These two apparent self-defense cases seem very similar. In fact, the first case seems far more a case of obvious self defense than the second. Both the men who were shot were found on the other side of the fence and both were in the act of stealing. In the first case there was no intent to shoot anyone; in the second case the aim was deliberate. Both women were fearful and felt threatened. Both men recovered with some disability. The first has some head trauma, the second is blind for life. That is sad, but they were in the act of committing a crime. This is what the average citizen would think and the average citizen could not be more wrong.
In the first case, my daughter (who has no criminal past) was immediately judged to be guilty of attempted murder and the case was treated as a homicide on the spot. She was told she was going out to make a routine statement but instead was videotaped being frog marched out to a police car, even though she had not been arrested or read her rights. All this was broadcast several times on local and national news. With only a few minutes notice all the media in the city was present with their satellite dishes fully deployed. Also a press release immediately went out to the national news with her picture, saying she had shot a juvenile over � ���"her� �� � � ���"pot garden� �� �, which was completely untrue. No investigation into the attacking gangsters was ever made. (They later came forward and admitted they planned the crime and also claimed their friend was not shot by my daughter) No other suspect was ever considered, although ballistics show it was almost impossible the shot came from her gun and it cannot be proven because the bullet is still in the gangster's head.
Police drove my daughter around for two hours, apparently with the dash camera off, (police would not produce the tape for discovery) questioned her and refused her rights to consult a lawyer for advice. They photographed her in her underwear and locked her up in the � ���"Hall of Justice� �� � without arresting her. She was terrified and had no idea of what was happening. Later she was interrogated then arrested when she again asked for a lawyer and refused to sign the inaccurate statement that the homicide detective wrote. They strip searched her, put her in a white suit and shackles and transported her barefoot to the county jail, where they strip searched her again.
She was charged with 2 felony strikes by the DA and has been fighting to prove her
innocence ever since. The DA's office in
fact is trying to put on even more charges.
She is threatened with 23 years in prison and two strikes if she goes to
trial, even though she has very serious health problems and is likely to die in
prison. They say they may even try for
a third and give her life. Even their
plea bargains carry two felony strikes
and at least a year in prison in this lawless court system. If the gangster had died she would be facing a capital murder charge.
Her court appointed lawyer has told her she is going to lose
at trial and to prepare to go to prison in time for Christmas. The county will not pay for an investigator to locate exculpatory eyewitnessess or for experts to testify. The county has been given unlimited resources to prosecute and is spending tens of thousands of scarce taxpayer dollars to convict someone who is no threat to society.
My daughter is black and the house she was visiting was a rental. She found out the hard way that in this California city it isn't what you do that matters. It is who you are and how much money you have.
In the second case the name of the white woman shooter was withheld from the public. The local DA, who is now the last word on what the law is and who is a criminal, declared the shooting justifiable self-defense and the woman walked away free. She has gone about her life with no consequences.
Cases like this demonstrate why we as citizens cannot give absolute power over to the criminal justice system by allowing inflexible blanket laws, mandatory sentencing and capital punishment. We risk becoming a police state. Remember the words of Pastor Martin Niemà �ller regarding the indifference of German intellectuals to the rise of Hitler:
"First they came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up, because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me."
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