Posted on 09/16/2005 3:42:58 PM PDT by Jean S
Chai Soua Vang was found guilty this afternoon of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of six hunters in Wisconsin's north woods last fall.
A jury of eight women and four men deliberated about four hours before coming to their verdict.
Vang was also found guilty of two counts of attempted homicide in the shootings of two other hunters who survived.
Killed in the confrontation last Nov. 21 were Dennis Drew, 55; Mark Roidt, 28; Robert Crotteau, 42; his son, Joey, 20; Allan Laski, 43, and Jessica Willers, 27. Wounded in the shootings were Terry Willers, 48, and Lauren Hesebeck, 49.
Four of the victims were shot in the back, and all but Willers were unarmed.
The jury was faced with deciding whether to accept Vang's defense that he feared for his own life against a group of hunters who confronted him with hostility when they saw him in a tree stand on their property.
Jurors could have acquitted Vang, or convicted him on lesser charges of second-degree intentional homicide if they had determined he actually believed he was in danger but that his actions were unreasonable.
-More to come -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FRIDAY, Sept. 16, 2005, 5:16 p.m. Jury reaches verdict in Vang trial
A jury has reached a verdict in the trial of Chai Soua Vang, a Minnesota man accused of killing six hunters and wounding two others during a confrontation in Wisconsin's north woods last November. The verdict is to be read in a Sawyer County courthouse soon.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FRIDAY, Sept. 16, 2005, 1:39 p.m. Attorneys give closing arguments in Vang trial
An immigrant truck driver cannot reasonably claim he was defending himself when he opened fire on a group of hunters, killing six, the prosecutor told jurors today. But the defense said the confrontation was all about racial prejudice.
Chai Soua Vang ambushed some of the victims and chased down one of them, Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager said in her closing argument during the sixth day of Vang's trial.
In his closing, Vang's attorney, Steven Kohn, told jurors the prosecution cannot prove who fired the first shot. Vang had testified he started firing only after one of the hunters shot at him first.
"In the courtroom, the tie goes to the defendant," Kohn said.
Bingo. My thoughts also.
Thanks for the Ping PA.
another thread on the Guilty Verdict.
Excellent! Good work to the jury members. It appears that many fears held here were misplaced.
After reading a little bit of Vangs testimony I had little doubt that he would be convicted.
"I know quite a few and they have been curiously quiet about this case."
Do not you assume they are embarrased?
" If they jury had found him not guilty, the Anglo population would revolt."
? When's the last time the "Anglo population" revolted following a verdict?
He's guilty and no other vedict could be rendered.
Sad case? You bet! 6 people were killed in cold blood
An older friend of mine told me that when Berkowitz was caught, many of his fellow Jews went out of there way to prove that he was half-Jewish (he was adopted) until that was proven otherwise. No ethnic community wants to be identified with a mass murderer (as opposed to gangsta).
Thank the Lord for small miracles!
Yeh - shooting four unarmed people in the back is a little hard to sell as "self-defense."
You are welcome!
On, Wisconsin...
Unfortunately, we don't have the death penalty in Wisconsin.
First of all, why should I care about the feelings of his "community" when 6 people are dead at his hands? How about the grief of the victims' families and friends? That's what I care about.
Second, can you explain your disdain for, and ignorance of, "Anglos?"
Probably because they were aware of him being a pyscho to begin with.
The Hmong communities reaction is irrelevant. The issue was about whether or not a man took it upon himself to take the lives of 8 unsuspecting, innocent hunters, four of whom were shot in the back. Had he been found innocent, Anglo, Asians, Polynesians, etc. would have every right to voice their outrage.
Should the Hmong community react in objection over the verdict would speak poorly of their sincere sense of justice.
I understand that there may be FR's out there that would say the Hmong's know all about "sense of justice", given their history, but history doesn't justify a criminal act. This was indeed criminal, and justice was served.
The "Anglo" reference is not mine but the previous poster's, to whom I responded. It seems to be loosely used to mean "everybody else BUT the particular ethnic group under discussion." But, with that said, I don't think that very many social/ethnic groups that have been here a long time have the same insular attitude or a concept of a communal "face" to be damaged or lost.
. . . speaking as a Hiberno-Caledonio-Anglo-American, of course. < g >
No evidence for that.
I only wish that the "Anglo" or better yet, "American" population would revolt against the massive importation of people from utterly alien, inferior cultures.
"In the courtroom, the tie goes to the defendant," Kohn said.
Neck tie?
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