GunnyUSMC
Member
Overturned and the DA dropped the charges because they knew that they would not get a second conviction.
And wasn't there an issue where evidence was not allowed in the first trial by the judge?
Customize defensive firearms?
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And wasn't there an issue where evidence was not allowed in the first trial by the judge?
That
s an assumption. They chose to not prolong a very protracted and costly legal battle. No one knows all of the state's reasons.
In any event, Fish ended up a ruined man. A sad story.
Yes. Not relevant here, but that was one of the reasons for the case being sent back for retrial. And it di result in a change in the law.
Actually, it's not that straightforward. I just re-read the appellate decision.
There was an issue as to whether the court should have allowed evidence of prior violent acts of the victim for the purposes of supporting Fish's credibility, but that was not the basis for overturning the conviction. The court of appeals merely discussed the process to be followed by a trial court in deciding the question and noted that at re-trial the judge should consider the matter in light of the court of appeal's analysis.
The actual reason for the remand for a new trial was that the court of appeals agreed that the trial judge make a reversible error in the jury instruction on self defense.
toivo
Member
What do you think about a trigger modification that brings the trigger into what the factory specs claim to be but aren't? I'm thinking of a Glock 42 that's supposed to have a 5.5 pound pull but actually feels more like 8 out of the box. Install a Ghost connector and voila! -- 5.5 pounds.
Alte Schule
Member
I've been reading this thread for a couple days now and debated on throwing my personal experience concerning some of the issues that have been presented. This morning I thought I would just put it out there.
In 1990 I sat on a jury (my one and only time) where a woman was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. She shot her live in boyfriend 5 times with a Model 34 Smith snub. The evidence showed that they had an argument and allegedly the boyfriend threatened her with harm. At a distance of fifteen feet she pulled the trigger 8x hitting him 5x. Once each in both knees the left foot, right thigh and a groin shot just missing the jewels. Of course alcohol was a factor.
The prosecutor brought in the gun shop clerk that sold her the used pistol. She asked for a .22 revolver because she had owned one previously. She then asked for the best .22 "bullets" and was sold a hundred rounds of CCI Mini Mags. A week later she returned to the store with the pistol because she was having a hard time with the rimfire trigger and asked them if they could fix it. Not a problem. For a small fee the in store gunsmith worked his magic. After she picked it up a few days later she called the next day saying that it was a lot better. The prosecutor hammered on the fact that she asked for the best ammo available and that she had the pistol "tuned" for better accuracy. There was no doubt, no doubt she hammered (female prosecutor) it was premeditated.
When it was the defense attorney's time he brought the defendant to the stand. She admitted to everything. Stating that she intentionally aimed low just to "mess him up a little" and to keep him from assaulting her. She also stated that she would have continued to shoot him but ran out of ammo. Then the defense attorney laid out his trump card. Two prior incidents, in another county, of the boyfriend assaulting her where LEO's got involved. The pictures and reports were pretty solid. She never pressed charges. Which is fairly typical. This was before the "assault on a family member" statute now on the books that requires an arrest.
Although the prosecutor objected and requested that that evidence be excluded it was allowed. It took us 45 minutes to return a verdict of not guilty because of reasonable doubt. The kicker. About 4-5 years later my wife and I were having breakfast at a local restaurant. You guessed it. They both came in and got a table. He was using a cane and walking with a slow shuffle. One more thing. They engraved the case number and officers initials into that fine pistol. A sad thing to be sure.
In 1990 I sat on a jury (my one and only time) where a woman was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. She shot her live in boyfriend 5 times with a Model 34 Smith snub. The evidence showed that they had an argument and allegedly the boyfriend threatened her with harm. At a distance of fifteen feet she pulled the trigger 8x hitting him 5x. Once each in both knees the left foot, right thigh and a groin shot just missing the jewels. Of course alcohol was a factor.
The prosecutor brought in the gun shop clerk that sold her the used pistol. She asked for a .22 revolver because she had owned one previously. She then asked for the best .22 "bullets" and was sold a hundred rounds of CCI Mini Mags. A week later she returned to the store with the pistol because she was having a hard time with the rimfire trigger and asked them if they could fix it. Not a problem. For a small fee the in store gunsmith worked his magic. After she picked it up a few days later she called the next day saying that it was a lot better. The prosecutor hammered on the fact that she asked for the best ammo available and that she had the pistol "tuned" for better accuracy. There was no doubt, no doubt she hammered (female prosecutor) it was premeditated.
When it was the defense attorney's time he brought the defendant to the stand. She admitted to everything. Stating that she intentionally aimed low just to "mess him up a little" and to keep him from assaulting her. She also stated that she would have continued to shoot him but ran out of ammo. Then the defense attorney laid out his trump card. Two prior incidents, in another county, of the boyfriend assaulting her where LEO's got involved. The pictures and reports were pretty solid. She never pressed charges. Which is fairly typical. This was before the "assault on a family member" statute now on the books that requires an arrest.
Although the prosecutor objected and requested that that evidence be excluded it was allowed. It took us 45 minutes to return a verdict of not guilty because of reasonable doubt. The kicker. About 4-5 years later my wife and I were having breakfast at a local restaurant. You guessed it. They both came in and got a table. He was using a cane and walking with a slow shuffle. One more thing. They engraved the case number and officers initials into that fine pistol. A sad thing to be sure.
huntsman
Member
All SD guns are stock, I'd like to claim it's a cya thing but truth is I'm cheap and gadget money is ammo money to me
TomJ
Contributing Member
Did you confirm it was 8 pounds or did it feel like it? In regards to your question, I'm not qualified to give you that advice. All I can tell you is that if a replacement trigger is within factory specs I'd be comfortable with it. It doesn't, however, mean I'm right.
So here we have a case in which the prosecutor did make an issue of a trigger modification. Fortunately for the defendant she was able to produce overwhelming evidence of justification -- including documentation of two prior assaults by the person she shot, both of which were reported to police.
But remember that every case is different. Here we have a case in which facts good for the defendant (her being forthcoming on the witness stand, and prior documented incidents) were able to overcome a fact bad for the defendant (a modified trigger on her gun). A different assortment of facts on each side of the equation can produce a different result.
I'll see what else I can dig up, but it will have to be next week. I don't have my Westlaw password at home, and I'll set off alarms if I try to go to the office.
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