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The Trial of Bernhard Goetz
University of Missouri KC - Via RealClearHistory.com ^ | 12/22/2012 | Doug Linder (2011)

Posted on 12/22/2012 10:42:48 AM PST by Kid Shelleen

The Saturday afternoon before Christmas in 1984, on a New York City subway car making its run downtown, two black teenagers approached Bernhard Goetz. One of the teens said to the slightly built blond man, "Give me five dollars." Seconds later, Goetz fired five shots from his Smith & Wesson revolver and four young men were injured--one with a severed spinal cord. After the train came to a quick stop, Goetz jumped to the tracks below and disappeared into the darkness of the subway tunnel. City newspapers quickly dubbed the gunman "the subway vigilante." During the early 1980s, New York City experienced unprecedented rates of crime. Murders during the decade averaged almost 2,000 a year and, in the city's increasingly dangerous subway system, thirty-eight crimes a day, on average, were reported. Citizens did not feel safe. It is not surprising, therefore, when the city's newspapers ran stories on the December 22 shooting on the IRT express, the shooter was widely praised for his actions: "Finally," many a New Yorker said, "someone has had the courage to stand up to these thugs --SNIP-- Three years earlier, Goetz had been mugged by three African-American young men and he had a permanently damaged knee to show for it. He resolved not to be a victim again and regularly carried a .38 revolver in his waistband.

(Excerpt) Read more at law2.umkc.edu ...


TOPICS: History; Society
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Comment #21 Removed by Moderator

To: stormhill
Then, in clear and brazen violation of Double Jeopardy, he was tried again and convicted

There was never any double jeopardy. Goetz was tried once, and only once, by the State of New York on criminal charges. He was sued by Darrell Cabey, the thug he paralyzed, in civil court.

You may be confusing the fact that the grand jury added attempted murder charges to its original charges after hearing Goetz told the police he said "you don't look so bad, here's another" before taking a second shot at Cabey. That was done pre-trial.

It's also possible you're confusing the fact that the New York Court of Appeals overturned a pre-trial ruling by the criminal court judge, which made Goetz meet a higher burden in his justified use of deadly force defense.

However, there was no double jeopardy.

22 posted on 12/22/2012 1:01:04 PM PST by Scoutmaster (You knew the job was dangerous when you took it)
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To: jttpwalsh
My dog carries my money in his harness.


23 posted on 12/22/2012 1:02:32 PM PST by Salamander (If animals could speak, mankind would weep.)
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To: Salamander

I used to put a spare house key on my dobie’s collar.


24 posted on 12/22/2012 1:06:33 PM PST by Duchess47 ("One day I will leave this world and dream myself to Reality" Crazy Horse)
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To: Duchess47

And nobody ever broke into your house...;D


25 posted on 12/22/2012 1:07:36 PM PST by Salamander (If animals could speak, mankind would weep.)
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To: Salamander

LOL - one day I left her inside, raining I think. Came home to a screen off, laying on the porch. Window was not open however. When I got inside, the blinds were a mess. I figure someone intended to break in and met her on the other side of the glass.


26 posted on 12/22/2012 1:13:15 PM PST by Duchess47 ("One day I will leave this world and dream myself to Reality" Crazy Horse)
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To: Mr. K

It was not two muggers, it was four. I remember it well. I lived exactly one block away from him at the time, used to see him in the neighborhood often. The subways were a horror then, and remained so until Giuliani came in as mayor. The change was so huge, it was like night and day. He turned the city from a dump into something wonderful.
He took a stand against Arafat and Castro when they came here to the U.N. He would have made a terrific president, but he seemed too liberal for the Right. So look at what we have now.


27 posted on 12/22/2012 1:13:56 PM PST by kabumpo (Kabumpo)
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To: Mr. K

It was not two muggers, it was four. I remember it well. I lived exactly one block away from him at the time, used to see him in the neighborhood often. The subways were a horror then, and remained so until Giuliani came in as mayor. The change was so huge, it was like night and day. He turned the city from a dump into something wonderful.
He took a stand against Arafat and Castro when they came here to the U.N. He would have made a terrific president, but he seemed too liberal for the Right. So look at what we have now.


28 posted on 12/22/2012 1:15:38 PM PST by kabumpo (Kabumpo)
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To: Salamander

Smart Pup ;)


29 posted on 12/22/2012 1:23:13 PM PST by jttpwalsh
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To: Salamander

Gorgeous Dobie!!


30 posted on 12/22/2012 1:30:14 PM PST by Fast Moving Angel (A moral wrong is not a civil right: No religious sanction of an irreligious act.)
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To: Kid Shelleen
Perhaps Bernhard Goetz is related to Goetz von Berlichingen, the German knight who won fame for his bravery and defiance in the face of hopeless odds.
31 posted on 12/22/2012 1:38:30 PM PST by Fiji Hill (i)
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To: jttpwalsh

Yeah. It was important to give any muggers back then enough cash to buy drugs with for their next fix, or they’d get very angry with you for not carrying enough. Also, it was essential to give them the impression that they’d gotten everything of value that you had.


32 posted on 12/22/2012 1:44:22 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: stormhill
Oh, and by the way, apropos of absolutely nothing, a plurality of the jury that acquitted him was black.

Not surprising. They were probably sick and tired of being prey for the wolf packs, themselves.

33 posted on 12/22/2012 2:12:09 PM PST by SuziQ
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To: kabumpo
The whole Dinkins administration was a horror.
It is worth noting that leftists who would not think twice about abolishing the Second Amendment routinely criticized Giuliani for civil rights violations.
34 posted on 12/22/2012 3:07:42 PM PST by Kid Shelleen (Beat your plowshares into swords. Let the weak say I am strong)
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To: Kid Shelleen

You are right, the Dinkins administration was like a preview/warm-up for the Obama nightmare. And you are also right about the leftists who were always calling Giuliani a dictator. He should have been mayor of NYC for life.


35 posted on 12/22/2012 3:18:07 PM PST by kabumpo (Kabumpo)
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To: Kid Shelleen

You are right, the Dinkins administration was like a preview/warm-up for the Obama nightmare. And you are also right about the leftists who were always calling Giuliani a dictator. He should have been mayor of NYC for life.


36 posted on 12/22/2012 3:18:15 PM PST by kabumpo (Kabumpo)
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To: Scoutmaster
"You don’t look so bad, here’s another.”

For some reason I kind of like that quote.

37 posted on 12/22/2012 3:39:21 PM PST by boop ("You don’t look so bad, here’s another.”)
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To: boop

Let me fix that.


38 posted on 12/22/2012 3:41:04 PM PST by boop ("You don't look so bad, here's another")
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To: Duchess47

I’ve lost more mini blinds from people who tried to look in the window when nobody answered the door.

Imagine their surprise when the blind came crashing down to reveal what was ripping at it.

;)

Now that I’ve got a security camera recording all the time, I keep hoping for video of somebody.


39 posted on 12/22/2012 6:55:36 PM PST by Salamander (If animals could speak, mankind would weep.)
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To: Fast Moving Angel

Thanks....:)

(But he’s racist)


40 posted on 12/22/2012 6:58:54 PM PST by Salamander (If animals could speak, mankind would weep.)
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