Posted on 10/22/2015 8:49:09 AM PDT by Conscience of a Conservative
Corey Jones was shot three times by an undercover police officer who never showed him a badge, attorneys for Jones' family said Thursday.
Jones' family and their attorneys met with the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office on Thursday to get more details about what happened when Jones was shot early Sunday while waiting with his broken-down car parked on an Interstate 95 exit ramp near PGA Boulevard.
The Jones family attorneys said they were told that the plain-clothed Palm Beach Gardens police officer fired six total shots while Jones never fired his gun.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
I’ll be hard and say “ain’t that a shame!”
Guess there were no Dogs around so he chose the real thing...
bfl
You can bet that the “prosecutor” will find this murder “justifiable.” After all, the cop’s major concern is that he gets to go home at the end of his shift, and if some innocent citizen has to die to make sure that happens, well you know the story about breaking eggs!
We used to call this FIRST DEGREE MURDER, but at least the officer made it home safely.
I wonder if it will change anyone’s opinion about the idiocy of exclusively arming police/govt. (and the importance of CCW for law abiding citizens).
Exactly. Broken-down motorists are easy pickings for criminal predators who see nothing wrong with making someone's bad day even worse.
This could well be an unfortunate misunderstanding. (Though it doesn’t seem wise to me to send a plainclothes officer in an unmarked car to investigate a possible abandoned vehicle.)
But if this unfortunate situation had ended with Jones killing the cop, I wonder if it would have been handled the same way?
Why isn't it worse than a shame?
There are documented incidents where someone will park their car on the side of the road, wait for a passerby to stop and render assistance only to rob them while they’re changing a tire or something of the like.
That doesn’t sound like what happened here, and it’s a damn tragedy if this plain-clothes officer didn’t identify himself. I likely would’ve reacted the same way as the decedent.
His brother had already been out there to try to get the car started and couldn’t. He left and the deceased was waiting for a tow truck to arrive.
If the police shot an innocent person, this is a very serious matter! Sadly, the left will exploit this. What should be an inquiry into police misconduct will turn into a leftist crusade for gun control and letting violent felons out of prison and who knows what else.
A prosecutor must be careful. If he tries for a higher crime in the hopes of getting a plea, he risks getting the whole case thrown out.
From web site “Free Advice.”
What are the degrees of murder?
by FreeAdvice staff
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The phrase “degrees of murder” refers to the intent or severity of a particular murder charge. Some states define their degrees of murder numerically. Common degrees of murder include first degree murder and second degree murder. Other states place specific labels on their murder offenses, such as capital murder, murder, and justifiable homicide.
Despite the label of the degree of murder, the idea is to gradually increase the punishment with the degree. The more egregious the killing, or the motive behind a killing, then the higher the degree of punishment for that type of murder charge.
First Degree or Capital Murder
First-degree murder, or capital murder as it is often called, is the most serious form of murder. In most states, a first degree murder involves elements like deliberate planning, premeditation, or malice. Deliberate means that the defendant makes a clear-headed decision to kill the victim. Premeditation involves showing the defendant actually thought about the killing before it occurred.
The period of thought required to classify a murder as premeditated may be very brief. A killing with malice requires proof that the defendant did a harmful act without just cause or legal excuse. For example, if someone decided to kill a business rival who is attempting a corporate takeover by purchasing a gun and waiting for the victim in a deserted parking garage, then the shooting would have all the elements of first-degree murder.
If, on the other hand, business competitors got into a fight when the rival announced his intention to take over the other man’s business, and the second man flew into a rage and hit the rival with it, causing his death, the killing would not be classified as a first-degree murder because the defendant did not plan or make the decision to kill in advance.
Some states have additional factors which classify a murder as a first degree murder or capital murder. The first factor is usually the motive. Why did the offender want to kill the victim? Certain motives result in a higher degree felony. These motives can include the victim being a police officer, or where the murder was racially motivated.
The second factor is simply the context of the murder. How did the murder occur? Other states will charge a defendant for first degree murder if more than one person was killed during the same episode or it the victim was under or over a certain age and particularly vulnerable. Others enhance the murder degree if it was combined with another felony like sexual assault or robbery.
The third factor is how the murder was committed. Some states consider killings committed in specific fashion to be first-degree murder. Although these vary by state, they can include killing by poison, by lying in wait, and by torture. States may also presume malice if the killing is done with a deadly weapon.
Second Degree Murder
Second degree murder is killing another with malice - doing a harmful act without just cause or legal excuse - but without premeditation or deliberation. In other words, this means intentionally killing someone without planning to do so in advance. If a person becomes angry, walks over to a desk where he keeps a gun that is kept just for his protection, takes out the gun and shoots another person, that may be second-degree murder because there was no plan or advance decision to kill. It would still be second degree murder because the act of taking out the gun and shooting was intentional.
Felony Murder
Felony murder is a killing that happens during the course of the commission of a felony. The murder isn’t necessarily planned out or intended, it’s just a consequence of the other offense. Even a death that is an accident will be considered felony murder by most states if it happens while a felony is being committed.
For example, if someone becomes frightened and falls down a flight of stairs during a robbery, that would be felony murder in some states, even though the death was accidental and the robber did not mean to cause the death. If three people are involved in robbing a bank and one of them shoots a guard, without any preplanning with the others, then all three could be guilty of felony murder, since they willingly participated in the robbery and knew that there was a possibility that someone could get hurt during the course of the robbery.
Any defendant charged with murder should understand the degree of their murder charges because it can affect the level of punishment and defensive strategies. Capital or first degree charges can result in the death penalty in some states. Understanding the different degrees can literally be a life or death decision.
Read more: http://criminal-law.freeadvice.com/criminal-law/violent_crimes/degrees.murder.htm#ixzz3pJUv30Wo
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Good points. People are jumping to conclusions as they tend to do and the media always likes to stir up trouble rather than inform.
Justice takes time.
But if this unfortunate situation had ended with Jones killing the cop, I wonder if it would have been handled the same way?
I have no doubt that this situation would be handled differently if Jones had ended up killing the cop. It shouldn't be, of course--either way, the whole situation highlights the problem with overusing plainclothes officers, especially in high-tension situations--but it definitely would have been.
If I were on the side of the road at 3AM and some one approached me with a drawn weapon and didn’t identify themselves as a cop, I’d shoot them. Even if they did SAY they were a cop, these days that doesn’t cut it— they better holster that gun and show me a badge. This is an entirely preventable situation that borders on the criminally stupid on the part of the cop; he should have backed off and called for a uniformed officer.
Especially since the Jones' family attorneys include one Benjamin Crump.
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