Unlike second-degree murder, first-degree murder requires the element of premeditation. Authorities said video showing the Dodge backing up rapidly before it accelerated forward toward the crowd is evidence that the crash was intentional, prompting them to upgrade the main charge against [James Alex Fields Jr.].
Another video, taken by a surveillance camera mounted on a building, did not show the collision but offered a close-up view of the Dodge. At the moment it sped forward, almost in a blur as it moved toward the crowd off camera, there were gasps in the courtroom from friends of [the victim Heather D.] Heyer and supporters of her family. Several were in tears....
December 15, 2017
"Charge upgraded to first-degree murder for driver accused of ramming Charlottesville crowd."
WaPo reports.
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69 comments:
This guy's going to walk with a self defense, err, defense. Video shows him being chased by a mob, wielding weapons and having bashed in a window.
Heck, I'd be gunning it too, with the mobs around then.
--Vance
Oh yes... if this guy really was trying to kill Commies (which the lady who died was, a communist agitator who in a previous decade would likely have been in jail)--as I was saying, if he was trying to kill people with his car, why did he not run into the large crowds that were trapped in that same narrow roadway; being sitting ducks? Instead his evil plan was to avoid all of them, hit a car, which then hit another car, and that second car was going to be the killer?
Methinks this "1st Degree murder, intent to kill" theory has a few holes in it.
--Vance
It's called overcharging. The guy gets off.
I doubt that they can make 1st degree murder stick. I think Fields will beat that charge. Manslaughter, malicious wounding, probably not, but 1st degree? Yep.
The tell will be if the defense mounts a self-defense strategy. If the defense can introduce any credible evidence that Fields feared for his life then, it'll all be over except for the lesser charges.
"...(which the lady who died was, a communist agitator who in a previous decade would likely have been in jail)...."
Possibly so, and isn't it a wonderful thing we're no longer in an era where simply belonging to a political party in this "land of the free" would be enough to warrant one's arrest and possible incarceration?
I have watched all the videos, and I think he can likely make a reasonable case for self-defense. The prosecution is going to have to demonstrate that he staked out the protesters before ending up among them in his car, and I don't think they can make that case right now.
@Robert Cook -- Very good response.
Indeed Robert Cook.... except your side is trying to change that, isn't it. That, after all, is what Hillary was saying when she promised to overturn Citizen's United. And what the left did do with the John Doe in Wisconsin.
So while you are right as of now, how long can we be sure?
--Vance
Possibly so, and isn't it a wonderful thing we're no longer in an era where simply belonging to a political party in this "land of the free" would be enough to warrant one's arrest and possible incarceration?
Yeah...that's the difference between us and your Commie friends........
8 comments in and no one has at yet said she died of a heart attack. That’s refreshing.
Who has said that in the past, Inga?
Assume this will increase his chances of acquittal. Was he trying to kill someone, or just trying to escape a blood-thirsty mob out for his hide?
Hard to see 1st Degree murder.
I can remember when some prominent New Yorker - forgot her name - yelled "Get out of my way Rednecks" outside a Long Island Nightclub and backed her SUV over several people.
I think she got a slap on the wrist.
Inga: "8 comments in and no one has at yet said she died of a heart attack. That’s refreshing."
12 comments in and no lefty has accused, again, Trump of being directly responsible for this nor called for increased crazed lefty gun confiscation.
That's refreshing.
Anybody besides the hopelessly biased WaPo have this story?
Blogger John said...
The woman who died in Charlottesville was not struck by the car.
She died of a heart attack.
According to her mother in an nbc interview. See it on YouTube
John Henry
11/26/17, 6:29 PM
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6329595&postID=8214477504315141914
Yet, it did not progress. Seems like someone setup a kill zone to be exploited for political leverage. The likely suspects are the DNC (rabidly diversitist), JournoLists of the Fourth Estate (in collusion with the first), and diversity racket (for financial and social profit).
The allegation that he was there to commit elective abortion is not viable on the merits of the case.
Inga said...
8 comments in and no one has at yet said she died of a heart attack. That’s refreshing.
Give it time Grasshopper. Give it time.
It's called overcharging. The guy gets off.
In that case, this may be a show trial, with the intent to hide the truth a la Obama/Clinton/DNC collusion with foreign intelligence assets, sovereigns (e.g. Kiev), and mainstream press, in order to influence the election and disenfranchise Americans.
It's called overcharging. The guy gets off.
Bingo. I think they just handed him his freedom if he's willing to go to trial.
This is so ridiculous, I think they're trying to scare him into a plea bargain.
I expect that the notion is that it will be easy to convict him of something like manslaughter. The murder-1 charge is simply the most they can charge him with, based on the available preliminary evidence. They might not get it, but (and I am not a VA lawyer) the instructions on lesser-included offenses might assure a lesser conviction.
And in the end, a charge of murder-1 might just encourage a plea to whatever he was charged with before.
I'm not sure how backing up a block before the crash proves anything one way or the other, and Fields didn't accelerate "forward at a rapid clip"; he simply let the car coast at a too-high speed into the crowd. The lack of rapid acceleration and engine revving is probably why many of them didn't attempt to flee until it was too late.
Since the crowd blocked his view of the cars in front of him, it'll be tough to prove that he wasn't simply trying to disperse the crowd and sail through it. He could argue that he didn't see the car in front of him until it was too late, and the video shows his brake lights shining. There is proof that Fields applied the brakes before the crash, including photos from such right-wing news organs as CBS, NY Times, and Mother Jones.
The hit-and-run charge will not stick if even one juror has the decency to apply the law. Fields' car was immediately surrounded after the crash by Black Bloc-ers who smashed his windows with clubs.
Second-degree, and some of the lesser-includeds, seem like reasonable charges to me. The first degree charge is purely political.
The fascist attempted mass murder, actually killed one woman and maimed several others. The charge is appropriate and hopefully there will be no option of a plea deal. This charge gives the good burghers of Charlottesville an opportunity to apply justice using the full set of options afforded by both the law and the facts of the case.
What happened in Charlottesville and Trump's response to it is what has set a ceiling on his approval numbers and sealed his fate as a one-term president. The urban middle class don't want fascists running free in their cities murdering their children, whatever their political leanings.
The urban middle class prefers a better class of child-murderers.
doesn't take long for ARM to show up and splooge all over the thread.
It's obvious that Fields drove his car into the crowd with the intention to hit people.
The reason there was a crowd is that a long line of people was stopped at the intersection of Water Street and Fourth Street and was diverted to walk to walk north on Fourth Street. A few seconds after the crowd began walking north, Fields drove his car into the crowd.
The above actions are shown in the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCBfjIDriYw
* from 14:30 to 16:30
and
* from 21:00 to 21:15
Fields knew where to position his car and when to start driving.
Watch the following three videos in the given order.
1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePsK0dpyu4g
2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCBfjIDriYw
3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESHIrLb7xxM
I discussed the situation more on a previous post on November 6.
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2017/11/at-sunrise-cafe.html
Who spends the energy to think up defenses for this guy?
readering said...
Who spends the energy to think up defenses for this guy?
A surprisingly large fraction of the Althouse commentariat.
readering said...
"Who spends the energy to think up defenses for this guy?"
Because, like anybody else, he's considered innocent until it can be proven he's guilty.
That's kinda the foundation of American justice.
It is one thing to support the rule of law, as I do fully in this case. It is another thing, altogether, to be actively looking for loopholes for this guy. No one would be doing this if he were a muslim terrorist instead of a fascist terrorist.
ARM: "What happened in Charlottesville and Trump's response to it...."
This is just the W Bush/James Byrd ploy being re-rolled out by the dems to be added to their updated "War on Women" (where the left transfers its massive sexual harassment guilt to all republicans in a way similar to how the lefties transferred their hundreds of years of democrat slavery/Jim Crow/KKK guilt onto republicans).
The lefties haven't had a new idea since 1917.
AReasonableMan: "It is one thing to support the rule of law, as I do fully in this case."
That is, of course, of no comfort to Kate Steinle's and Mary Jo Kopechne's family.
But then, they had it coming, didn't they?
ARM: "What happened in Charlottesville and Trump's response to it is what has set a ceiling on his approval numbers and sealed his fate as a one-term president."
LOL
This is the 14,976th thing that has sealed Trumps fate and ensures he cannot win election..er...re-election.
Yeah, that's it. Now he can't win re-election.
Obviously. Based on the 938th consecutive day of declining poll numbers if nothing else.
This time for sure!
ARM: "It is another thing, altogether, to be actively looking for loopholes for this guy."
LOL
Yeah, a lefty actually wrote that. After the last 60 years.
And he did it without irony!
Thanks ARM!
Robert Cook said...
"...(which the lady who died was, a communist agitator who in a previous decade would likely have been in jail)...."
Possibly so, and isn't it a wonderful thing we're no longer in an era where simply belonging to a political party in this "land of the free" would be enough to warrant one's arrest and possible incarceration?
12/15/17, 11:39 AM
Nonsense, all fucking communists must hang. The fact that we don't is weakness masquerading as high-mindedness. The only good communist is a dead communist. Forget Hitler, someone should go back in time and strangle Marx in his crib, then there would be no Hitler.
But I agree, jailing communists is a waste of time and resources.
Bullet costs a quarter.
So what happens if you get surrounded by a hostile mob (and you're not a neo-nazi) can you slowly drive through them?
Or are you expected to stop - lock your doors - and hope the police arrive?
Anybody know the law?
Sounds like he is a murderer, but I will leave that to the jury to decide.
What he is not is he is NOT a terrorist. Attacking armed masked people is not a political statement. That these armed masked people had not gotten around to attacking, as they so clearly were there to do, removes that political aspect.
The operative part is 'terror' and civilians. No one in a ski mask, wearing a helmet and carrying a club is a civilian.
And all because the left just couldn't let a handful of clowns be clowns for 3 measly hours.
3 measly hours of probably offensive speeches and the lame-ass chanting that is part and parcel of all protests. And then it would have been done. You think they were going to go tear up Charlottesville when they were done? With the amount of law enforcement scrutiny on them? I doubt it.
But the left showed up looking for a fight and armed with their piss and shit and improvised flamethrowers to "stand against racism", like 98% of normal people already do. How TERRIBLY brave. The woman is dead because of the left.
ARM,
Just as an aside. A significant number (myself and son among them) did not vote for Trump this time around. He was painted as a horrible monster.
Well, he is NOT a horrible monster, except in so much as he has taken the power from the Left and he is mean to them. Boo frigging hoo.
In response to a legal presidency YOUR side has gone off the deep end. You are scary, with RIOTS, ARMED MOBS, calls for COUPS, and the Resistance, which seems intent on making things miserable for everyone until you get that power back.
Your expectation that support for Trump will DECREASE is more wish fulfillment than a realistic hope. I can assert at least on person will, barring something hideous, be supporting him more next time around.
“Your expectation that support for Trump will DECREASE is more wish fulfillment than a realistic hope. I can assert at least on person will, barring something hideous, be supporting him more next time around.”
Virginia, New Jersey and Alabama point to something quite different.
"Virginia, New Jersey and Alabama point to something quite different."
Virginia and New Jersey are blue states.
Alabama was a Mitch McConnell caper to keep Mo Brooks out of the Senate and protect his corrupt deal with the prior Governor of Alabama by getting Strange to be appointed. Roy Moore just shows how little Alabama residents liked his caper.
None of the three indicates anything about the future,
"Virginia, New Jersey and Alabama point to something quite different."
Lol
Looks like the dems have ANOTHER election in the bag in 2020.
Good for you.
You wont mind if we actually hold the election anyway, will you?
NY Fed is now projecting 4% GDP growth.
Ouch!
The dems said that was impossible!
Inga and LLR Chuck hardest hit.
Midwest srates important for Trump re-election most wonderfully "hit".
Bad Lieutenant:
Nonsense, a bullet is messy, too much blood if it hits an artery. Much simply, and more personal, if a "modern" Spanish Garrote is used to do away with that Commie Miscreant! Plus, it's a more terrifying way to go.
OGC: Nonsense, a bullet is messy, too much blood if it hits an artery. Much simply, and more personal, if a "modern" Spanish Garrote is used to do away with that Commie Miscreant! Plus, it's a more terrifying way to go.
Yeah, I know it's fussy and more trouble all around, but for me a trebuchet swing into the ocean is the more psychologically satisfying mode. Get 'em off our soil.
When Trump said there were good people on both sides in Charlottesville, he was obviously including James Fields, even though he called him a disgrace and a murderer. After all, he's Literal Hitler, and he must have meant literally the opposite of what he said.
You can take the rest of the day off now, ARM. You're welcome.
I'll wait for the full facts to come out. Maybe he was aiming at sea lions and the car just went off. Three times.
First degree murder is a heavy lift. They're going to have to prove what he was thinking and feeling. A lot will hinge on any statements he's made or made prior to going.
For example. We know his brakes were used and hit a car. Is that enough reasonable doubt like a ricocheting bullet? Going to matter what else we have. Maybe. But appearing to hitting the brakes may save him from murder but not a lesser charge.
Fuck the thieving maid, she ripped off a nice suburban family. This dude deserves mercy as he is the poster boy for chickenhawk cucks afraid of their own shadow.
Could someone please tell Mummy to close the Inga channel: I am become triggered.
Blogger Bad Lieutenant said... But I agree, jailing communists is a waste of time and resources. Bullet costs a quarter.
Those quarters add up, the Germans ran the numbers and bullets were deemed too expensive. You, of all people, should know that. Your proposal is rejected as unsustainable.
Jeezum Michael. She is just saying shit to say shit. Don't waste your time with the she troll.
Now if he said he was going there to collect scalps or some such, it'll be easier to prove intent. Did he have improvised weapons like other protesters or seen in the skirmishes or did he avoid the violence until then? That would be useful for both sides to know.
You know what, ARM has a point. People don't want fascists around attacking others.
But what ARM and Inga fail to realize is that people want communist rent a mobs and their leftist thugs around even less. No one supports Nazis. But ARM and company and the entire Democrat party is all in on Black Rioters and Antifa thuggishness.
I know in my state, we don't have Nazis.... but we have had Antifa and BLM attacks, much to the great glee of the Democrat party here.
The Nazi's are a minor annoyance. The Democrat Party's full embrace of violent agitators is the real comparison to Nazi Germany, and you are in that group, ARM.
--Vance
If he was intent on murder and mayhem, he should have trained on the ISIS channel to use a vehicle to its deadliest capability, i.e., flooring the gas pedal and hitting the most people possible and never applying the brakes other than to shift into reverse to back over the wounded before resuming ramming speed in forward.
Jeezum Michael. She is just saying shit to say shit. Don't waste your time with the she troll.
I know but I'm just trying to make Ann happy.
Ann, won’t the defense use that recent report that said law enforcement was culpable because they seemed to be stocking violence for political reason?
Howard said...
Blogger Bad Lieutenant said... But I agree, jailing communists is a waste of time and resources. Bullet costs a quarter.
Those quarters add up, the Germans ran the numbers and bullets were deemed too expensive. You, of all people, should know that. Your proposal is rejected as unsustainable.
12/15/17, 5:17 PM
Bullet prices weren't the problem, they were running out of beer to drown the executioners' Weltschmerz in. Soft silly Germans. The Reds don't have the problem.
But I'm down with any means necessary; sure, get creative. What I think is the trick is, you need some kind of geometrically constrained airbursting munitions that will sweep a square area. So you draw out the population distribution, and arrange fires to cover neatly. Maybe FAE or thermobarics.
Gutting and flaying and all that takes time. Too many of them. But, if you're thinking of someone special... Google "spancel" or to disambiguate, "spancel skin".
Blogger Howard said...
This dude deserves mercy as he is the poster boy for chickenhawk cucks afraid of their own shadow.
12/15/17, 5:12 PM
Good job stringing words together! Here's a gold star.
But just for shiggles, wouldn't you maybe like to understand just exactly what was going on?
First degree murder is a heavy lift. They're going to have to prove what he was thinking and feeling. A lot will hinge on any statements he's made or made prior to going.
If ARM had his way, they'de just need to prove that he was a bona fide Nazi. People will automatically try and convict him for the Holocaust in their heads. That's exactly what they want to do to Trump.
No evidence I've heard of about any premeditated intent to do harm.
He'll walk.
Matthew Sablan:
The question is cause and effect. If there was a credible threat of elective abortion from the mob, then the judge and jury must decide what would be a reasonable action taken in self-defense. Or, similarly, it may have been a setup, where both the mob and driver were victims of a conspiracy, which in light of the climate (e.g. DNC, press, diversity racket painting Americans as neo-National Socialists, diversitists, abortionists), it can be presumed was undertaken to create political leverage.
Just for the record, lnga, I did not say she died of a heart attack. I pointed out that her mother said she died of a heart attack.
Are you calling the mother a liar?
John Henry
Blogger Unknown said...
"You know what, ARM has a point. People don't want fascists around attacking others.
But what ARM and Inga fail to realize is that people want communist rent a mobs and their leftist thugs around even less. No one supports Nazis. But ARM and company and the entire Democrat party is all in on Black Rioters and Antifa thuggishness.
I know in my state, we don't have Nazis.... but we have had Antifa and BLM attacks, much to the great glee of the Democrat party here.
The Nazi's are a minor annoyance. The Democrat Party's full embrace of violent agitators is the real comparison to Nazi Germany, and you are in that group, ARM.
--Vance"
ARM doesn't want to punch you in the face. Heaven forbid. ARM want's someone else to punch you in the face.
You guys live in fantasy world of projection.
You guys live in fantasy world of projection.
Projection by projecting projection.
That's a neat trick.
ARM is nothing if not morally versatile.
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