Posted on 08/02/2007 10:03:39 AM PDT by Serious Capitalist
BENTONVILLE -- The father of a 17-year-old girl found his daughter's boyfriend hiding inside her bedroom closet Tuesday, beat him bloody with a pool stick, then left the room to fetch a gun. The daughter and boyfriend blocked the door with a dresser, so the father shot through the closed door, hitting the boyfriend in the back and paralyzing him, police said.
George David Reed, 48, posted a $150,000 bond and was freed from jail Wednesday afternoon as Michael Austin Guzman, 19, underwent surgery to treat a bullet lodged in his spinal cord.
Three of Guzman's vertebrae are fractured and doctors don't expect him to regain feeling or mobility below his waist, according to a probable cause affidavit released Wednesday after Reed's bond hearing. He was still in surgery Wednesday evening in Joplin's Freeman Health System, according to an intensive care nurse.
Benton County Circuit Judge Xollie Duncan set the bond Wednesday based on a request from Chief Deputy Prosecutor Shane Wilkinson. Reed was arrested on suspicion of a felony terroristic act, the most serious type of felony aside from capital murder, punishable by up to life in prison. He was also arrested on a charge of felony first-degree battery.
Defense attorney W.H. Taylor, who spent the morning consulting with his client at the jail, did not object to the bond. Reed is to be arraigned Sept. 10 before Circuit Judge David Clinger.
Taylor said that Reed has three children and lives with his wife, Sharon, at 13569 Vaughn Road near Highfill. Reed has been in Northwest Arkansas since 1962, owns a farm and rental properties, and has operated a moving and storage business since 1983.
(Excerpt) Read more at nwaonline.com ...
There's the rub... because Reed couldn't see who, if anyone, he would hit with his shots, an Attempted Murder charge might make it tough to get a conviction.
Yeah, amazing shot.
My Read
The Dad left the fight unable to subdue the younger more physically fit suspected home invader/rapist who was still physically resisting. The Suspect rather than flee during the time the Dad took to retrieve his firearm chose to take the Daughter Hostage and Barricade the door. The Dad returned after retrieving his firearm and discovered his Daughter being held Hostage by the Suspected Rapist.
The Suspected Rapist may well have created a classic Stockholm Situation where the daughter out of her mind identified with the Perp instead of her Father Protector. She may still (The Suspected Rapist may have been manipulating the daughter for some time prior to this incident). She may need treatment to help her understand her Dad was the good guy.
How the Father kept his head so well and managed to hit the suspected rapist Hostage Taker and not his daughter in the fight is one of God’s little miracles.
I wonder if the Dad has a legal defense fund.
W
“Normal” parental interest? Do you have daughters?
“The Suspected Rapist may have been manipulating the daughter for some time prior to this incident”
(1) The room they were in is an occupiable structure. The fact that he was also in the occupiable structure matters not. The law doesn't say "unless the shooter is also in an occupiable structure".
(2) He says he fired warning shots, but those 'warning shots' went into the room. I guess if you shoot blindly into a room and hit someone you can consider it a warning shot, huh? He didn't mean to harm anyone? He already had. I think the burden of establishing his intent has shifted a bit.
(3) The dad was going to get his gun and from what I understand, was between them and an exit.
As for the intent behind the law, you may be correct but it doesn't matter. If you break a law you break a law. The fact that dad isn't a gang member is irrelevant.
BTW, the age of consent in Arkansas is 16, so no rape occured if she was having sex willingly with her boyfriend....Being Arkansas, maybe Daddy had a mean jealous streak.
Daughter was hiding boyfriend. Dad knew daughter wasn't being raped. Daughter is beyond age of consent so no statutory rape.
The Suspected Rapist may well have created a classic Stockholm Situation where the daughter out of her mind identified with the Perp instead of her Father Protector. She may still (The Suspected Rapist may have been manipulating the daughter for some time prior to this incident). She may need treatment to help her understand her Dad was the good guy.
You're on crack.
How the Father kept his head so well and managed to hit the suspected rapist Hostage Taker and not his daughter in the fight is one of God’s little miracles.
Yes, it is a miracle that deranged shooter didn't accidentally kill his daughter. It certainly wasn't skill, because the idiot was shotting through a closed door at both of them.
I wonder if the Dad has a legal defense fund.
It doesn't matter. The kid's attorney's will have everything dad owns attached to prevent him from hiding assets. Dad is going to lose everything, including his anal virginity.
My Read
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It would probably be best if you read the actual article instead of creating your own “read” that bears little resemblance to the actual facts.
First: there was no suspected home invader/rapist. As the attached story clearly relates, the dad knew exactly who was in the house, to wit, his daughter’s girlfriend.
Second: The girl was not ever a hostage. It was her boyfriend.
Third: It’s pretty clear that the father is not the ‘good guy’. My goodness, he admittedly fired his weapon blindly into a room in which his daughter was present. He will never win a dad of the year contest that way.
Fourth: It is most obvious that in this situation, father clearly LOST his head, not kept it. I think most sentient beings would recognize that shooting a gun through a door behind which your daughter is present is not the sign of a person thinking clearly.
Fifth: What possible God do you worship that would consider this situation miraculous? It certainly is not the Christian God.
As for the defense fund ... knock yourself out. Good money after bad.
Bearcub, are you saying that the bedroom had no windows? I seem to recall in the article that the 19 year old snuck in the window one night. If you can enter through a window, you sure as heck can exit a window.
My post was to show that a lawyer could argue against the terrorist act charges. The lawyer would just have to convince the jury that the dad was not shooting at an occupiable structure (possibly using city/county property codes and/or real estate terms) or that he did not intend to harm anyone with the shots.
Do I think he was smart in shooting through a closed door knowing that his daughter was in there, no...it should not even been an option or a thought.
We'll find out in court, won't we?
Options are (1) direct shot through the door and (2) some sort of ricochet.
I'm suggesting that its an open question if Reed fired what normal people would think of as warning shots, or if he aimed through the door hoping to hit someone. Right now we have two conflicting stories, and the physical evidence of the door to which we are not privy. At trial, the physical evidence will come out, and we'll find out if Guzman being paraylzed is an unfortunate accident, or an intentional shot.
Talk about spinning the story... you should be a defense attorney. All you need is a stupid enough jury.
Thoe only parents who are actually fooled or shocked by their children’s behavior are those parents who are in selfcongratulatory denial.
The best cover for a child is to be a goody-two shoes.
If an older teenage girl decides to have sex (or almost sex!) then she will and there is nothing that parents can do about it short of imprisonment.
Some of y’all seem to think that everything your kids do is a direct reflection on you as parents which means that you don’t give your kids credit for having any decision making abilities at all or for being accountable.
I’m sure that there are many girls who graduate high school and even college as virgins.
But really, so what?
How many guys are really so shallow that they would only consider dating or marrying a virgin?
I hope the young man regains at least enough feeling so he can get about with leg braces and crutches, or the paralysis doesn't fully affect both sides. I also would like to know how the "friend" who tipped off the dad feels about what his 'phone call has resulted in.
Unless a term is defined in the law, it is given its dictionary and/or common definition, not one related to local codes or real estate terms. To do otherwise would make the law change from city-to-city within a state: A no-no.
we’ll find out if Guzman being paraylzed is an unfortunate accident, or an intentional shot.
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Well, you are correct that the physical evidence is something we are not privy to, but one thing we do know. The shot was intentional. We may not know what he was aiming at, but it is clear that he intended to shoot the gun in the general direction of 2 human beings, one of whom was his allegedly precious daughter. From where I sit, the ‘unfortunate accident’ defense is going to a challenge to make.
Yeah, I think people are missing the point that this freak could have just as easily shot, maimed, or killed his own daughter. This is like Muslim honor killing, and I next expect to see posts saying they fully support this father in executing his daughter for defiling the family honor.
In either case he fired the shots toward them. Whether they were directly at them or in their direction and ricocheted, they weren't "warning shots" like those you would (foolishly) fire up into the air.
Talk about spinning the story... you should be a defense attorney. All you need is a stupid enough jury.
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I’d love to think that no jury could be that stupid, but sadly, we know better.
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