worse than it appears. First, the incident happened back in 2008, and Mr. Wollard has been serving prison time for the past six years. Second, the BS railroading this guy is getting from the system is unimaginable. Believe it or not, even Change.org is going to bat for this guy.
The Highlights:
-Several hours prior to Wollard firing a single shot into his own living room floor as a warning, the daughter’s boyfriend had attacked him - viciously enough to rip out the stitches from a recent surgery Wollard had have - simple because Wollard tried to keep the boyfriend from dragging his daughter off.
-When Wollard fired the shot, the boyfriend had been punching holes into the living room wall, and advanced on Wollard with clenched fists.
-The police arrested Wollard a month later when the boyfriend, again trying to forcibly remove the daughter from the house, called the cops on Wollard. Wollard did not brandish a weapon at this time, but put his arms around his daughter to prevent her from being taken off.
-Wollard had unsuccessfully tried several times to get a restraining order against the boyfriend, who would take the daughter out for days at a time.
-Wollard declined a plea deal for probation, on the grounds he felt he acted in self-defense. (Which he DID, if you ask me!)
-Even the judge and one of the police officers involved with the case have said the “mandatory minimum” sentence is grossly excessive.
“had had and simply”
Sorry for the typos.
Sometimes, judged by 12 is not a winning strategy. That said, this case is ripe for a pardon which is the safety valve in our judicial system.
And in this case it's certainly "for worse", and this guy should never have spent a single day incarcerated.
“I missed and he left. I’m pretty shaken about the whole thing.
How do I file a restraining order”...my response...
Wow, 20 years for firing a warning shot. I remember 1978 when Dan White murdered the San Francisco mayor and a supervisor. He used a “twinkie” defense of being nuts, and got 7 years of which he only served 5 years. It was really a premeditated murder, as evidence came out later he had planned to kill 2 others as well. But he only got 7 years for a double murder and served 5. This poor man is threatened with 20 years for a warning shot! Stupid legal system.
“California quietly nixes a mandatory 90-day jail term for those under the influence of narcotics”
So these strict laws that came about because of the war on drugs are now giving an exemption to people on drugs in CA?
Governor Scott (or Governor Crist, God forbid) should pardon this guy.
My tagline: The cure has become worse than the disease. Support an end to the WOD now.
I'm all for locking criminals up who pose a danger to society but firing a warning shot at a daughter's crazy boyfriend is not criminal. Stupid perhaps, but not criminal.
I had warning shots fired at me once. I was about 12 years old and visiting with relatives in Alabama. We took a shortcut through somebody's watermelon patch and this old redneck in bib overalls comes out on his front porch and shoots a couple rounds over our heads. He thought we were stealing his watermelon or maybe he just had too much moonshine. Anyway, we shouldn't have been on his property and we beat a hasty path back to the blacktop. Back in those days, you didn't even call the cops for nonsense like that. Plus, if we did call the cops, we'd probably be taken in ourselves for trespassing.
Even in New York a person may use deadly force to stop a kidnapping in progress. If the so-called boyfriend was in fact trying to take Wollard's daughter from the house by force, then perhaps Wollard should have used deadly force rather than firing a warning shot.
Was it a warning shot, or really crappy aim?
I have a huge problem with this quote. Translated, it says that prosecutors are given arbitrary powers to hold out for disproportionate and cruel sentences in the name of administrative convenience.
The assumption of course, is that the prosecutor wielding his power only cares about expeditious justice, and isn't corrupted by the power. Like that Nifong guy was in the Duke lacrosse players' case. /S
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