Posted on 08/17/2019 8:13:56 PM PDT by Tired of Taxes
A jury found a grocery clerk guilty of killing a 17-year-old boy who ran out of the store with a beer he didn't pay for in Memphis, Tennessee, in a case that had sparked protests, authorities said.
Anwar Ghazali was convicted of second-degree murder after a four-day trial, Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich said Friday.
"This defendant took it upon himself to be the judge and jury and the executioner over a $2 beer," prosecutor Lora Fowler said, according to CNN affiliate WMC.
The shooting happened in March 2018, after Dorian Harris walked out of the Top Stop Shop with a beer without paying, Weirich said.
Security video of the incident played in court shows that Ghazali, while behind the counter dealing with another customer, pulled out a handgun and pointed it at Harris. He then ran outside to follow the teen and fired several times.
Afterward, he returned to the store and told a witness, "I think I shot him." He did not call the police, and neither did any other customer inside the store, WMC reported.
Harris was shot at least three times and was left to bleed out, Fowler said. His body was found two days later in a yard near the store with gunshots in the back of his thigh, Weirich said.
Ghazali's defense attorney, Blake Ballin, told CNN in an email that Ghazali maintains he acted recklessly that night but his intention was never to harm Harris.
He said they were pleased that the jury rejected the prosecution's argument that this was a calculated and premeditated murder motivated by the theft of a beer. That would have come with a potential life sentence.
Ghazali is expected to be sentenced on September 23.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Sew how that turns out........
Sorry, gotta chime in again. From the article “...Ghazali maintains he acted recklessly that night but his intention was never to harm Harris.”
So, what’s the defense here? I reckless fired many bullets at this man, but I never meant to harm him?
You see, it’s the NRA’s fault, for not having enough firearms safety classes!
“In the low trust societies he came from the shopkeepers will kill you if you steal stuff.
We should import more people from low trust societies says the liberals...”
Thank you Madam (I assume your gender!)
Well said Pontiac.
Only okay if in NY City and the item stolen was a pack of cigarettes.
What a moron
Yeah, that defense sounds like a reach. That’s probably all they had.
If he were in the shooters home country, the decedent would probably alive with a missing hand.
Initiation of Force, Fraud, or Theft. These are the things that define when a REAL crime happens. Not just some arbitrary edict or tyrants random requirement... But real crimes.
A real crime has a Perp, a Victim, and damage done via force, fraud, or theft.
IMO... The thief brought this on themselves. Silly way to commit suicide.
Then again, this could be why I don’t get selected for juries either.
“WE KNOW this wasnt going to be his last or worst crime.”
OMG, this is really over wrought. I know this guy stole one can of beer. I really would not care if this guy stole a beer every day of his life, I don’t think the penalty for that is ever death. Maybe - MAYBE this random shoplifting beer guy would have gone on to commit worse crimes, but quite frankly he’d have a way to go before he got to one for which death is the penalty.
No, shoplifting is not OK, and I worked in retail and I know what a SERIOUS problem theft is, but you don’t shoot somebody in the back because they stole some merchandise from your store.
Swain(who was my pick) finished 3rd, 3k behind Briley, and Cooper finished 10k above him.
Like you, I also worked in retail. Shoplifting was a big problem.
But we were told to never, ever touch a shoplifter, never chase after them, etc. We would call the store detectives, and they photographed people and called the police.
I’m speculating that the dude probably raged as a result of many thefts over a period of time, and this kid probably caught him on the exact wrong day.
Definitely not a justifiable killing. He’s gonna have to do time, and the kid ain’t coming back. Very sad.
Bet he won’t do that again...
Sounds like the correct verdict. Lethal force is reserved for situations involving threats to life. Not money or beer.
“...his intention was never to harm.”
Some lawyers will be dishonest in the courtroom. Shooting someone who is running away is just stupid. Of course, the clerk probably had to deal with minor thefts every day and the robber who stole a beer was probably the last straw for the stupid clerk.
Only time i would do so is if i believed they were retreating to regroup and do another attack.
Afterward, he returned to the store and told a witness, “I think I shot him.” He did not call the police, and neither did any other customer inside the store, WMC reported.
Harris was shot at least three times and was left to bleed out, Fowler said. His body was found two days later in a yard near the store with gunshots in the back of his thigh, Weirich said.
Murder!
The US has not reached that low yet, I hope.
It would be my guess that this is not a low but the local standard for hundreds of years.
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