80 yo CA man shoots fleeing pregnant woman after robbery

[philip964]

http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article ... 644295.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm figuring the man will be arrested as it is California.

He was beaten (broke his collarbone)by her boyfriend when he discovered the two of them in his house. It is the third time he was robbed. He managed to get away and found his gun, (they were unarmed) he chased them out of the house through the garage and maybe into an alley. As she was running away, she shouted I'm pregnant, don't shoot. He shot and killed her. The boyfriend has been charged with murder. She was not visibly pregnant, but a test confirmed, she was. (I was wrong here, a test would confirm, if she was, it confirmed she was not pregnant) She ended up being the one shot because she could not run as fast as her boyfriend.

In Texas, if she was fleeing with his stuff and it was at night, he would have a very good defense, if it got that far. Being it is California, I would assume he is in trouble.

The boyfriend is obviously a real prince.

[BigBangSmallBucks]

http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article ... 644295.php

I'm figuring the man will be arrested as it is California.

He was beaten (broke his collarbone)by her boyfriend when he discovered the two of them in his house. It is the third time he was robbed. He managed to get away and found his gun, (they were unarmed) he chased them out of the house through the garage and maybe into an alley. As she was running away, she shouted I'm pregnant, don't shoot. He shot and killed her. The boyfriend has been charged with murder. She was not visibly pregnant, but a test confirmed, she was. She ended up being the one shot because she could not run as fast as her boyfriend.

In Texas, if she was fleeing with his stuff and it was at night, he would have a very good defense, if it got that far. Being it is California, I would assume he is in trouble.

The boyfriend is obviously a real prince.

IMO this story is an example of why you don't give any accounts of an incident unless directed to do so by your attorney. Once the media gets a soundbite they'll take it, run with it and they have the ability to spin it and make the victim sound like the BG.

[jmra]

The guy is 80 years old. If he is arrested and can post bail by the time it gets through the court system he will most likely be 6 feet under.

[mamabearCali]

It is CA so he is in trouble in a big way. However even as I am 30 weeks preggers right now that does not give me the right to attack people. I am sorry she and the child are dead. However with the evidence at hand and if nothing else comes out I could not convict.

[o b juan]

Shooting a fleeing burglar??

Not a great Idea as the Law is written In Texas.

And Mexifornia its probably even worse.

[Unicorn Rancher]

Shooting a fleeing burglar??

Not a great Idea as the Law is written In Texas.

I don't know where you're from but in Texas the crime would be aggravated robbery.

"Both suspects attacked him, hitting him with their fists and ultimately "body slamming" him to the floor, breaking his collar bone"

[MechAg94]

I haven't read the article, but as the story is presented here, I wouldn't vote to convict. In most cases of a criminal shot while fleeing, I think I would find it difficult to convict the shooter.

I do think that is a technicality that should be changed. Anything that can cause legitimate self defense to become something else in a matter of seconds should be looked at closely. In most cases, it usually involves someone shooting at a criminal from their own property or very close to it. We rarely hear of anyone pursuing someone down the road. I just think the law should give the victim a lot leeway.

[VMI77]

There's no way I'd vote to convict this guy. Yes, the child was innocent, but is dead because of the actions of its mother, not the old man. What chance would that child have had with that mother? Yes, it's harsh to say so, but she was breeding another criminal....the chances the child would have turned out to be anything other than a criminal are small. In any case, this guy took two real criminals off the streets...assuming the bf actually does the time he deserves.

[Texsquatch]

No shock if he gets charged, regardless of the state. His own comments made it sound like she gave up and he shot her anyway. What a crappy situation to be in. From the looks of it they had what appears to be her mugshot on a stand at that conference, so she was no innocent stranger to the system. Still sucks for the old guy, who's the real victim.

[mr1337]

I would not want to be in the victim's shoes right now. Especially with the anti-2A climate in California. Even though it might have been justified in Texas, I don't think firing at fleeing suspects is a good idea unless there's reason to believe you (or someone else) is still in danger. (Such as if they're running for a weapon.)

[LabRat]

A sad situation to say the least.

The women and her BF are criminals - that's a fact.
They committed a break-in and beat the old man, inflicting serious injuries - that's a fact.
The child had nothing to do with this - that's a fact.

If the old man had been previously robbed up to 3 times as stated, then he may have figured this was the way to stop another "imminent?" robbery (and beat-down) and maybe his own possible demise. Only he knows his state of mind.

Shooting a fleeing robber is not something I think I would do. Knowing media accounts of these events are often light on facts and heavy on editorial smudging, I'd have to know more before I would vote to convict. In these circumstances, I tend to give the victim some latitude given he was there and I was not.

I feel sorry for the unborn child; truly an innocent victim.

LabRat

[MechAg94]

I don't think most of us would shoot a fleeing robber, but that is more a result of having the legal consequences repeated over and over. If there were no laws or lawsuits, where would you draw the line?

[rotor]

There must be a senile component to this as the admission to authorities of the shooting of the fleeing BGs was not something that I would make. Why do people make such stupid comments unless they have lost it mentally? The fact that the woman was pregnant was irrelevant. Pregnant woman can kill you just as easily as a non-pregnant woman and to attack an 80 year old and break a collarbone is substantial. But please do not assume that because he is 80 that he will be dead and buried before this gets to court. 80 is the new 70 and very likely he will be in court and facing a jury. I wish that I would be a juror on this one as he would walk free (assuming what was stated in the article is true). I don't believe that he would be prosecuted in Texas.

[CHLLady]

I thought he should have kept his mouth shut.

He should not have chased them. I would not convict him though. He was under severe stress, having been robbed before and now beaten up, in pain, so I can see adrenaline & fear affecting his thought process.