Posted on 11/21/2014 7:28:49 PM PST by Bettyprob
Georgia Man Shoots and Kills Driver Who Mistakenly Pulled Into His Driveway . . . Allowed To Plead To A Single Misdemeanor With No Jail Time and A $500 Fine
There is a surprising plea deal in Georgia this week where Philip Sailors, 69, was accused of responding to Rodrigo Diaz pulling into his driveway by mistake by shooting him in the head and killing him. Sailors has now been allowed to plead out on a single misdemeanor for involuntary manslaughter with no jail time. He was facing a murder charge. Under the plea bargain, Sailors will serve 12-months’ probation and pay a $500 fine. What is equally striking is that Sailors declined to say a word of apology to the family of Diaz when he appeared in court to accept the plea bargain of lifetime.
Diaz appears to have pulled into the wrong driveway while following a mistaken GPS in January 2013. He was trying to find the driveway of his friend across the street to go roller-skating. When Sailors saw a strange car, he came out shooting: firing once in the air and once through the windshield of the car. The second round struck Diaz in the head.
(Excerpt) Read more at jonathanturley.org ...
So this old psychopath doesn’t serve any time in jail?
“District Attorney, Danny Porter, said the family was on board with the plea deal.
“They are not in a position where they want to have Mr. Sailors sent to prison for the rest of his life,” Porter said in court. “They are in a position where it is most important to them, that the public understand that Mr. Diaz, who was driving the car, was not committing any crime. (He) was not engaged in any unlawful activity, was not engaged in anything even improper.”
As we first reported in May, the Diaz family sued Phillip Sailors citing he acted negligently.
Attorneys say there was a settlement in which the family received an undisclosed amount of money.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/gwinnett-co-man-pleads-guilty-driveway-shooting/nh8r5/
It could be that, however. A combination of good-ole-boy government and an illegale family that wanted to keep a low profile and not be made famous in a trial.
What is being hinted at but left out is that the defendant probably made a very generous settlement with the family so that they would accept the plea deal. Now why the DA went for such a plea, I can not imagine.
Might even be that the man promised them his home or other things that he could not give if he had to mount a criminal defense.
Man, we would all be dead.
POSSIBLE...Yes. My first thought was “Witless Protection Program” had Sailor as a member of their club fed.
And yet, you did.
And the reason you did is that I made a reasonable argument that the guy was found not guilty because of facts Turley hid from us.
If you want to call it a reply.
So if someone is walking on a sidewalk in front of your house and accidentally puts a foot in your yard, you have the right to shoot them? Do you realize how crazy that is?
I wouldn’t call an unfounded assumption an argument either so I guess we define a lot of words differently.
So what is this post called?
Poking an atherosclerotic old fart.
Based on this report - the idiot belongs in prison.
Maybe there is more to the story.
You raise a VERY good point. Will have to keep my eye on this story, and see how it plays out. Thanks for your reply.
Crime rates in Lilburn by Year |
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Type |
2001 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
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| Murders (per 100,000) |
0 (0.0) |
0 (0.0) |
0 (0.0) |
0 (0.0) |
0 (0.0) |
0 (0.0) |
0 (0.0) |
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| Rapes (per 100,000) |
2 (17.3) |
1 (8.6) |
2 (17.3) |
4 (34.4) |
2 (17.2) |
0 (0.0) |
3 (24.8) |
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| Robberies (per 100,000) |
25 (215.9) |
37 (319.9) |
30 (259.8) |
31 (266.7) |
24 (206.1) |
26 (221.3) |
22 (182.1) |
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| Assaults (per 100,000) |
16 (138.2) |
21 (181.6) |
20 (173.2) |
16 (137.6) |
21 (180.3) |
27 (229.8) |
21 (173.9) |
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| Burglaries (per 100,000) |
126 (1,088.1) |
111 (959.6) |
127 (1,099.9) |
127 (1,092.5) |
108 (927.4) |
114 (970.3) |
99 (819.6) |
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| Thefts (per 100,000) |
295 (2,547.5) |
411 (3,553.2) |
423 (3,663.6) |
381 (3,277.4) |
441 (3,787.0) |
594 (5,055.7) |
656 (5,430.9) |
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| Auto thefts (per 100,000) |
22 (190.0) |
63 (544.7) |
50 (433.1) |
35 (301.1) |
28 (240.4) |
32 (272.4) |
34 (281.5) |
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| Arson (per 100,000) |
N/A | N/A | N/A | 2 (17.2) |
0 (0.0) |
0 (0.0) |
2 (16.6) |
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| Crime rate (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 285.2) | 308.9 | 404.4 | 396.7 | 378.2 | 358.2 | 417.0 | 419.2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Here's an excerpt from one of the comments below the linked article:
"A similar scenario happened to one of my coworkers. He was caravanning with some people from work, and somehow followed the wrong car. The other driver began frantically trying to evade him, which he thought was his friend playing around. She drove home, pulled into her garage, and shut the door, while he got out in her driveway, laughing. Well, her hulking beast man husband was home, and was most displeased at the hysterical state his wife was in. The light bulb finally went off for my coworker, who scrambled into his car and burned rubber."
Something like the above situation could easily lead to an overreaction by the husband. I appreciate stories like these because they reinforce my attitude that retreat, whenever possible, should get a high priority.
The "castle doctrine" should be treated as a remedy for unjustified prosecution after the fact and not as an issue in choosing tactics before the fact.
He should be either in prison or the looney bin.
I think you’ll get your answer here.
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/man-gets-12-months-probation-500-fine-in-fatal-gwi/nh8sT/
An insurance settlement and support for leniency from the victim’s family had everything to do with the light sentence.
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