Excessive sentencing?
Abraham Mar yesterday was sentenced to 99 years in prison for firing at and wounding a Harlingen Police officer with a carbine.
His family and buddies say it was too much time, for a victim of the 'hood. (Link to video of interview now dead.)
Watch that video-- I count at least 8 shots fired, rapid fire from a short semi-automatic rifle of unknown caliber.
If the shots had caught the officer in the head or neck, he would have been killed, which would have been capital murder. Instead, the officer was merely wounded. Nothing that Mr. Mar did preserved the officer's life; it was simply luck that the officer wasn't killed by his intentional act.
The lenses used on cruiser videos tend to make very close objects appear fairly distant; I would estimate that Mr. Mar wasn't 20 feet from the officer he was shooting at.
None of his friends say what he did was wrong. Huh. It's NICE not to be living in Harlingen.
Labels: crime, in the news, police
posted by Matt G @ 2:40 PM
9 Comments:
Give him 8 hours and a 100 yard head start, let the officer have the same opportunity! Bet the results, even at a hundred yards would be different :-)
In whose twisted world is that thug a victim? Sweet bleedin' jeebus...
99 years seems fair to me, but I would not be upset by a hanging in this case. He was trying to murder the officer.... he just wasn't good enough to do what he wanted. When/if he gets out he'll try again.
I'd be in favor of hanging. Not to miss the point, but did anybody else read the scroll at the bottom of the page? Did it really say "president Bush meets with soon-to-be-predecessor Obama" Isn't Bush the predecessor?
That's funny, Keith. I hadn't seen that before. It says "President Bush treats soon-to-be predecessor to a White House meeting."
Should read "soon-to-be successor"
You guys are ridiculous. Oh yeah just shoot anyone who does a bad crime, etc. Man you guys also have too much respect for cops, most are just drones! People shit talk them but then give them so much respect when something happens. Have some empathy and understand the effects of this kind of bullshit. The guy is going to be in jail possibly for LIFE over one incident. Sure its bad what he did. Its attempted murder though, you're not supposed to get a life sentence for that. Plus, people change. But once a killer, always a killer, right? Commenters here are uncompassionate and one sided. Even if I was the one shot at I wouldn't push for a 99 year sentence.
Brian, please note that those "drones" calmly obtained a warrant for Mr. Mars' arrest, then picked him up without violence. Note that they didn't have a convenient case of "resisting" that made them beat or shoot him. Those "drones" took him to court, and sat him before a jury of his peers. It was a jury of citizens of Harlingen that heard the evidence, and gave Mr. Mars a sentence of 99 years.
If he's good, in about 25 years, Mr. Mars will be eligible for parole. He'll be middle-aged, but may have some good years left. How many good years would a gang-banger like him be expected to have on the street?
The officer was shot at 10 times, and was struck 6 times, leaving him permanently injured. This is harsh? He TRIED to kill the officer. Here in Texas, intentionally killing a Police Officer with malice is Capital Murder: life or death. Attempted Capital Murder is a First Degree Felony, with a 99 year maximum. The jury made their statement about what they think of such actions.
The laws of Texas are printed in black and white, if you would like to study them. Maybe Mr. Mars should have.
You said he was convicted by a jury of his peers. Most people are to ignorant to realize that in order for someone to be on a jury they have to have never commited a crime. There for they dont understand that police trump up fake charges quite often, or that prosecutors always over indict people. Also prosecutors dont care if ur innocent or guilty. Even if a prosecutor knows a defendant is innocent he will still pursue the case, and try to convict an innocent man. I see it happen all the time. The prosecutor dosent care about justice. He just wants to win the case at all costs. Even if that means taking a good innocent man away from his family. Sine jurors never have had to deal with the legal system they are blind to how sick and pathetic our justice system has become. Thats why the courts only use people who have never been in trouble to be on a jury, because those kind of people think the police are always right, and if a cop said he did it then he must have done. They fail to realize that most police dont even have a college education and they are very prone to making mistakes. Now eveveryday we are seeing people set free from dna evidence, and the court system dosent give a crap that they took away 15 yrs of an innocent mans life, because the fight to not have to even compensate the wrongfully convicted. The courts are basically like oh well, tough luck. Its so obvious what are justice system has become. I cant wait for the day that the police and prosecutors get the punishments they deserve. As far as for the man that shot the officer 6 times i think he is guilty, but the 99yr sentence is a lilttle execessive. I think he should have got 15- 20 years like most people do for attemped murder. I dont see why the always give someone more time for a crime comitted against an officer. A person is a person and the sentence should remain whether its a cop, criminal, doctor, teacher exct. I dont see why so many people are brainwashed, and they worship the police. Who dont have college educations. I mean as long as u have not been in trouble u can pretty much be a police officer. I dont see what makes police so special. If society wants praise someone and give harsher hasher sentences for harming someone, well then why not doctors, or teacher, or fireman. The people who truly save, and help lives. By the way belive it or not I have been a police officer for 23 yrs and ive seen it all, and im ashamed of what we stand for.
@ Anonymous Aug 21 2010:
You certainly do tar with a broad brush, there.
In my observations of criminal procedure, prosecutors are in a huge hurry to dismiss any case that has the faintest shadow of question about guilt, or winability.
Every day, huh? The Innoncence Project was founded in 1992, and since then have only claimed about 250 successes. Out of HOW MANY TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CONVICTIONS?
Further, getting a conviction overturned is not the same as being "innocent."
Attempted Capital Murder is a First Degree Felony. The use of the deadly weapon makes 99 years entirely appropriate.
Remember, the officers brought in the actor alive and unharmed.
And for what it's worth? I don't believe that you're a working cop anywhere.
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