[moodyskeptic]

Flame away, little men.

[go star go]

Big doesn't matter in a fight. One well placed blow to the windpipe will down a 300 pound man just like it will a 100 pound man. Knowing that is what matters in a fight.

[Tigercap]

agree

[Free the USA]

Agreed

[mewzilla]

What part of Thou Shall Not Kill do you and Mr. Junta not understand?

[Bahbah]

Good commentary, from a small woman.

[Xenalyte]

Surely the pixie woman prosecutor was in unfamiliar waters, judging by her questions.

This is bound to get me flamed, so flame-retardant leathers on (although a bit snug after the holidays).

Where I come from (Houston, Texas), if you're man enough to start a fight, you'd best be man enough to finish it.

I speak from experience. I'm five-ten and weigh between 130 and 150 (yep, it do vary that much), which makes me at least equal-sized to most men of my acquaintance. I've been in two fights in my life back in the day, both with men I was dating at the time, and both of which I started. To their chivalrous credit, both men tried not to fight back, but I made it kinda hard for them.

When you hit, expect to get hit back. It's cowardly and chicken$hit of women - and little men - to think they can get away with hitting someone and expect no retaliation. That means all of us - women, men, however large or small you are.

[clintonh8r]

I agree. Junta got screwed. I have no sympathy for Costin. The jury was influenced by the media coverage.

[lsee]

an inadvertant serious fight

The key point was that Junta had essentially left the building before he turned and went back in.

Big or small, the man was in a flaming rage. He would have had a better chance of escaping prison time if he had pleaded temporary insanity or something like that, since he was clearly out of control. The fatal fight was not inadvertent. Junta went and sought the final confrontation. I believe this is what decided the case against him. True, Costin was a little so-and-so who needed to be called down, but I believe it was his apparent early victory that cost him his life. He "won" when Junta conceded the field, not realizing that the humiliation of the larger man would fuel his anger to murderous proportions.

But, big or small, a man who seeks a fight and kills his adversary can not claim self-defense. Costin would not have attacked him if Junta had taken his son, skates and all, and left like he seemed about to do.

[Maceman]

I guess they both got what they deserved then.

[Maceman]

Some good advice for you: don't fight. SUE!

[lodwick]

Interesting take - good job. JL

[tbeatty]

Except the big guy left and then came back even angrier looking for a fight. Sorry, I agree with the judge. He got off easy. Regardless of their size, he beat a man to death. And it wasn't a "lucky blow." It was repeatedely bashing his unconscious skull against the concrete. The big man "lost it" and it wasn't the first time, either. It was the first death, however and he deserved more than 6 to 10 years.

[Crusader21stCentury]

First this is not a flame and second I'm 6'2" and 250lbs. But going by your title I'm sure Mr. Costin would not mind switching places based on the outcome. Mr. Junta is not going to jail because of the fight but because he didn't know when to stop.

[hole_n_one]

Your BMI is 33.69

[BraveMan]

Open Season on big guys . . .

Bravo Sierra . . .

What should the judge do? What message should he send to Michael Costin's family and his son? "Suck it up, kid, your dad was a jerk" . . .

The "Gentle Giant" was humiliated? He was the victim?

I was heretofore unaware that humiliation was so injurious to men taller than six feet . . .

[Utopia]

I guess I'm not one of those that believes its OK to blame the victim. A life was extinguished. Junta was the one who dealt the blow. Case closed.

[Rowdee]

Why didn't dear, sweet, Gentle Ben just go to the counter and ask that his son be paged?

I've heard of 'littlemanitis'....I don't know the equivalent for big guys.....just the way you wrote the article, I get the impression you have a 'chip' right there....on your shoulder....but then, I'm just a woman and dont' understand those guy things like feeling the need to beat on someone til their eyeballs pop out or blood flows from all body orifices.

And in case you think I have it in for 'big' guys.....one of the funniest things I ever was privy to learning about occured to a small guy....a cop, no less....a neighbor who lived catty-corner to where we lived...couldn't stand the guy....that 'littlemanitis' disease really had a hold on him....his wife and kids suffered from it.

I'll call him "Bob". Bob worked one of the black areas in Los Angeles (this was back over 25 years ago). He would often brag or joke about people he picked up during the evenings duty. One I particular mention was how he cracked up in telling us about a couple of teenage boys - black - that they had picked up during the night...and one of the questions asked during booking was about how they masticate....and the one kid blurted out "man, I doan do that--I gots me a girlfriend".

Fast forward a bit....Bob's wife got pg; they had only wanted 2 kids so Bob goes and has a vasectomy. Macho Bob is ready to go back to work in 3 days.....and lo and behold, in attempting to make an arrest, the teenage boy kicks him smack between the legs!

He was hospitalized for about 5 days during which time his wife and I talked several times...I was concerned about a potentially life threatening problem....however, she was quite amused about the whole thing--she was almost gleeful as she told me the perp was even smaller than Bob!

[DaGman]

The point is Junta lost control. It probably would not have gone any further if Junta just decked him to shut him up. But Junta kept beating him after he was obviously down for the count..

Junta lost control.

[LIBERTARIAN JOE]

I didn't follow the trial, but I heard that he had a history of violent behavior, including beating up women. That info was supposedly suppressed during the trial but used by the judge in sentencing. My mostly uninformed opinion is that both parties were scumbags so I won't lose sleep over the verdict.

[Pan_Yan]

I can't even begin to speculate at what happened and who started what, but I can tell you this...

I have a wife and children who depend on me. They are the most awesome responsibility God could ever lay on me. I think about whats right for my family at ALL times in EVERYTHING I do. That means my son will never watch me attack or beat another person. He will learn that it takes a real man to turn the other cheek and walk away.

That applies to BOTH parties in this tragedy.