Originally Posted by
Auto Donk
thanks, str.....
believe me, although it was a relatively quick verdict (3 hrs of deliberations), we talked all the angles through, and would have had even more to discuss if we hadn't settled on lack of self defense in the last fatal shot.
texas law says generally a defendant can't claim self defense if he "provokes" the confrontation in which he ultimately uses deadly force.....
that was another potential problem.....
and, as for the defendant, he didn't have any family show up to support him (OG had numerous family members throughout the trial), and it sucked to see a guy who'd made such choices have to pay for them, knowing deep down he had no one there -- both at trial, and most likely in his life -- to guide him in the right direction in life..... it was a sad day to convict him, knowing all the facts, but in the end, we felt we had to do our duty and follow the law....
I found no enjoyment or satisfaction in convicting him..... there were no winners in the case, only losers and those who'd experienced great loss.... on both sides -- one, the life of a loved son, the other the life of a young man now geared for prison for the next 9 or so years, for whom things could have certainly been different if he'd had a family during his teen years, as it certainly seemed he was lacking....