Court responses to gun violence are exacerbating what is a national problem. In the most recent example, a man from Georgia shot and killed someone for pulling into the wrong driveway. Philip Sailors accepted a plea deal that reduced his murder charge to involuntary manslaughter, a misdemeanor, and received only probation and a $500 fine.
Rodrigo Diaz, the 22-year-old victim of the shooting, was trying to pick up a friend to go ice skating in January of 2013, when his GPS system took him, as well as three others that were in his car, to the wrong house. Sailors assumed the car idling in his driveway signified a home invasion, so he went outside and fired a round into the air.
That’s when Diaz and his friends tried to leave — until Sailors fired a round through the window, striking Diaz in the head and killing him. The other three in the car were high school students. Sailors held them at gunpoint until the police arrived.
He never spoke to them or asked why they were there. He shot first, and asked questions later. Initially, he was charged with malice murder. The parents of the victim also sued him for negligence, seeking $140,000, as well as recognition that their son didn’t do anything wrong.
In fact, the parents seem to be pleased that Sailors won’t be going to prison, according to WSB-TV:
After the hearing, Diaz’s father, Rodrigo Diaz Senior, told Kavanaugh that Sailors could have received a stronger punishment, but he believed that would only end up destroying two families.
His eldest son, David, agreed.
‘There is no point for him to be in lifetime in prison. What we get from that? Nothing,’ said David Diaz.
While I am glad for the family that they have some sense of closure from this, it ignores the larger role such incidents play. If you shoot someone who hasn’t presented you with any force because of fear and paranoia, you should serve a prison term. Why? Because it sends a deterring message to would-be shooters — be sure of what’s happening before you pull the trigger. Don’t shoot first and ask questions later.
Unfortunately, stand your ground laws and gun culture would disagree.
Image via www.wsbtv.com
This story touches in so many ways. The un-selfishness, and forgiveness on the side of the victims family, seems extreme, but this is a fundamental difference in these 2 families. While one is eager to forgive and move on, the other is preparing for more and anticipating violence. This seems to be a clear divide in society, where fear is spread at breakfast and lasts all day.
The message is clear: Guns don’t kill people, GPS units kill people. Well, GPS units and fearful paranoid murderous people kill people. So, don’t turn into the wrong driveway and just try to drive…away.
You are so terribly wrong about the position of Stand Your Ground proponents.. This was not such a case and not a valid shooting for Stand Your Ground as the “threat” not only never presented itself, but in fact was “retreating” as well. Stand Your Ground is for a real and valid threat and this incident would likely have occurred with THIS particular old man regardless of ANY rules regarding personal defense because this old man broke even the most basic of them.
Furthermore…. labeling this man a “responsible gun owner” is just plain ludicrous. Responsible gun ownership means just that…. plain and simple… He quite clearly was not.
Hence the quotes around “responsible”. Sarcasm.
Then it is irresponsible to be sarcastic about “responsible”.
So out of all the tragedy in this story, your beef is with the comment about “Stand Your Ground” laws?
Yeah. We can see who you are.
No… you can’t see who I am…
Open your eyes buddy..
I also said.. ” …and this incident would likely have occurred with THIS particular old man regardless of ANY rules regarding personal defense because this old man broke even the most basic of them.”
I expressed my opinion that this old fart was in the wrong.
There is no need to expect me to comment on every nuance of the article.
I believe the point is that they’re using the “but he was so scared of the minorities in a car trying to flee” defense, which is ludicrous. That point isn’t lost on the author.
Stand your ground couldn’t even be considered to cover this. The car was in the f***ing driveway, with everybody inside. Dipshit knew what he was doing
It’s great because I never said this was a Stand Your Ground case. I had a paragraph about the “larger role such incidents play,” and then said that stand your ground laws and gun culture disagree with my statement that you shouldn’t shoot first and ask questions later. I even kept “stand your ground” lowercase to show I wasn’t talking about the proper noun.
Hey, at least we all know what you took away from this story though. You seized on three words. Tea Partiers, like explosions (the destructive comparison is not accidental), take the path of least resistance. In other words, the rest of my article must be pretty cogent.
The other comments are right. “Responsible” is sarcastic. In fact, “responsible gun owner” is used pretty regularly in the media as a sarcastic or pejorative term. I’m pretty pro-gun for a liberal, as well as gun literate, so I have the *slight* respect to put quotes around it. Don’t like it? Stop reading my articles
Hey though, I like your “reasonable tea partier” vibe. It’s bullshit, but shiny bullshit. You’re either a fantastic troll or there is hope for you.
My take on using “Responsible gun owner” was that it was making a mockery of the idea that gun owners are responsible and saying that none of them are. It is not all that easy to determine what you meant by using the quotes.. I just took it a different way.. That is all… Evidently you don’t see that I strongly feel that this idiot was totally in the wrong and is not the type of person who should have a gun.
I often see people using “responsible gun owner” in the way I just stated and assumed you were doing the same.
Those of us who are indeed responsible gun owners are quite upset over seeing people do stupid crap like the old fellow did. It undermines all of our efforts at promoting gun safety to have one moron ignore all common sense and make us all look bad by group association (gun owners).
Your assessment of me is dead wrong, you are seeing what you want to see.
And.. I was referring to the comment about stand your ground from another reply before mine. However, you did state that the fellow percieved a threat from the car simply being in his driveway (he’s a moron..) and so, it is quite logical to assume that the same moron thought he had a stand your ground authority to shoot to kill.. a fleeing “threat” at that…. (a very stupid moron..) That is where the stand your ground came into the discussion.
Stand Your Ground only gives you a legal defense against charges that might be brought up against you for using deadly force (whether it proves to be deadly or not..) against a real threat. If you shoot someone in the back… you will have some explaining to do. If the perpetrator is armed, advancing on you or someone else with a weapon then you have a valid reason. Anything else other than that is still questionable. I think we agree on that. The old man deserved a stronger punishment, but the victim’s family was extraordinarily forgiving and I commend them for that given what they suffered.
First degree murder. Period. Fired a warning shot with no provocation, and when the people in his driveway tried to leave murdered the driver in cold blood. This is Georgia, so I wonder if there would have been the same outcome if the victim had been named “Smith” instead of “Diaz”.
Of course someone would have to bring race into this. Instead of criticizing people for standing up for wrong doing how about you go out there and protest if you feel it necessary don’t criticize people that try to make a difference
how sad that this has to keep happening.
MURDER. I’d also charge him with false imprisonment and/or kidnapping for holding the other children there at gunpoint.
OMG!
So, what part of what he did could be considered “involuntary?” Why did the judge in the case accept this plea deal?
You want the truth ? Because he is an old white guy that killed a minority. In the South, it’s barely a crime.
This is heading to a very, very dark place indeed. So, if you mistakenly pull into a driveway, never leave your car, the homeowner is allowed to come out, shoot into the air- bad enough, but then you hurriedly back out to leave, he then shoots directly into the car and kills you as you attempt to retreat. HELL NO!! HELL NO!! The stand your ground law has gone way too far if it supports this kind of behavior. There was nothing threatening about this driver’s actions as reported. The fool decided that, hearing the car in the driveway, that people were there to rob him. The law wasn’t designed to protect stupid, fearful, paranoid, delusional people whose first reaction is to shoot first and ask questions later. If that is what the law is about, we are all “potential victims” as we encounter people on the street.
This isn’t stand your ground case, this is another white priviliged asshole getting away with murder. I bet if a latino shot a white kid like that, he wouldn’t have gotten a fine.
This man deserved much more than he got. He probably never apologized & he would do it again if he had the chance. He really murdered this guy in cold blood. I am sorry he is old but that is no excuse for shooting someone. It clearly was not just an accident. I admire the parent’s of Mr. Diaz; & maybe it is true that nothing would be served by this old man spending life in prison; but nothing was really served by a fine & probation either. It just send the signal that if you are old & senile, you can get by with anything.
A murderer gets away with murder.
Goes to show you how F up our justice system is.
If I were Mr. Sailors I would be looking over my shoulder every day for the rest of my short life as the family will be looking to make sure he pays.
More white privilege.
What a sad and sick society when mentally unstable paranoid people are allowed to murder a person who makes the common mistake of pulling into the wrong driveway. Probation and a $500 fine is the punishment for cold blooded murder!!!! Why are these people even allowed to own guns? I am glad that I live in a country where people do not, as a general rule, own guns for protection and therefore these insane paranoid acts are limited to only the criminally insane.