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800 Maynard Ave S, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98134
800 Maynard Ave S, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98134
At what point does Texas suffer a brain drain and recession/rot from all the people who just can't take it anymore?
Florida too.
"you pay your invoices after the services are rendered, not before."
I know, right?
It's funny because she's DEAD.
And the guy who killed her is acquitted.
Yep. That's funny.
"invoices". Ha ha ha ha.
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.
...or it's so unmitigatedly awful that we have to laugh.
I'm attending a joint convention at Whistler next month with Washington and Texas lawyers - we don't do criminal law but I'll make sure I ask about this... wow.
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professional transactions work that way. escort services are supposed to be professional transactions. but this wasn't a professional transaction, as @11 says, it was theft.
he should have taken his lumps - he killed her (with a gun, 'natch) over $150, and now he's wracked with guilt.
I want to think that was snark, but I'm not so sure. You give someone $150 expecting sex in return and if you don't get it you can murder the person in cold blood? You really think that's an acceptable response?
Either that, or they simply never had a significant population of brain-havers to begin with.
(Which makes the case for the legalization & regulation of prostitution and drugs so that people have better recourse under the law than to use force when someone robs them.)
Jesus Christ.
You know? If we dissolved the U.S.A. and reverted to 50 sovereign states, we'd get 49 more seats at the U.N. Our defense spending would go way down. (Seriously, which state would want to invade Iraq on their own?) Plus, donor states like New York could keep more of that Federal tax money that's a net drain on us. And those crappy drivers from Jersey would need a visa to drive on our roads. ;-)
Many escorts officially sell their time, not sex. If they feel like having sex with their clients, that's great for the clients, but it's specifically not required by the agreement the escort enters into. Dan himself went on a date with that kind of escort for a book he wrote; I think Skipping to Gomorrah, but I'm not 100 percent sure.
In either event, if this asshole had murdered a drug dealer for ripping him off, he'd be facing the death penalty right now.
Our country is so messed up about sex and politics that in some places being a hooker would be the bigger crime rather than murder. Letting this guy get away with murder is unacceptable. A sex worker is someone's daughter, sister or maybe even mother, too. Just b/c she was a hooker by trade doesn't mean that the guy who murdered her should be walking free.
"professional transactions work that way. escort services are supposed to be professional transactions. but this wasn't a professional transaction, as @11 says, it was theft."
First off, no they do not. There are many instances where you pay for a service prior to receiving that service.
And obvious example would be pre-paid phone service.
Secondly, I think "Mistress Matisse" probably has more experience and knowledge in this area than you.
How much worse could his life get? Poor guy has suffered enough.
If I had been on that jury, and an unanimous vote was required to acquit, it would have been a hung jury. He shot her in the neck over $150. Unless she was holding a gun on him at the same time, he deserves to rot in jail for the rest of his life.
* It's the best wit I can come up with now that I've had a few hours to cool off from cursing the jury when I first read the story.
WE should not stand for this. WE should not stand for a lot of shit in this Country. For example…who prosecutes the negligence of this Country for going to WAR in another country on false pretense? Who fucking holds this Country accountable?
Check and balances? There are no check and balances in this Country. That's naive bullshit.
FUCK!
This is really just the dark side of the Rule of Law when you have stupid laws. But to take offense with the jury or the justice system is wrong headed and against the rule of law, which is THE greatest thing ever invented by America.
The best thing to do is share the hell out of this story so we can make sure it gets out to the rest of the country. There is nothing about this that is right and it can't be the last we hear of this story...
"But to take offense with the jury or the justice system is wrong headed and against the rule of law, which is THE greatest thing ever invented by America. "
a) Juries have the option of ruling against the law itself. That's one of the reasons we have juries.
b) This woman was an escort. The money paid to her was for her time, not for prostitution, which is illegal in Texas. He shot her for refusing to commit a crime. It's a miscarriage of justice even with such a fucked-up law.
Look, I'm no mind-reader, but why is it so hard to infer intent when someone points a loaded weapon at a vital part of someone, clearly in anger, and pulls the trigger?
Anyway, I'm pretty sure the prosecution lost this case in jury selection.
GODDAMN FUCKING TEXAS!
As for intent "following the bullet" ... well in some jursidictions is still does, but it isn't right to say that it always does (e.g. someone pointing a gun they thought wasn't loaded, a cop who intends to immobilise and hits a main artery [that second one is an actual case that may have been relied upon for authority here]).
To the discussion about juries and finding against the rule of law (@46 I think) ... that is absolutely not 'one of the reasons we have juries.' Jury nullification is frowned upon everywhere and judges are meant to do their best to keep barristers on point and if counsel is actively seeking such a verdict, they can be cited for contempt. Juries do make terrible mistakes of law all the time though ... and the craziest thing is that lawyers aren't allowed to serve on them. Most of these errors stem from poor instructions from the judge. Oh, and @42, the assertion that the US "created" the rule of law is right up there among the most outlandish things I've ever read.
The comparison to the drug deal gone bad is the most apt in the circumstances and who knows what a jury would have decided there (I'm not quite ready to impose objective misogyny on a group of people I've never met without knowing the judges instructions). There are some jurisdictions (outside the US) where drug dealers can write off losses from robberies on their taxes even though their business is illegal ... I guess the gov't cares more about revenue than crime.
Bottom line, this case will serve as impetus to change that ridiculous law (only at night ... really?!) and won't serve as any kind of precedent in future trials because it was wrongly decided and every first year law student in the country taking contracts/criminal law knows it.
"We as a culture need to have a freaking reality check, not just certain areas." Yes. Yes we do, but Texas should be at the front of the line.
Now, imagine I get thirsty around 10pm and walk down to my local Starbucks. I order a Grande latte. They deliver a tall cup 3/4 full of some semi-dark liquid. I decide it is only 3/4 full, not the promised "grande" size and that the taste is not to my liking. I complain and the shop decides I am a crank and doesn't refund my money or refill my cup to the brim with freshly brewed coffee. Can I consider this a theft of my money and shoot the barista? I don't see the difference between this case and the one cited. Am I missing something?
Now I have to go shoot the pizza guy in the neck for skimping on the pepperoni. God bless The Republic.
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