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A court case with far-ranging consequences concluded Tuesday in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Ray Rosas is a free man tonight after a jury of his peers found him not guilty of shooting three Corpus Christi police officers on February 19, 2015. On that day, early in the morning, CCPD executed a no-knock search warrant, forcing entry into the home without first knocking and announcing they were the police.
A flash bang grenade was fired into Rosas' bedroom, reportedly stunning the 47-year-old, who then opened fire on the intruders. Three officers were wounded; officers Steven Ruebelmann, Steven Brown, and Andrew Jordan. Police were looking for drugs and Rosas' nephew, who they suspected to be a dealer. However, the unnamed nephew was not home at the time of the raid.
Rosas spent nearly 2 years in jail awaiting trial, which concluded Tuesday with a Nueces County jury finding him not guilty. Rosas' defense maintained, based on statements he made immediately following the shooting and later in jail that he did not know the men breaking into his home were police officers and there was no way he could've known, having been disoriented by the flash-bang stun grenade. "The case is so easy, this is a self-defense case," said Rosas' lawyer in closing arguments.
Rosas originally faced three counts of attempted capital murder, but the prosecution dropped those charges just before the trial began, opting instead to try him for three counts of aggravated assault on the police officers. The jury sided with his defense attorney's argument he had a right to defend his home and found him not guilty on all charges.
takyon: Also at the Corpus Christi Caller Times.
(Score: 5, Funny) by bob_super on Thursday December 15 2016, @11:45PM
Does executing your no-knock drug raid, complete with guns drawn, pet-shooting, ransacking, traumatizing, and baby-maiming stun grenades, put you at an unfair and unreasonable risk of not only being shot, but also losing the lawsuit against the owner?
Fear not, dear "bravest", there is hope for you!
Introducing ... the Congress-mandated Army surplus of M1A1 tanks!
Never be afraid again when plowing through a private property! The M1A1 offer full NBC protection, overwhelming firepower, and various landmine-clearing optional attachements!
The M1A1! The next town over has one, are you a cop-hating pussy, or a proud mayor?
(no, seriously, we have way too many rusting in the desert, and they won't stop making them because of Congressional districts. Please buy one. Please! Get one free. Delivery optional)
(Score: 2) by Geotti on Friday December 16 2016, @12:33AM
we have way too many rusting in the desert
I see what you did there...
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Friday December 16 2016, @12:33AM
Great, now I'll need a ten foot trench around my compound to keep the tanks out!
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 3, Funny) by bob_super on Friday December 16 2016, @02:08AM
Tank protections for your compound? The neighbors will think you're going a bit Waco.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 16 2016, @04:36AM
The problem there is that Waco actually happened: agents of the US federal government attacked a church community, accused the leader of heinous crimes, then killed everyone including the accused so there needn't be a trial where messy things like evidence and lack thereof would be brought up.
(There are multiple, accessible ways to successfully combat a tank as a lowly US pleb).
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Friday December 16 2016, @03:42PM
agents of the US federal government attacked a church community, accused the leader of heinous crimes, then killed everyone including the accused so there needn't be a trial where messy things like evidence and lack thereof would be brought up.
According to Wikipedia there's still argument as to how the fire started. That being said, reading about the tactics they used beggars belief.
(There are multiple, accessible ways to successfully combat a tank as a lowly US pleb).
Molotov cocktails [wikipedia.org]
As an aside, the Winter War makes for an interesting read. Finns have balls of steel.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 16 2016, @05:04PM
Don't hold your breath waiting for government agents to outright admit to premeditated murder. The intentional murder of people who annoy government agents is a regular [theguardian.com] event [time.com] in the USA [npr.org].
It does, but it shouldn't. The leading cause of unnatural death for humans is democide - murder by government [jpfo.org].
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday December 16 2016, @01:06AM
They might, actually, now that John Boehner, the guy who represented the district where it was made and made sure that they were purchased even though the Army didn't want them, is no longer Speaker of the House.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 16 2016, @02:03AM