Posted on 04/08/2010 1:58:41 PM PDT by Niuhuru
Usually, when someone who’s been a mainstay of a community gets shot and killed in his own home, there’s a public outcry to bring his killer to justice. But not in the idyllic Pacific Coast town of Fort Bragg, Calif., where the citizenry has risen up in support of the man who pulled the trigger.
Aaron Vargas has been in jail ever since Feb. 8, 2009, when police say he shot and killed Darrell McNeill, the man he alleges sexually abused him when he was just 11 years old. After the shooting, 12 other men came forward to say that McNeill, a former Boy Scout leader and popular member of the community, had also abused them. Some had reported the abuse but law enforcement officials took no action.
When the truth came out, the town rallied behind the 32-year-old Vargas. Citizens held demonstrations demanding that he be freed from jail. T-shirts supporting his cause are being sold, with the proceeds going to his legal defense. Cars sport bumper stickers supporting him. Even McNeill’s widow is defending Vargas.
(Excerpt) Read more at today.msnbc.msn.com ...
So, why didn’t LE do anything?
If I were on the jury I’d give him a day in jail as a token punishment.
Until child molesters get put to death in this country (not all ‘sex offenders.’ CHILD RAPISTS) I can’t make an argument against someone doing this. There is no justice right now.
Perhaps the reluctance to believe charges against a prominent person.Perhaps complicity.Perhaps laziness.
Hoo boy!
So why not just let the guy plea down to a misdemeanor - give him probation - and call it a day?
Something like this happened years ago. A boy was molested on a kids baseball team by the coach. The law found the coach in another state and was going to transport via air back to the state where the crime was committed. The father of the boy was at the airport and when the arresting officers walked the molester past the father of the boy, the father shot and killed him. The court put the father on trial and put him on probation.
He clearly deserves to be found guilty and be fined one dollar and a carton of cigarettes.
Should have pled 'not guilty' and not waived his right to a speedy trial, he'd be out by now. His lawyer was incompetent.
Father? Maybe you - maybe me - are thinking of a different story.
Ellie Nesler (Mother) was famous for gunning down a sex perv...
I don’t remember all the details, but a few years back in a somewhat similar case a mother shot and killed the guy she thought had molested her son.
Unfortunately, DNA proved he wasn’t the guy.
Vigilantism too often kills the wrong people.
You are absolutely correct but if it were my son???????? Emotions take over at times and need to be considered.
Sounds like street justice is gaining in popularity. I’m thankful for it.
Now THAT’S meaningful recovery therapy.
Especially when it comes to protecting kids. I coached kids in football up through Freshmen for over 15 years and would have done anything to protect them.
Yup.
In cases where there's no imminent threat, arrest and a fair trial by jury is still the best way in the long run.
Imminent threat? *BANG*
Vigilantism is a much more untamed monster that can quickly turn into mob rule.
“the gun went off,”
Why wasn’t the damn gun charged with murder?
While said reasoning is sound were appropriate punishment administered, too often it is not.
That is why the minimum penalty should be castration, and not the chemical type which requires ongoing medication-- the type which my brother and I used to do on a ranch when I wrestled the calves to the ground and he extracted the rocky mountain oysters.
I actually disagree with that reasoning, but I am not king, so I can’t change the laws.
Except as a juror who refuses to convict. . .
A. Lincoln, 1838: “When men take it in their heads to day, to hang gamblers, or burn murderers, they should recollect, that, in the confusion usually attending such transactions, they will be as likely to hang or burn some one who is neither a gambler nor a murderer as one who is; and that, acting upon the example they set, the mob of to-morrow, may, and probably will, hang or burn some of them by the very same mistake.”
The best approach is for the intended victim to kill the
perp before the crime is finalized. No chance of getting the wrong guy that way.
Reminds me a little of the lady in our town who put all six
rounds in her worthless abusive husband with his own
revolver, then called the cops. Her attorney was lucky
and skilled enough to keep the proceedings local where
everyone knew the guy. I think she ended up being charged
with discharging a firearm within the city limits. There was
some talk of taking up a community collection to pay the fine.
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