Posted on 03/03/2006 5:35:50 PM PST by CedarDave
ALAMOGORDO, N.M. — A former Otero County sheriff's deputy who fatally shot a man who had killed his partner will spend a year in prison and two years on probation after sentencing Friday.
Bill Anders reached a deal with prosecutors last August in which he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death of Earl Flippen. Anders had faced between one and seven years in prison.
Anders' attorney had asked for a lesser sentence, but Judge James Waylon Counts said state law required that Anders spend at least one year in prison for the crime.
Defense witnesses testified during Anders' sentencing hearing that the deputy snapped after his partner was shot in the head. Prosecutors argued that the ''rule of law'' needed to be upheld.
Anders and Deputy Robert Hedman had responded to reports of gunshots at Flippen's home on Dec. 18, 2004. They noticed blood on the floor, but Flippen refused to let them in. Anders went to call for help and Hedman went to the rear of the house.
According to state police, Flippen shot Hedman in the head behind the house, then Anders encountered Flippen near the front of the house and the two exchanged shots.
Court documents say Flippen was wounded and incapacitated. Anders took his gun and handcuffed him before going to check on Hedman. A videotape taken from his sheriff's department truck showed that Anders returned, rolled the handcuffed man onto his back and shot him.
Investigators said Anders didn't recall the events as shown on the videotape. Eric Westfried, an Albuquerque clinical psychologist who testified for the defense Thursday, said the fuzziness of Anders' memory was triggered by acute stress disorder...
Inside the home, police found the body of Flippen's pregnant girlfriend in a closet. Authorities believe she was killed before deputies arrived.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
It was a bad situation no matter how you look at it. It would be a passion much greater than my ability to withstand to take him out.
I put dogs, deer and many living breathing subjects out of their misery in the course of my job, I think I sould be able to put this one out of my misery.
I really hated to say this as even a remote possibility of such an occurance of my involvement, but the reason I would even consider such an act would be because of the liberal courts having established a president of not dealing with this type situation in a just manner.
When evil stares you in the face, you better not pretend it is not there. If you do, of one thing you can be certain – sooner or later it will come to bite you. Standing up to fanatics entails unpleasantness and in the short run appeasement seems the more prudent way, but in the end it invariably carries a price. Appeasement does not avert confrontation; it only delays it. And in the interim the evil grows stronger and more audacious.
The posted article is a tough one to air openly. But here we are.
As a civilian juror, I'd probably be giving a gut check speech at deliberations.
He did the public a great favor...and his temporary insanity
was understandable..
He should not have to do one single day of prison...and after therapy and some paid vacation time...if cleared by a couple of independent docs...should be returned to duty..if he wanted
imo
Putting this LEO in prison is a crime...
A very good summary of the situation, IMO.
Should have given him a medal
The person who said a civilian who did the same thing would be treated much more harshly is right too.
ALAMOGORDO— District Attorney Scot Key said the manslaughter case against former Otero County sheriff's Sgt. Billy Anders put him in "just about the most uncomfortable position to be in."
But the DA said justice had to be done and the sentencing hearing for the former lawman— who shot the man who killed his partner— began Thursday.
Anders pleaded guilty last August to a charge of voluntary manslaughter in the Dec. 18, 2004, shooting death of 38-year-old Earl Flippen outside the victim's residence near Cloudcroft.
A videotape taken from his sheriff's department truck showed that Anders shot Flippen, who was wounded and had his hands cuffed behind his back, at close range after the pair had engaged in a brief gunfight.
Moments before delivering the final, fatal shot, Anders discovered that his partner and close friend, Deputy Robert Hedman, had been shot and killed by Flippen behind Flippen's house as the officers investigated a shooting report.
Investigators later discovered that Flippen had also killed his pregnant girlfriend, 30-year-old Deborah Rhoudes, and was trying to dispose of her body when the deputies arrived at his house.
As the sentencing phase of Anders' case began, Key did not ask District Judge James Counts to impose the maximum seven-year sentence but simply to consider prison time between one and seven years.
Attorney Robert Doughty II, who is defending Anders with attorney Gary Mitchell, asked Counts to give the defendant no more than the minimum one-year sentence and to allow Anders to serve his time outside of prison, monitored with an ankle bracelet.
The courthouse was heavily guarded, with streets blocked off by police on three sides because intelligence reports indicated prison "chatter" about potential threats to Anders. Flippen was a member of a white supremacist prison gang called the Aryan Brotherhood.
Sheriff John Blansett thinks Flippen was also about to kill Rhodes' 3-year-old daughter, whom Blansett said had been injured by bullet fragments when Rhodes was shot.
Shooting between Flippen, a convicted felon, and the officers erupted soon after Hedman and Anders arrived. Flippen killed Hedman, then Anders and Flippen exchanged shots after the two confronted one another at the side of the house.
Anders' friends and supporters in the Sacramento Mountains have raised thousands of dollars for his defense fund.
Also check out this link for further background info on Flippen and his Texas connnections:
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?pid=952
The man killed his girlfriend, killed an unborn child, wounded a three year old, and then shot a cop. He needed killin.
Apparently, none of the four had a wound where Goetz thought he had shot someone, but he remains convinced to this day that that is what he had done.
Based on that show and the forensic evidence that showed things couldn't have happened as Goetz recalled, I'd say the possibility exists that Anders' recall of events contradicted what the videotape portrayed.
PING for morning readers!
Don't you just love AP and/or copy room editors? They use the word "alleged" as if there is some question that Flippen shot Anders' partner. Is it in their liberal handbook that "alleged" must be used until a jury has convicted the killer then change to using that word. Since Flippen is dead, their adjective will no doubt remain "alleged".
Thanks for posting this Dave.
Your welcome.
For non-NM readers, hear is an article and video from ABQ channel 7:
http://www.thenewmexicochannel.com/news/7670020/detail.html
hear = here
This was taken from a COP board I frequent on the article posted here.
Mtncat."Ok, for the "rest of the story here.
First of all keep in mind that Bob and Billy are/were friends and Bob and I had worked together for awhile when I was still an LEO.
THe ONLY reason that Billy pled guilty was the feds told him that if he didn't they would charge him and make it a capital (death penalty case) and they would guarantee that he would not be allowed to post bond nor would the trial be held any where near NM. That in itself is "BS" but that is the game they played.
In the exchnage of gun fire, the POS was hit 3 times. One of those rounds was in the head and one was in the chest. NEITHER of these rounds would have allowed the POS to survive. It was not ever brought out which of these rounds was fired last but it was fired into a "dead man" for all intents and purposes. The only reason he has to do a year in jail is that in NM the "firearm enhacement" charge is a mandatory 1 year and may not be suspended.
There were alot of "things" that happened that night that were not brought out at the sentencing hearing.
Several things that would be clear if you lived on this mountain.
EMS perosnnel responed to the call prior to being called as they were montoring the radio at the time of the call and they KNEW that they were responding to not only an LEO down BUT that this particular LEO was also a member of there dept. and ran fires and EMS runs with these folks on a regular basis. It has never been said openly but I would be willing to bet that the POS would not have survived regardless of the fatal wounds! Not to mention that in the best of circumstance Also, this happened an hour away from the nearest medical facility. Overall a BAD incident that has ruined a couple of families, Bob's and Billy's, the POS had already ruined his. One other thing, a HUGH amount of money was collected for Billy's defense fund and he has dontated all the "left overs" to the little girl who's mother the POS killed that night. Evidence at the scene indicated that the little girl was to be the next one killed by the way. Ok, I'll turn it off now!
One other thing here. I would look for a full pardon from the Governor in the near future. Should go along with a medal!"
When did that come out-- must have missed it...
Don't know more than what I heard on KKOB about the Cody Posy case, but from the sound of it, that kid should've gotten ahelluvalot more than free health care. Like a good 30-40 years in the big house, for example.
I figure that nobody will really know what actually occurred on that ranch. That being said, the kid committed three murders. Sounds like he's getting the mother of all free rides here.
So that must be the guy-- the father who made national news by shooting his son's molestor in the airport. Guess I misremembered that the perp killed the son in addition to molestation. Always wondered what happened to the father. Have to check A&E listings.
Thanks for your comments. I know folks up on the mountain and their feelings toward this whole situation. I had forgotten that the feds had gotten involved and were ready to take over prosecution if Anders got too sweet a deal. Listen to the Channel 7 tape if you haven't already. The county sheriff is more blunt than most officials in saying the world isn't better off with Billy in prison but is better off with Flippen dead.
I wouldn't look for a pardon from Richardson unless it somehow gets him in the national spotlight, involves spending more taxpayer money, or is requested by his environmentalist friends.
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