Posted on 05/02/2016 2:25:05 PM PDT by Chasaway
I need some general firearms/ballistics information.
I'm working on a criminal defense case. The defendant is accused by the state of shooting his girlfriend in the back of the head with an AR-15 at 10 feet...using a .223 round.
The defendant is a real scumbag and knows he's going to the pen over this. BUT, he claims he accidentally discharged the gun, it caromed off of a linoleum-covered concrete floor and then struck her. It all occurred in a very small kitchen.
My working hypothesis is that this WAS an accidental shooting and that the bullet DID ricochet off of the floor. That means that the defendant couldn't have MEANT to shoot her, because there is no way to accurately predict, ad hoc, the performance of a bullet after caroming off of a concrete floor.
Also, if he HAD shot her directly from 10 feet, I wouldn't expect the round to fragment and stay in her brain pan and I would expect to see some other residue from the round on her clothes or in her hair, etc.
I know virtually nothing about .223 bullets/ballistics.
Normally, I would expect a .223 FMJ bullet to zip right through a human head at that distance.
David Petraeus once took a 5.56 round through the chest and was up jogging two days later.
It could possibly be a manufacturing defect in the bullet itself.
There’s an electronic copy of Unintended Consequences at https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Uploads/129/Media/Unintended_Consequences.pdf
Look at page 704, and you’ll find a reference to a bullet exploding in flight without hitting anything. In that case, the bullet is moving faster and rotating faster than the .223 bullet likely was, but it’s a possibility you might want to pursue.
You might also want to inquire over at www.ar15.com.
I.
Am.
Not.
His.
Lawyer.
I am a PI retained by the defense to determine certain things. Do you have any [ballistic/forensic] information to add?
Geez.
And it’s “advice”, not “advise”.
Beside the point...”Unintended Consequences”...that is an AWESOME book!
I have sent it to everyone I care about.
True.
But I wouldn’t suggest citing it as evidence in a trial. ;-P
Hmmm...I don't think your guys are defending this fellow. Do you want to?
If not, are you going to offer any help or answers to my questions?
Or are you just going to make comments?
What, no answers or "free" information? Just criticism?
And you're not involved in this case?
Wow...that's really surprising.
I'd think someone of your stature would be offering legal counsel, or in the alternative, helpful advice, rather than criticizing someone who isn't using your group.
Funny.
But still, it ought to be required reading.
Not the best literature, maybe...but terrific gun culture philosophy.
My personal experience is that a high speed projo like a .223 hitting something as hard as linoleum on concrete (very hard) at any angle between 45 and 90 deg splatters almost like a liquid leaving a much reduced fragment travelling in the primary reflected direction.
..Im a private investigator. My client is a lawyer...
If you are a PI,you would know that this info needs to come from an expert in the field because what you get on an internet forum is worthless.
Someone is paying you for this? You sound more like the defendant himself trying to create a fact pattern for your own defense. At any rate, this effort you are attempting here is certainly amateurish.
LOL, that cat is badazz.
I think this I'd the most probable general assessment your going to get here about a straight shot at ten feet. Unless ballistics can show a fragmenting round of some kind, and assuming FMJ solid point (designed to tumble at 223 caliber), this is very likely what would happen. So if the victim still has a face, and the bullet is in the skull (and therefore it can be confirmed as a solid point), it probably, was not a straight shot. There's just to much power in the round at a mere ten feet, which is virtually point-blank range for a rifle, not to have otherwise blown the face off while exiting the head.
“what you get on an internet forum is worthless”
Do you mean like Buckhead and Dan Rather?
FYI, McDonald's coffee is only a buck, and its better than Starbucks.
Someone is paying you for this? You sound more like the defendant himself trying to create a fact pattern for your own defense. At any rate, this effort you are attempting here is certainly amateurish.
Part of research is brainstorming, just enquiring whether an idea deserves formal investigation and is therefore worth the effort. That seems to be what's going on here.
At last -- the pertinent question!
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FReepMail being composed for you, Chasaway...
RTFT! Private investigator...
Agreed. This don’t smell right.
CC
You're welcome.
I saw this first-hand when my BIL tried firing 5.56mm in his Ruger Mini-14 (chambered for .223) and blew out the extractor resulting in the rifle making a trip back to the factory for repairs.
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