Texas man free after killing witholding escort

[Valigarmander]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_ ... z2VSG2EQ6X

Wednesday acquitted Ezekiel Gilbert of murder in the death of a 23-year-old Craigslist escort.

 Gilbert, 30, embraced defense attorneys Bobby Barrera and Roy Barrera Sr. with tears in his eyes after the not guilty verdict was read aloud by state District Judge Mary Román.

 Outside the courtroom, Gilbert thanked God, the Barrera family and the jury for being able to "see what wasn't the truth" and for the "second chance."

 Had he been convicted, he could have faced up to life in prison for the slaying of Lenora Ivie Frago who died about seven months after she was shot in the neck and paralyzed on Christmas Eve 2009. Gilbert admitted shooting Frago.

 "I sincerely regret the loss of the life of Ms. Frago," Gilbert said Wednesday. "I've been in a mental prison the past four years of my life. I have nightmares. If I see guns on TV where people are getting killed, I change the channel."

 The verdict came after almost 11 hours of deliberations that stretched over two days. The trial began May 17 but had a long hiatus after a juror unexpectedly had to leave town for a funeral.

 During closing arguments Tuesday, Gilbert's defense team conceded the shooting did occur but said the intent wasn't to kill. Gilbert's actions were justified, they argued, because he was trying to retrieve stolen property: the $150 he paid Frago. It became theft when she refused to have sex with him or give the money back, they said.

 Gilbert testified earlier Tuesday that he had found Frago's escort ad on Craigslist and believed sex was included in her $150 fee. But instead, Frago walked around his apartment and after about 20 minutes left, saying she had to give the money to her driver, he said.

 That driver, the defense contended, was Frago's pimp and her partner in the theft scheme.

 The Texas law that allows people to use deadly force to recover property during a nighttime theft was put in place for "law-abiding" citizens, prosecutors Matt Lovell and Jessica Schulze countered. It's not intended for someone trying to force another person into an illegal act such as prostitution, they argued.

 :Hangman:

[Solitary]

OJ will be proud when he hears this, and wish he had gotten his stuff in Texas and be a free man now.    Bill

[aitm]

Bitch stole my bread man.

[Hydra009]

This is exactly why people from other countries think we're crazy.

[Plu]

This is exactly why people from other countries think we're crazy.

This. You people are crazy.

[widdershins]

Oh, yay.  Finally some common sense in the law.  Why should you go to jail for gutting a man to get back the Oreo he stole from you or some other such petty thing?  This isn't the stupidest thing I've ever heard at all.  After all, if someone takes something from you, why shouldn't you have the right to end their lives?  It's not like we have a legal system to handle petty thefts or anything.  And it was a crime committed while refusing to commit a second crime at the behest of the man who committed the non-crime...or something.

[Brian37]

So this is how ass backwards Texas is? You can merely shoot someone and kill them because they didn't render services?

[Seabear]

If its any consolation, this case is a major source of outrage here in Texas, and is widely considered here to be a travesty of justice, too.

What baffles me is how people who frequent a website that prides itself on rationality can use one case judged by 12 people use to broadly categorize 26 million people as ass-backwards. It's ironic that the same sort of in-group and out-group mentality that exists in the minds of religious people seems to manifest itself in the atheist community, only in different ways.

[Shiranu]

If its any consolation, this case is a major source of outrage here in Texas, and is widely considered here to be a travesty of justice, too.

What baffles me is how people who frequent a website that prides itself on rationality can use one case judged by 12 people use to broadly categorize 26 million people as ass-backwards. It's ironic that the same sort of in-group and out-group mentality that exists in the minds of religious people seems to manifest itself in the atheist community, only in different ways.

To be fair to them, about 19 million of us are ass backwards.

[stromboli]

I'm sorry. I haven't known that many Texans. I also haven't known one that wasn't a bit tetched. Or a lot tetched. Or just plain fucking batshit nuts. Just sayin....

[Plu]

Please don't think that me saying "You're all crazy" implies I actually think all Texans are crazy. I'd just get tired of typing out "that law is crazy and a lot of texans are crazy, especially those who think the law is a good idea and/or worth upholding, which seems to be a large amount".

I actually heard a conference talk by a texan yesterday, and he didn't sound crazy. So there's at least one non-crazy texan out there.

[caseagainstfaith]

I've lived in Texas since 1966.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

So murder is ok in Texas apparently if, A. The ho rips you off or B. Your dope dealer rips you off and A. You're a white male and B. It's night time.
Why did I ever leave? :-k

[Aletheia]

So this is how ass backwards Texas is? You can merely shoot someone and kill them because they didn't render services?

Theoretically, yes. However, I don't remember any aspect of Texas law that defined prostitution as a lawful service.

In accordance with Texas law you have the right to defend your property from theft even with deadly force. Furthermore, you have the right to defend the property of others from theft or the person themselves from harm, which also includes the use of deadly force. However, "property" has never been used to refer to "services rendered" as far as I can recall and prostitution has never been considered worthy of protecting in the eyes of the law.

In short, these sort of laws were typically meant for use in protecting your home from burglary, in which there was a possibility the intruder might be armed or in the case of your car being stolen you had clear enough line of sight to shoot him.

Most Texans will subscribe to the idea of using deadly force to defend their homes, but rarely subscribe to using deadly force when defending other forms of property. Many of us are more inclined to use the court systems and/or insurance claims in matters of theft.  

Despite how backwoods many of my Texan peers might seem or be, I have yet to hear of any who agree with this travesty. This man used deadly force because a transaction involving prostitution fell through? No, this man murdered the woman who is now rendered silent and can never tell us what may have actually happened. He perversely twisted a law that was never meant to be used in that fashion to clear himself from such a horrific act.

[rickcopeland648]

So this is how ass backwards Texas is?

Yup. Are you surprised?

Have another laff courtesy of y'all: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/06/t ... -birthday/