Dad shoots/kills drunk driver

[ATLitigator]

Originally Posted by G8trGr8t

if I had just watched some drunk driver kill my kids in front of me I would use a rock, a tire iron or just shove my fist down his throat till he choked to death. I cannot imagine the rage that could overcome a person in that situation

I agree...that man would have received a beating so bad he wished he would have been shot to death

[peytiepie]

If I am on the jury...not guilty. I have no sympathy whatsoever for drunk drivers.

[gatordee]

That is awefull!! Cannot blame him at all. Not saying it is right but....

[kygator]

Originally Posted by rivergator

I certainly understand the anger. But then you leave your wife with two young children as you head to prison.

Assuming I am thinking with a reasonably clear head in that situation, I agree. It's always popular on message boards to claim you would kill someone if they did something to a family member. At some point you have to realize that you still have a family that needs you to be around. In real life, it seems, most people realize this. That's why you don't hear about as many revenge killings as you would expect if people lived by message board rules.

[adamgator96]

Tragic story. I couldn't imagine that grief.


Do we need to make driving drunk a felony to get people's attention?

[The_Graygator]

Originally Posted by wgbgator

I don't know if you could say that with any certainty. Beating a man to death with bare hands is pretty physically demanding (and the article doesnt really tell me much other than he walked to his home to retrieve the weapon). Was he amped up? In good phyiscal shape? Tired from pushing a truck? Whatever the case, the gun made it easier to kill the drunk driver.

Still can't say that with any un-certainty either.

This was a crime committed under extreme emotional duress. I agree with another poster that no one is going to win in this one.

[gator1986]

He will get off, especially in Texas

[rivergator]

Originally Posted by kygator

Assuming I am thinking with a reasonably clear head in that situation, I agree. It's always popular on message boards to claim you would kill someone if they did something to a family member. At some point you have to realize that you still have a family that needs you to be around.

Exactly. At some point a responsible person would realize that your wife and surviving children have already suffered a great loss. They don't need to lose their father, too, just because you want revenge.

In real life, it seems, most people realize this. That's why you don't hear about as many revenge killings as you would expect if people lived by message board rules.

I'm sure nowhere in real life is there as much bravado as there is on an anonymous message board. "Yeah,well if that guy did that me, he wouldn't be around long ...."

[Tasselhoff]

I think making drunk driving a felony is a great idea. Too many people die every year at the hands of drunk drivers. Far more so than die at the ha ds of deranged individuals with guns.

[T3goalie]

Originally Posted by MichiGator2002

There is law that envisions just this sort of situation and still considers it criminal, just not as culpably so as what we call murder in most parts. You wouldn't follow it? He doesn't deserve to walk, he deserves not to be punished for murder.

Reality- You watch a drunk recklessly kill not 1 but 2 of your kids in front of your eyes and your wife's eyes. Your snap. I can't think of a worse nightmare. That is not a crime of passion as in manslaughter of a wife's lover. It is beyond that state of mind. I understand it is not murder and the prosecutor is overreaching charging him with such. No mens rea. As a parent of 3 he walks if i was on the jury and i would not lose a minute of sleep over it. Justice was served and he saved the taxpayers a boat load.

[brainstorm]

You never know what you will do in a traumatic situation until you face it. You may "think" you do but you seldom only think. You feel incredible emotion, perhaps uncontrollable, and just react.

I feel this father's pain. In context, I don't think the drunk driver deserved any sympathy. His death was certainly less tragic than the death of the boys.

[MichiGator2002]

Originally Posted by T3goalie

Reality- You watch a drunk recklessly kill not 1 but 2 of your kids in front of your eyes and your wife's eyes. Your snap. I can't think of a worse nightmare. That is not a crime of passion as in manslaughter of a wife's lover. It is beyond that state of mind. I understand it is not murder and the prosecutor is overreaching charging him with such. No mens rea. As a parent of 3 he walks if i was on the jury and i would not lose a minute of sleep over it. Justice was served and he saved the taxpayers a boat load.

So would you just say voluntary manslaughter should just be pulled off the books in general? Because, again, the only reason that this wasn't cold-blooded murder was that it wasn't cold blooded, it was quite hotblooded. This is the very "you caught your wife in bed" type of scenario. It is still a homicide, it was a revenge killing. There are gradations of wrong between professional killer/serial killer and "did nothing wrong", and this is an example. This man took someone's son away from them as sure that man took his. He doesn't deserve to just walk out of court. He just isn't guilty of the top count.

[wgbgator]

Originally Posted by The_Graygator

Still can't say that with any un-certainty either.

This was a crime committed under extreme emotional duress. I agree with another poster that no one is going to win in this one.

Well, we do know (at least from the information provided) that whatever enraged or state of duress he was in, he went into his house to retrieve a gun rather than charge at the man with his fists or the nearest blunt object. Obviously he was of sound enough mind to retrieve the most effective means of killing rather than just fall on the man and tear him limb from limb.

Witnesses at the scene watched Barajas walk to his home and allegedly retrieve the gun with which he shot Banda, according to a police report. When police searched the home, they found a pistol holster and ammunition, but no firearm.

[rivergator]

Originally Posted by T3goalie

Reality- You watch a drunk recklessly kill not 1 but 2 of your kids in front of your eyes and your wife's eyes. Your snap. I can't think of a worse nightmare. That is not a crime of passion as in manslaughter of a wife's lover. It is beyond that state of mind. I understand it is not murder and the prosecutor is overreaching charging him with such. No mens rea. As a parent of 3 he walks if i was on the jury and i would not lose a minute of sleep over it. Justice was served and he saved the taxpayers a boat load.

As a parent of 3 myself, I can understand the father's pain.But I can't condone his judge/jury/executioner role. I couldn't let him off. Especially since I understand that we are a nation of laws.

[LittleBlueLW]

I would be completely numb. Dont think Id be ablero do anything other than attend to my injured child.

Sad all around.

[corpgator]

If he had pulled his gun out and immediately opened fire, he could reasonably claim that he was afraid the guy would kill the rest of his family since he was drunk and had to stop him from doing more.

Since he walked inside to get the gun and came back, he lost the right to claim he didn't know what he was doing. He should go away for a manslaughter charge.

[cocodrilo]

Texas justice can sometimes depend on who you know. Lyndon Johnson had a henchman named Malcolm Wallace. In 1951 Wallace and golf course owner John Kinser were both having affairs with Johnson's sister Josefa. (Virtue ran in the Johnson family.) Wallace went to Kinser's golf course and shot him several times. Wallace was convicted of premeditated murder. Eleven jurors wanted the death penalty, one wanted life imprisonment. But the judge overruled the jury and gave Wallace a five-year suspended sentence.

[gatorman_07732]

Originally Posted by brainstorm

You never know what you will do in a traumatic situation until you face it. You may "think" you do but you seldom only think. You feel incredible emotion, perhaps uncontrollable, and just react.

I feel this father's pain. In context, I don't think the drunk driver deserved any sympathy. His death was certainly less tragic than the death of the boys.

You are exactly right, this is a traumatic situation that nobody can consciously say how the would react. I have two youngsters and couldn't tell you for sure what my reaction would be in this situation.

[WESGATORS]

I know I may be in the minority, but David Barajas has already suffered sufficient punishment for his crime of murder. He has lost his two sons. I would rather spend life in prison or even get the death penalty than to watch my sons get murdered right in front of me. I'd say you call it a wash. Drunk driving and murdering two little children and you forfeit your right to life. No need to further punish the mom and other two kids by taking away the father as well as the two brothers.

The only reason to put him in prison would be if he is a threat to others in his community. If the nature of the threat is reserved for drunk drivers who kill children, then this man is not a burden on society (in my opinion). Prison or execution is excessive.

I do not think that what he did was right, nor do I think that is what I would do in such a situation, but I do believe that the punishment he has already suffered is much more than he deserves.

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS

[Spurffelbow833]

The takeaway: when you deprive the government of an opportunity to underpunish someone, it will overpunish you.