FL: Jury clears homeowner who took cop for intruder

[TequilaMockingbird]

A jury took less than 30 minutes to determine a homeowner did no wrong when he shot a police officer two years ago.

Barcia was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, a crime that could have left him imprisoned for life. Murphy, wearing a flak jacket, survived with a bloody bruise.

On Wednesday, it took a Miami-Dade County jury less than 30 minutes to decide Barcia did nothing wrong in shooting Murphy, who had entered Barcia's property without permission or a warrant.

 

[Kodiaz]

Excellent that is exactly how it should work. I'm no criminal if someone enters my house unannounced they are up to no good. This has happened before. If your a cop looking for sympathy don't do no knocks.

 

[Maxwell]

no knock + no warrent = dead wrong no matter how you slice it.

If you turn up on someones property unannounced in the middle of the night and start poking around, your begging to get shot. I dont care weather your in uniform or not its just bad common sense.

 

[El Tejon]

Ummm, didn't you guys read the article? The cop did knock. The knocking woke up the defender.

I cannot understand why a cop would do such a moronic thing. Did he think someone ran into the porch after throwing a rock? Was this invasion payback for some earlier incident? Wonder if they were any prior contacts between this cop and this guy?

 

[Firethorn]

Barcia was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, a crime that could have left him imprisoned for life. Murphy, wearing a flak jacket, survived with a bloody bruise.

I know it's in the article, but if it stopped a bullet it was NOT a flak jacket.

Flack jackets are not bullet 'proof', or even particularly bullet resistant. All they're supposed to stop really is 'flack', junk and scrap propelled by an explosion such as a not to close grenade or bomb. The cop had to be wearing a bullet proof vest.

As for the article, well, we don't have all the facts. Apparently the jury decided to take Barcia's version of events, at least enough to decide 'reasonable doubt'.

The cops probably pushed for the max sentence to the point of distorting their story enough that the jury saw through it.

I wonder why the cops were pounding on the door? Don't most homes have a doorbell?

 

[beerslurpy]

Guys this happened like a month ago at least. There was a huge thread about this.

 

[k_dawg]

Excellent that is exactly how it should work. I'm no criminal if someone enters my house unannounced they are up to no good. This has happened before. If your a cop looking for sympathy don't do no knocks.

I disagree. He should never have been charged in the first place, and essentially treated as a criminal for two years!

 

[Taipei Personality]

Originally posted by Firethorn
I know it's in the article, but if it stopped a bullet it was NOT a flak jacket.

Flack jackets are not bullet 'proof', or even particularly bullet resistant. All they're supposed to stop really is 'flack', junk and scrap propelled by an explosion such as a not to close grenade or bomb. The cop had to be wearing a bullet proof vest.

There's no such thing as a bullet-proof vest, either. He was likely wearing body armor.

 

[BigRobT]

This part bugs the heck out me me:

But the cost to Barcia, a former Miami-Dade County Family Court clerk, and his family has been substantial: In the past two years Barcia has lost his job and his home, and had to serve house arrest while watching his now-19-month-old son grow.

Now, what will the county or state do to correct this travesty?? The guy will probably be bankrupt from legal fees imposed by his court case. At a minimum, his credit will be ruined for several years. Our government needs to rethink how they decide to prosecute these types of cases. Some sort of recompense needs to be made to this guy.

And this part:

A little more than two years ago, Mario Barcia Jr. was awakened in the dead of night by banging on his door. Startled -- and shaken from two previous robberies -- he grabbed his gun and ran to the front of the house.

How is one to know if this "banging" is a knock or someone trying to bust down the door?? No mention of the police "announcing" themselves.

 

[sturmruger]

This is a very interesting story. I am glad that guy came out ok. If I were him I would sue for wrongful prosecution.

 

[beerslurpy]

I wish I knew more about criminal and civil law so I could answer this.

He may have a hard time suing the state because of soverign immunity. I dont yet know if florida allows suits for police misconduct/stupidity and whether this officer's actions fall within the bounds of the applicable statute or precedent.

edit: oh ho! The case was actually brought to a bona fide termination by the jury verdict, so he may actually be able to sue for malicious prosecution in florida. Research = teh win.

The cop will similarly be protected by qualified immunity, though I am not sure that it applies in this case, since his actions were so obviously reckless and foolish.

I hope he is made whole after having to endure this injustice, but I am doubtful that will actually happen.

 

[Kodiaz]

I just hope these cops think a little before they go no knocking knowing that them getting killed is justifiable now. Hopefully there won't be any more post hurricane gungrabs.

 

[Car Knocker]

This article cited in the first post is a month old and has been discussed thoroughly in the following thread: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=179375

 

[Don't Tread On Me]

Good for that jury. I applaud their decision. We have a serious police problem in this country. We sit here and tolerate law enforcement busting into peoples homes at night, guns drawn, 1,000,000 candle power Surefires shining, and all hell breaking loose - only to have the homeowner charged with trying to murder an officer when the man is merely trying to defend his home from invasion.


Would have been interesting if he had been using a .308 or .223 instead....

 

[Stand_Watie]

In the states in which I'm familiar with the law, he probably wouldn't have any luck with a lawsuit against the court or the state, but might against those police officers who actually violated the law regarding entry of the premises, or if they were ill-trained, the police department itself. He'd probably need lawyers that he can't afford though, unless the Florida ACLU steps up to the plate.