Posted on 07/29/2018 6:15:10 PM PDT by Celerity
A Pennsylvania man was convicted on all charges in the death of his 12-year-old daughter, who was shot by a constable serving eviction papers with a bullet that went through her father’s arm. Perry county authorities said that in January 2016 Donald Meyer Jr, 60, pointed a loaded rifle at the constable. The officer fired and the bullet wounded Meyer but killed Ciara Meyer, who was standing behind him. Andrew Bender, a defense attorney, told jurors Meyer was responsible for his daughter’s death. “Parents are supposed to protect their children,” he said, according to PennLive.com. “Not put them in harm’s way.” The property manager Ashley Hill, who recorded the confrontation with her cellphone from about 20ft away, testified that the girl stepped up behind her father. “Ciara kept saying, ‘Dad, stop. Dad, stop,”’ Hill recalled, dabbing tears. The defendant had anti-government views, Hill said, and “thought everyone was against him”. Jerry Philpott, another defense attorney, said Meyer feared his home was “being invaded” and picked up a gun he had been cleaning to try to protect his residence. Meyer blamed the constable for his daughter’s death. The radical sheriff giving offenders a chance Read more Jurors deliberated for about two hours on Friday before convicting Meyer, of Duncannon, of third-degree murder, aggravated assault and other counts. Meyer still faces firearms-related charges and remains in custody without bail, pending sentencing. Meyer, who is in a wheelchair recovering from a stroke, criticized his court-appointed attorneys, saying jurors did not hear other witnesses. Philpott declined comment. Meyer was the only defense witness, against the advice of his attorneys. Family members said they were relieved by the outcome of the trial. “We still talk about her today, every day actually, and this is a good day for her,” said Jason Gehman, Ciara’s uncle.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Yeah, well I guess they proved him right.
...Andrew Bender, a defense attorney, told jurors Meyer was responsible for his daughter’s death....
That’s some defense attorney he had.
How can the bullet hitting the defendent first have him being guilty of murder? She wasn’t in front if him. This is weird. Yes, and what a WONDERFUL defense attornet.
Try this with BLM.
This is about as bizarre as they come, isn’t it? What an incredible stretch, charging him with the murder of his daughter. What prosecutor would even dream of that?
A doozy of an opening sentence.
Sounds like the defense attorney was in cahoots with the prosecutor.
Felony murder doctrine. If in the commission of a felony crime a person dies due to acts you’ve intentionally set in motion, you are liable for the death.
If he pointed a rifle at a cop and the cop acted in self-defense, that makes her death his fault.
hmm nowhere does it say the reason for eviction. Didn’t pay his rent, mortgage or property taxes?
Very straight forward to me. He caused her death by drawing a gun on a law enforcement officer. The officer did what he was trained to do, eliminate the threat he was facing. He just had bad aim.
Wait.......what?
Formatting is your friend.
A Pennsylvania man was convicted on all charges in the death of his 12-year-old daughter, who was shot by a constable serving eviction papers with a bullet that went through her father’s arm.
Perry county authorities said that in January 2016 Donald Meyer Jr, 60, pointed a loaded rifle at the constable. The officer fired and the bullet wounded Meyer but killed Ciara Meyer, who was standing behind him. Andrew Bender, a defense attorney, told jurors Meyer was responsible for his daughter’s death. “Parents are supposed to protect their children,” he said, according to PennLive.com. “Not put them in harm’s way.”
The property manager Ashley Hill, who recorded the confrontation with her cellphone from about 20ft away, testified that the girl stepped up behind her father. “Ciara kept saying, ‘Dad, stop. Dad, stop,”’ Hill recalled, dabbing tears. The defendant had anti-government views, Hill said, and “thought everyone was against him”.
Jerry Philpott, another defense attorney, said Meyer feared his home was “being invaded” and picked up a gun he had been cleaning to try to protect his residence. Meyer blamed the constable for his daughter’s death.
Jurors deliberated for about two hours on Friday before convicting Meyer, of Duncannon, of third-degree murder, aggravated assault and other counts. Meyer still faces firearms-related charges and remains in custody without bail, pending sentencing.
Meyer, who is in a wheelchair recovering from a stroke, criticized his court-appointed attorneys, saying jurors did not hear other witnesses. Philpott declined comment. Meyer was the only defense witness, against the advice of his attorneys. Family members said they were relieved by the outcome of the trial. “We still talk about her today, every day actually, and this is a good day for her,” said Jason Gehman, Ciara’s uncle.
If this is the case, how do other cases play out ?
Police accidentally shoot others all the time. Is it common for the courts to put the blame on the person who originally started the conflict ?
How does this weigh in for the Twin Peaks shootout ?
The reasoning is the father was responsible for the constable having to fire at him in self defense which resulted in the daughter’s death.
In, let’s say, a jewelry store robbery with two perps. One gets shot to death by the store owner. The surviving perp is charged in the death of his partner.
Real Example:
The Brevard County Sheriff's Office said Johnson plotted a robbery and his accomplice, Bentley, was shot and killed by their target. Law enforcement ruled the shooting as self-defense.
On March 16, someone called 9-1-1 from the 3600 block of Brophy Boulevard to report that shots had been fired. The Brevard County Sheriff's Office arrived and found Bentley dead at the residence.
Detectives determined Johnson and Bentley were planning to rob a former co-worker of Johnson's. The man was lured to the house under the pretense of selling drugs. He was confronted by Bentley, who was armed with a handgun. A struggle ensued over the firearm, but Bentley lost control of it and was shot by the man he was trying to rob. Johnson fled the scene.
The target of the robbery will not face charges for Bentley's death. BCSO said his actions were justified.
Simple. In any violent interaction with the police, a fatal shooting IS NEVER THE COPS FAULT!
If you are committing a crime and a citizen is killed due to police action, IT’S YOUR FAULT. After all, the cop wouldn’t ever shoot except in response to your actions, now would they? Therefore if you weren’t provoking the cop, that person would still be alive, now wouldn’t they?
Wouldn’t they????
All of them. It's the law.
Meyer must have been a real wack job if his family is relieved he is going to jail.
It’s pretty straightforward - if you’re culpable for the crime you bear responsibility for all deaths involved.
So, yeah - in the Twin Peaks case, if the officer’s shooting was justified and it could be shown that one person was responsible for instigating then they’d be culpable (or the responsibility could get spread out to all of them) generally it’s be buried in within a litany of other charges.
The case seems to have been decided properly (although there’s some judgement call on shooting a guy with innocents knowingly behind him)
But, again, I’ll point out this case would be spun differently in the press with BLM and if the perp was black. “Justice for Mayer”
It doesn't. It only applies if the citizen starts the fracas.
Deciding who started it is something parents have a lot of experience discerning, with about a 50% success rate. Internal Affairs has a near 100% success rate in blaming the civilians involved...
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