Farmers Branch Officer Sentenced to 10 Years for Killing Brown Dindu Nuffin

[Chili]

I think the point here is, would you have chased them down, then after you wrecked their vehicle, gotten out and immediately opened fire into the wrecked vehicle, then proceed to open the door to get a clear shot on the other?

This guy has 27 witness that said he purposefully killed one and almost the other without a threat being present at the time, 10 years is getting off light.

Absolutely not, and I'm certainly not trying to justify his actions at all. I just pointed out that he could have accomplished his goal in a manner to allow for a defense with a slight alteration in his actions. I think he was definitely in the wrong and would have expected a longer sentence.

In my opinion he went too far the instant he pulled the trigger. I was ok with all of it, the car chase, the pit manuever, etc. I wonder if his defense of "he was reaching" would have worked out better if he had not opened the door and tried to kill the other guy. Maybe so. I think 10 years might be a little light as well, any regular person would be in there for 40 years or even life.

Yep. I doubt I would have chased them if it were me in that scenario, wouldn't hold it against someone either. Especially an off-duty cop.

[jewozzy]

I'm pretty sure had this happened an hour later than it did he likely would have beat the case in court. If I remember correctly this was daylight savings weekend (or close to it) and the legal description for night had just reverted to an hour later than when he would have been legal justified using deadly force at night.

[GE]

Where in the penal code was deadly force *ever* justified in this case? The half cocked excuse of "I thought he was going to shoot me" didn't fly this time. So instead of a justified shooting he went down for murder. Watching him address the jury afterwards yesterday, I didn't buy it.

[jammeejamm]

if he was on duty it would have been a different story. you have to be clocked in to kill people.

[The King]

Where in the penal code was deadly force *ever* justified in this case? The half cocked excuse of "I thought he was going to shoot me" didn't fly this time. So instead of a justified shooting he went down for murder. Watching him address the jury afterwards yesterday, I didn't buy it.

The incident occurred during the nighttime.

[LANTIRN]

if he was on duty it would have been a different story. you have to be clocked in to kill people.

LOL! ^^This

[jewozzy]

Where in the penal code was deadly force *ever* justified in this case? The half cocked excuse of "I thought he was going to shoot me" didn't fly this time. So instead of a justified shooting he went down for murder. Watching him address the jury afterwards yesterday, I didn't buy it.

Texas Penal Code 9.42 Deadly Force to Protect Property

(A) to prevent the other's imminent commission of arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, theft during the nighttime, or criminal mischief during the nighttime;  or

(B) to prevent the other who is fleeing immediately after committing burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, or theft during the nighttime from escaping with the property;  and

(3) he reasonably believes that:

(A) the land or property cannot be protected or recovered by any other means;  or

(B) the use of force other than deadly force to protect or recover the land or property would expose the actor or another to a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.

The incident occurred during the nighttime.

Again, without looking. I believe due to Daylight Savings time the legal definition put this in the "Daytime" and not night. Pretty grey area to me.

[GE]

The incident occurred during the nighttime.

No, it did not.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2016/03/16/farmers-branch-officer-who-fatally-shot-teen-expected-to-turn-himself-in-spokesman-for-victims-family-says

"There is not a defense in the penal code that justifies these actions," he said.

Had the shooting occurred the day earlier, Schulte said, Johnson might not be facing charges.

According to the Texas Penal Code, deadly force cannot be used in response to theft of personal property unless it occurs at nighttime, which is defined as 30 minutes after sunset, Schulte said.

Because of daylight saving time, which went into effect at 2 a.m. Sunday, the sun had not yet set when the shooting occurred between 7 and 7:30 p.m. The events began to unfold in the parking lot of Johnson's apartment complex. Addison officials have said Johnson saw Cruz and Rodriguez attempting to burglarize a vehicle in the parking lot of the Brookhaven Apartments.

[GE]

If you've seen the still photos and video, it is quite clear that it was still daylight out.

[The King]

My bad, since my statement was based solely on the text in a WFAA story on March 15, 2016 that said:

"The Farmers Branch Police Department identified Officer Ken Johnson, who shot and killed a 16-year-old while off duty in Addison Sunday night."

No surprise, the writer's opinion of night must be different than ours.

[Chili]

If you've seen the still photos and video, it is quite clear that it was still daylight out.

Yeah, I noticed that too, after the fact. The convenience store video time stamp was 7:09 if I remember correctly, and sunset that day was like 7:30.

[Gasser64]

Texas Penal Code 9.42 Deadly Force to Protect Property

(A) to prevent the other's imminent commission of arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, theft during the nighttime, or criminal mischief during the nighttime;  or

(B) to prevent the other who is fleeing immediately after committing burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, or theft during the nighttime from escaping with the property;  and

(3) he reasonably believes that:

(A) the land or property cannot be protected or recovered by any other means;  or

(B) the use of force other than deadly force to protect or recover the land or property would expose the actor or another to a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.

Steal shit at night and you're a dead man I guess.

[Chili]

Steal shit at night and you're a dead man I guess.

You don't even need to steal.. Read all of sentence A. Criminal mischief is enough at night..

[hxbernal]

anyone care to explain why daytime/nighttime matters so much

[BradM]

Read post 52.