Posted on 01/27/2002 8:48:53 AM PST by moodyskeptic
What we have here is failure to communicate. The term for the change in society in which violence between citizens is forbidden is becoming civilized, not feminized.
But if you knew that you could get away with it, if society didn't punish people like Junta, perhaps you would have killed the other person.
Then you would be as free as you are, but walking around knowing that you had taken a human life, instead of feeling sorry for Junta. Do you really think that situation would be preferable?
Are you sure that this wasn't the plot in a John Wayne movie? Maybe one with Lee Marvin?
Additionaly, let's not make Junta out to be a knight in shining armor. After all the guy was arrested twice: once for beating his ex-wife and the other time for assaulting a police officer. They were both sleezebags.
Well, gee . . . I'll bet the OJ verdict made you feel almost as warm and fuzzy as this one did. Please excuse me if I cannot characterize your opinion in the same way you've characterized mine.
I think the punishment was too hard, he should have gotten 3 to 5 like the min was, suspended after 1 year. He did kill the guy! He did leave the building and come back in to fight, he should have left and stayed out. Also, for his size, he should have restrained the littler guy, not deck him. That showed he was an inexperienced fighter, just a brawler. When he went back in, is that when he was sucker punched? That still should have caused him to wrestle, not box or brawl.
At no time was this bigger guy's life in jeopardy, nor was his health gravely threatened, he only faced a black eye and maybe a busted lip, and neither of those are qualifier for death, accidental or otherwise.
To have it otherwise, would be to say that the judge and jury were totally wrong. Although such things have been known to happen, I do not believe this jury was blinded by any bias or prejudice. They ruled that Junta did not kill in self defense and that at no time was he in danger of losing his own life. The state has a walkaway law, as do most states. Junta in returning the second time, and forcing his way inside, violated that law. By force he had his way and must pay the price.
1. He had safely left the building and was outside under no threat of harm. He went back in seeking solely to fight again.
2. He was confronted by the rink manager, a woman. She tried to stop him and was bruised as a result of him knocking her aside.
3. He approached the victim swiftly with obvious intent to fight. This may be the reason the victim struck out first.
4. According to the coroner, Junta beat the man so badly that his head was in danger of being detached from the spinal cord. The coroner was also able to account for fifteen blows to the victim's head. The victim had a 7 inch hematoma on the side of his head. His artery was severed. His vertabra had been damaged. His head was fractured in the back. His brain was so badly swolen that it would likely have caused death on it's own.
These are not the acts of a man simply defending himself. Once he reentered the building and pushed the rink manager aside, it was all over. Anything he did from then on out was not self-defense.
He had walked away. He was outside. At that point he was safe and in the right. Too bad for everyone he didn't stay out there.
In western political theory I start with Hobbes, life in the state of nature, compared to civilized societies, was 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.' Things are better now than 20,000 years ago, and in some ways they have been better in eras since then.
I'm on the upper end of middle-sized (5-10, 200), so I guess I'm not subject to either of the complexes you mention.
Speaking of Napoleon complexes, I had an employee once (maybe 5-3, 130) who would every Saturday night go to the local biker bar, get drunk and pick a fight. This was his idea of a great Saturday night, even though he lost most of the fights.
The kids in the practice match who were getting knocked around outside the rules were who Junta was defending, not himself.
Yes, I'm a former Little League mom.
As for your three punch comment, it was balogna from the beginning and I'm sure Junta convinced his kid to tell that lie being the piece of crap he is. Adrenaline is not an excuse it is a mitigating factor. When I fought I only remembered the beginning and end as the adrenaline wore off, what went on in the middle was filled in by others. The judge took that into consideration because if he had cold bloodedly beat Costin to death, Junta would have an appointment with the power company.
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