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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: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 16 2016, @12:32AM
Acquittals cant be appealed idiot.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 16 2016, @12:47AM
Depends on the country. In the USA you're right but in italy, Spain and a few others I can think of the prosecutor can appeal an acquittal.
This happened not to long ago with an American in italy.
Can't remember the name or the source but if you're interested google can probably find it for you. No double jeopardy is pretty uniquely an American thing.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 16 2016, @04:59AM
but in italy, Spain and a few others I can think of the prosecutor can appeal an acquittal.
If any of those countries are willing to take Texas off our hands please let us know. Texas has been looking for a way out of the US for a while.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday December 16 2016, @01:12AM
I'm not so very sure about that. The constitution says they can't be appealed or overturned - that's the whole idea of "double jeapordy". Findlaw isn't exactly "legal counsel", but check this out - http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-rights/charged-twice-in-different-states.html [findlaw.com]
In this case, a federal prosecutor could possibly decide to charge the man under federal law. No other state can claim jurisdiction, unless they allege that he was transporting drugs across their state lines.
Basically, if the law really wants you, they'll find a way to circumvent the law.
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 16 2016, @04:48AM
Circumvent - or ignore. Wayne Fincher spent six years in a cage over a matter of $600 tax that the tax office refuses to accept, and at his trial, he was forbidden to defend himself.
(Intra-state manufacture of two actual machine guns and a short-barreled shotgun, BATFE refuses to accept such "new" post-1986 non-licensed firearms to their registry which they used to charge $200 each for, and Wayne's defense was going to be an appeal to the Constitution's Second Amendment but was flatly forbidden to raise such a defense.)
While Wayne was in prison, his wife died, and he was not allowed the customary privilege of attending his wife's funeral. The sadists love to torment those who fall into their hands.