TX: Shooter with .17 Cal Rifle found not Guily in Murder Trial

Gun Watch ^ | 14 February, 2015 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

In this murder trial in Big Spring Texas, Sean Thomas Smith was found not guilty on Thursday, 12 February, 2015.   The shooting occurred on October 14th of 2013, involved an altercation where Smith shot 26-year-old Carlos Guerrero once in the chest with a .17 caliber rifle.  The shooting is said to have occurred in Guerrero's yard.  Smith then left the scene and was later stopped by police.  The rifle was in the vehicle.

Smith plead not guilty, by reason of self defense.  Details of the events that lead up to the shooting have been hard to come by.  From  newswest9.com:

BIG SPRING - Not guilty, that was the verdict in the murder trial of Sean Thomas Smith, that ended on Thursday.

Smith was accused of killing Carlos Guerrero, nearly a year and a half ago, claiming it was self-defense.

This is the first self defense shooting with a .17 caliber rifle that I recall.  The trial received remarkably little coverage on the Internet.   Other than the fact of Guerrero being shot, Smith being arrested, and Smith being found not guilty,  I have found almost nothing about what happened.  You would hope that a convincing account, that matched up fairly well with physical evidence, would be required to sway the jury.   A unanimous vote of the 12 jurors was necessary for the not guilty verdict.

Perhaps an alert reader will be able to find out more details about this case.


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

It would be interesting to know what happened.

[Mmogamer]

.17 caliber?

[DesertRhino]

A trial, and a not guilty verdict,,,, and the facts are hard to come by?

[DesertRhino]

A screaming little rimfire that’s necked down for a 17 cal spritzer. Looks like a miniature 223. Common varmint round. Deadly at social distances, and very very nasty beyond.

[marktwain]

At least they are hard to come by on the Internet. I hope that there was local print coverage.

I read the comments in the local digital coverage, and did not find a single reference to what the defense presented, other than they claimed self defense.

Surprising.

[DesertRhino]

Spitzer, I suppose you could have a spritzer after shooting the bandit.

[353FMG]

Is that not also an air rifle caliber?

[Safetgiver]

.17 caliber?....Yep. I bought one in 1963. I was sort of like a .22 with BB caps, but not as powerful. Bought it out of a magazine and learned how to shoot it like a gunslinger. No tin can in the neighbor hood was safe.

[Utilizer]

Close. You are thinking of the standard .177 cal, but they are available in other calibres as well.

[yarddog]

Yes. .177 is the most common caliber for air rifles. Probably because that is also the diameter of most BBs. I guess .22 is next most popular. 5mm probably should have been the most common but it never really caught on. There are of course various heavy caliber specialty air guns.

.17 caliber never became popular in America. I guess the .17 Hornady Magnum is the most common. Yes it would be deadly up close. The .17 Remington centerfire never really caught on either and I think is now discontinued.

[MileHi]

It would be interesting to know what happened.

Yep. Leaving without reporting would seem to be a bad move if it was self defense.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Sean Smith Found Not Guilty in the Big Spring Murder of Carlos Guerrero
http://www.newswest9.com/story/28098464/sean-smith-found-not-guilty-in-the-big-spring-murder-of-carlos-guerrero

[bandleader]

It’s an extremely high-velocity rimfire cartridge intended for varmint-hunting.

[MHGinTN]

If he was not guilty, and it was a murder, then he must not be the perp they were looking for, right?

[marktwain]

Thanks. I found that link. Almost no information in it about the defense.

[SkyDancer]

I think it’s .17HMR (Hornady Magnum Rimfire) ....if it was a pellet rifle it’d be .177 so I’m thinking it’s the rifle.

[Yo-Yo]

.17 HMR, a rimfire cartridge derived from a necked down .22 Magnum.

[editor-surveyor]

Same caliber as most pump air rifles.

[CopperTop]

Options are not limited to off the shelf offerings. Mebbe the guy's a reloading varminter and it could be a .17 Mach IV. A 20gr VMax at ~4000fps is a nasty l'il bugger at well more than "social distances". About the same for the .17 Remington. You can only stuff so much energy down that tiny hole at once, I reckon.
Owned both at one time or another. The Mach IV onna Sako Vixen and the 17 Rem out of a Thompson Pistol. Either was pure death on groundhogs. d;^)

Or mebbe it was a pellet rifle.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Before the adoption of the 5.56MM rifle ammo, the BRITISH wanted a .17 caliber centerfire combat rifle.