Posted on 02/29/2008 9:33:59 AM PST by CedarDave
Gov. Bill Richardson on Thursday tossed the political hot potato of a two-year prison sentence for Marine Elton John Richard II back into the judge's lap— and said he might act if the judge doesn't.
"Governor Richardson is urging the judge in this case to re-evaluate the harsh sentence," said a statement issued late Thursday by Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos. "Should he not take this step, the governor is willing to consider a request for executive clemency," the statement said.
Bernalillo County District Judge Albert "Pat" Murdoch sentenced Richard to two years in state prison last Friday for the Dec. 30, 2004, fatal shooting of Daniel Romero, who was attempting to steal Richard's Ford Bronco from in front of his house. ...
Richard pleaded no contest last October to voluntary manslaughter.
Murdoch said he will not reconsider the sentence. "I worked long and hard on the Elton Richard decision, learned everything I could learn about the facts and the law, and imposed a sentence that is fair under the circumstances," the judge said ...
~~snip~~
The state's self-defense law does not give people the right to chase down and kill a burglar, legal experts have said.
~~snip~~
An intense public outcry yielded over 160 calls and e-mails to the Governor's Office by midweek. Richard, a National Nuclear Security Administration courier with a Q clearance and a gun, left his house armed with a .38 revolver when he heard a noise and went to investigate what he believed was a break-in. Instead, he discovered Romero trying to steal his Bronco.
Richard first tussled with Romero, who held a mallet, in his front yard. He then chased Romero, ordering him to stop. At Paseo del Norte, about a quarter-mile from where Richard lived at the time, Richard fired a single, fatal shot.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
With that name...hasn’t he suffered enough?
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Got a lively thread here.
He didn't kill someone who was trying to break into his truck - he killed someone who had just murdered a pregnant woman and then murdered a close friend.
However, as a police officer, he was also expected to be more emotionally disciplined and professional.
Of course, Mr. Richard - as a Marine - was also used to the same expectations.
Mr. Richard isn't disputing the fact that he killed the guy after he was already blocks away from Mr. Richard's property.
No one thinks he's lying about the facts - the question is what does the statute require in the presence of the agreed-upon facts?
I’ll pass after 4 or 5 days of every genius in the state calling into Villanuchi about this.
Have a good weekend Dave.
Glad then that we can’t get KKOB down here!!
First, the guy who shot the perp trying to steal his private property should be set free. Second, the judge should be thrown off the court and be required to pay the veteran $500.00 a month for “cruel and unusual punishment”.
Oh, please.
If I saw someone messing with my truck and he ran off, and then by some bizarre chance I saw him again an hour later with a police officer nearby and I said: "Officer! Arrest that man! He tried to break into my truck!" it would be purely my word against his and the would-be thief would walk away laughing.
I have never heard of someone returning to kill a witness who saw him trying to break into a car.
Even if your scenario was in any way plausible, you're still not allowed to kill someone because you believe that they might try to kill you tomorrow.
He should have just let Romero have the Ford. My experience says that that would have been worse than being shot.
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Well, that's just silly.
Romero was probably sponging $500 a month off his family while he was alive.
His family probably owe Richard $30K.
Do you think 2 years in prison was enough in the Elton John Richard II case?
Too harsh, he was only protecting his property.
1692 72.1%
Too light, he should have gotten at least 6 years.
349 14.9%
About right, since a life was taken.
307 13.1%
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In some states you are.
Many states have a “perception” clause that says even if there’s no overt threat to your life, if you perceive one from someone, you’re justified in using deadly force.
I’d give the cop the benefit of the doubt.
I’d find it hard to convict him given the circumstances. That kind of pressure he doesn’t need.
That poor little baby. She’ll never be the same.
Stuff you’ve never seen continues to shock and amaze others. Over in DC they had gang-bangers assassinating witnesses to little more than pickup truck breakins.
I’d suggest you not ever visit DC. They’ll have you for lunch.
They put out an APB on his truck and a deputy in another city saw it and when he pulled it over and approached the truck from the driver's side they shot him, and then took off real fast leaving the deputy on the ground. They were going so fast, they didn't make the next turn, ran off into a ditch and high centered it, so they left it and took off on foot. More officers had already arrived as the deputy had called it in. They took the K-9 dogs and tracked them and caught them. The detectives told my son who they were and that he was lucky they got it back because they were heading to Mexico with it and he would never have seen it again. He had just bought it prior to them stealing it. The deputy wasn't hurt that bad and made a full recovery, but he could have died. God only knows who else they might have killed, so I have NO pity for that scumbag that was killed by Richard.
That applies only when you perceive the danger to your life to be at that present moment - not when you fear that someone may come back a day, a week, a month later to hurt you.
Again, if that was the standard, then you could kill anyone you wanted to - even if they were completely unarmed - and claim that you honestly believed that they were going to bring a deadly weapon to kill you the next day.
I've been to DC plenty of times.
I grew up in Queens and Bushwick, Brooklyn.
I've worked nights in the South Bronx and lived on the South Side of Chicago for years at a stretch.
My South Bronx stint was during the Dinkins administration when NYC was setting records for random slayings.
I eat bad neighborhoods for lunch.
Well, yeah, which is one of the reasons you really, really, really gotta’ behave yourself in some states.
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