Posted on 12/24/2019 4:50:19 AM PST by grundle
A Phoenix father was sentenced to eight years in prison for manslaughter after he beat a man to death outside a Phoenix convenience store in August 2018.
Melvin Harris III, 41, admitted to investigators he punched a man, later identified as Leon Armstrong, outside the QuikTrip on 19th and Dunlap avenues.
Harris had gone to the convenience store to pick up his daughter and her friends when Armstrong asked him for money in the parking lot, police say. After getting money from Harris, Armstrong went inside the QT store.
Harris's daughter and her friends came out of the store and told him that Armstrong tried to get into his daughter's bathroom stall inside.
Police documents say Harris went inside the store and "told a security guard he needed to take care of the situation, or (Harris) would do it himself."
Harris then approached Armstrong outside the store and punched him in the face. With Armstrong on the ground, Harris continued punching and kicking him before driving off, according to police documents.
Armstrong was taken to a hospital with brain swelling and a fractured nose. He was unresponsive and later died, police say.
Harris pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
There's not a lot to rest on here... Confrontation happened after daughter left bathroom, he talked to security about it (who apparently couldn't be bothered to get a no-trespass order?), guy was pointed out by daughter, guy was confronted, non-involved witnesses said attack continued after initial punch, fled scene.
Eight years seems generous.
Manslaughter sounds about right....
Yeah, the drive off makes it look a bit sketchy.
At least he didn’t burn a queer rainbow flag or he’d get life sentence
A convenience store has a security guard?!? And the pervert still managed to get into the restroom with gilrs in there?
Some convenience store. Some security guard. Maybe the father should have met his daughter and her friends at a safer place.
Observe and report.
Unarmed security. There simply to reduce shrinkage (shoplifting).
In many cases these security guards are instructed to not even touch suspects.
With the exception of the deterrence value of a uniform the stores would be better off hiring another clerk.
Hey, that’s a pretty mean flashlight you have there. Is that a four or five cell?
If he’d not pleaded to “a lesser charge” and he’d gone to trial, and I was on the jury, I’d have been hard pressed to convict.
Did he have a lawyer advise him to plead guilty?
Fair point.
Do you happen to have a daughter?
A court proceeding is done in a vacuum. Prior behavior unrelated to the case at hand is customarily forbidden, as it may prejudice the jury.
Not saying it's right, but that's what the legal system has devolved into. A rap sheet ten miles long has no relevance to this case.
One of our 40+ year old adolescents decided to pick a fight with a couple of 22 year old at our local "trouble" bar.
After going outside and exchanging hot words, the two young men turned and walked away. It was then the old Juvenal threw a sucker punch at one of the pair. The other young man ( who was of tremendous upper body strength) and rightly PO.d at this point, whirled around and nailed their tormentor, full strength, right between the eyes.
He was completely out before he hit the ground but some folks are saying he was actually dead on the way down. Guess the kid really tagged him.
Anyway the guy was dead. Lots of witnesses and apparently no one there associated with the truth. The charge was manslaughter. The judge gave the offender 3 years "work release".
Pretty light sentence but the judge was stuck. Someone was dead but everyone called to witness apparently were lying in a profound manner.
Then there was the over all feeling in the community the kid did everyone a favor.
I have to wonder if the girl’s report of “trying to get into her bathroom stall” was even fully accurate. Kids sometimes exaggerate and misperceive. Not saying that happened here, and I understand why a father would be furious, but verification before extermination seems reasonable.
I’m afraid I have to take exception to your parenthetical. If we “beat the shit” out of more pedophiles, perverts and Antifa thugs, fewer of our kids would get raped, molested and kidnapped and fewer people would get hit by bike locks, clubs and skateboards, especially now that Soros-funded AGs and DAs are refusing to prosecute such people.
I’ve espoused getting a bunch of Rangers, SF, SEALs and RECON Marines together and attending an Antifa rally/protest...
You can be sure the judge gave piss poor instructions to the jury regarding statutes on manslaughter. It is also very likely they were not told if the “victim” had other such crimes on his record.
He should have been going home to his family after the trial.
Yeah, right. You might want to research Soros’s new “DA Project,” which is similar to the AG Project, only worse. Soros-funded DAs (one of whom is Kim Foxx of Jussie Smollett fame) are refusing to prosecute such people - including murderers - on a regular basis.
https://freebeacon.com/politics/soros-spends-1-million-on-va-prosecutor-races/
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/george-soros-criminal-justice-reform-227519
Soros-funded organizations are illegal in quite a few countries, so why do we let him operate freely in the US?
Was there one unisex bathroom. Maybe the victim didn’t realize there was someone in there and was trying to open the door. That doesn’t mean he was attacking the girl.
The defendant was probably charged with 2nd degree murder and offered a plea bargain. If he was convicted of murder, he could probably get life. A jury might convict of manslaughter any way. 90% of cases end in guilty pleas and 95% of civil cases are settled. With the current plea bargain system, the using your right to a jury trial is usually not a good idea.
Plus, a jury might not believe that the victim was really trying to attack the girl.
So the “law” prosecutes him for...? “Mistakenly” trying to enter the wrong bathroom? As we’ve seen time and time again, a guy tries to molest a woman or girl, gets off with a slap on the wrist and the next victim gets molested, raped or worse - especially if the guy is of a protected class like illegal alien.
Some time ago, a guy tried to molest my wife. I grabbed him by the throat and beat the hell out of him - at a Wendy’s no less. He said he was going to call the police, to which I responded, “Do you know who I am?” He said “No” and I responded “Exactly!” and left.
No jury. He plead out.
I do not remember seeing a “family” restroom, and this may have been an older, smaller store. But it is not easy for a sober dude to get into the wrong restroom unless deliberate.
Dead man's problem was attacking the daughter of a guy who cared about his children, not a soyboy.
Coming from CA, and being from the other side of the law, I can see why he hit him. Wonder if the DA decided to make an example of a guy with no defense nor money to fight,
QT’s are uncommonly well-run gas stations/convenience stores. They are usually very clean, and very well staffed. Occasionally, they are near sketchy neighborhoods, but not usually. They do now hire security guards in some areas. They can’t really keep riff raff from walking into their stores, but I’m not sure if the security guards police the bathrooms. I think they’re usually there to prevent robberies.
There was no jury, and I think the criminal record belonged to the dad, but I may be incorrect about that.
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