ThePaceMaker
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Raul Rodriguez, a retired Hispanic firefighter is presently on trial for shooting two white males in his Texas neighborhood, and killing another white male just because they were having a party at their house, and was playing their music too loud. Rodriguez crossed the street with a flashlight, video camera, and a gun, and approached his victims, asking them to turn the music down. His victims came outside their house, and stood a few feet away from Rodriguez being bosterous, and they were also intoxicated.
Raul Rodriguez was recording the entire incident, while on the phone to 911, and telling 911 that he felt his life was being threatened. One of the white guys also told Rodriguez that he was going to go into his house, and when he came out, he would be equal with Rodriguez. However, the white guy did not mention that he was going to go into his house and get a gun-but, this could be implied, seeing that Rodriguez approached them with a gun. A few other white guys were standing in the street a few feet away from Rodriguez talking trash. One of them even had his hands in the air, and was talking trash. Rodriguez started fearing for his life, and told the 911 operator that he feared for his life, and had also pleaded for them to send someone to help him. Then, the next thing you know, either the camera fell from his hands, or was knocked from his hands, and then gun fire was heard, resulting in two white males wounded, and another young white male school teacher with a baby, dead.
Rodriguez claimed he was attacked, yet he walked away from the incident without so much as a scratch on him. He also claims self defense and that he was using the Texas stand your ground law.
The Texas stand your ground law states:
"In 2005 Texas passed House Bill 94[32] which created an exception for unlawful entry of place of residence to a 1973 statute, which required a person to retreat in the face of a criminal attack unless a "reasonable person in the actor's situation would not have retreated".[33]
In 2007 Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 378 which extends a person’s right to stand their ground beyond the home to vehicles and workplaces, allowing the reasonable use of deadly force when an intruder is:
Committing certain violent crimes, such as murder or sexual assault, or is attempting to commit such crimes;
Unlawfully trying to enter a protected place; or
Unlawfully trying to remove a person from a protected place.[13]
Senate Bill 378, made effective September 1, 2007, also "abolishes the duty to retreat if the defendant can show he: (1) had a right to be present at the location where deadly force was used; (2) did not provoke the person against whom deadly force was used; and (3) was not engaged in criminal activity at the time deadly force was used."[34]"
Rodriguez was not standing his ground, because he approached his victims house, and instigated the incident, because he had a gun-although his neighbors were not threatening or physically bothering him. He was not protecting his car, house, self, or any other private property. If anything, it was his neighbors who had the right to stand their ground, because they were at their own house, and having a loud party. If Rodriguez felt threatened, he should have stayed at his own home, and called the police instead of confronting his neighbors with a gun. What do you think. Did Rodgriguez have the right to shoot his neighbors because he felt threatened? Do you think a threat to his life really existed? Was Rodriguez within his legal right to go over to his neighbors yard with a gun, although he had a license to carry a gun? What do you think should happen to Raul Rodriguez-should he be found not guilty?
Resource:
Stand Your Ground? Texas man kills teacher over noise complaint | The Raw Story
Raul Rodriguez was recording the entire incident, while on the phone to 911, and telling 911 that he felt his life was being threatened. One of the white guys also told Rodriguez that he was going to go into his house, and when he came out, he would be equal with Rodriguez. However, the white guy did not mention that he was going to go into his house and get a gun-but, this could be implied, seeing that Rodriguez approached them with a gun. A few other white guys were standing in the street a few feet away from Rodriguez talking trash. One of them even had his hands in the air, and was talking trash. Rodriguez started fearing for his life, and told the 911 operator that he feared for his life, and had also pleaded for them to send someone to help him. Then, the next thing you know, either the camera fell from his hands, or was knocked from his hands, and then gun fire was heard, resulting in two white males wounded, and another young white male school teacher with a baby, dead.
Rodriguez claimed he was attacked, yet he walked away from the incident without so much as a scratch on him. He also claims self defense and that he was using the Texas stand your ground law.
The Texas stand your ground law states:
"In 2005 Texas passed House Bill 94[32] which created an exception for unlawful entry of place of residence to a 1973 statute, which required a person to retreat in the face of a criminal attack unless a "reasonable person in the actor's situation would not have retreated".[33]
In 2007 Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 378 which extends a person’s right to stand their ground beyond the home to vehicles and workplaces, allowing the reasonable use of deadly force when an intruder is:
Committing certain violent crimes, such as murder or sexual assault, or is attempting to commit such crimes;
Unlawfully trying to enter a protected place; or
Unlawfully trying to remove a person from a protected place.[13]
Senate Bill 378, made effective September 1, 2007, also "abolishes the duty to retreat if the defendant can show he: (1) had a right to be present at the location where deadly force was used; (2) did not provoke the person against whom deadly force was used; and (3) was not engaged in criminal activity at the time deadly force was used."[34]"
Rodriguez was not standing his ground, because he approached his victims house, and instigated the incident, because he had a gun-although his neighbors were not threatening or physically bothering him. He was not protecting his car, house, self, or any other private property. If anything, it was his neighbors who had the right to stand their ground, because they were at their own house, and having a loud party. If Rodriguez felt threatened, he should have stayed at his own home, and called the police instead of confronting his neighbors with a gun. What do you think. Did Rodgriguez have the right to shoot his neighbors because he felt threatened? Do you think a threat to his life really existed? Was Rodriguez within his legal right to go over to his neighbors yard with a gun, although he had a license to carry a gun? What do you think should happen to Raul Rodriguez-should he be found not guilty?
Resource:
Stand Your Ground? Texas man kills teacher over noise complaint | The Raw Story