Comments on: How Texas Made Ezekiel Gilbert’s Aquittal Possible

By: Russell

Russell — Sat, 25 Jun 2016 02:17:07 +0000

I’d like to find out the history of this law and who voted for it.

By: xxxMadam

xxxMadam — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 17:16:20 +0000

A very wordy article albeit very biased as not one word of the so-called pimp involved who played a major role as the driver and his alleged aggressive comment “Want your money back then come get it”. At this point I don’t know if the female was even a hooker or part of a robbery team who did this on a regular basis. ???
I do know Texas would not miss a chance to imprison a body.
xxx

By: Open Thread and Link Farm: The Fat Foreigner Edition | Alas, a Blog

Open Thread and Link Farm: The Fat Foreigner Edition | Alas, a Blog — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 11:08:24 +0000

[…] How Texas Made Ezekiel Gilbert’s Aquittal Possible […]

By: SamE

SamE — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:26:37 +0000

I’m a woman. I’m used to being told to shut up. But this is definitely the first time I’ve been accused of “dick-swinging.”

By: closetpuritan

closetpuritan — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 22:13:21 +0000

In reply to SamE. Well, she wouldn't HAVE to be looking at gossip blogs. That same site and that same writer that you linked to have another story that simply says,

"Gilbert fired several shots at a car occupied by Frago and Perkins as they drove away from the apartment complex. "Frago was shot in the neck and was paralyzed."

That said, my understanding is that while there's no way to know for sure which argument the jury found convincing, the defense attorney believes that the jury acquitted based on the intent defense.

By: @merrymisslissie

@merrymisslissie — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:22:42 +0000

Preach. Sister Lori.

SamE, Paul, and Noah: y’all could have chimed in with your contributions to the discussion, significant or otherwise, without the mansplainy condescenscion (“You don’t know on what basis … your implication is some words I’m going to put in your mouth … case law and reality are the same thing … you must have been reading gossip mags … “).

You occasionally raised good discussion points, but they were barely audible behind your grunting and dick-swinging.

By: Charlotte Shane

Charlotte Shane — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 22:48:34 +0000

In reply to Paul Walcutt. Can you please highlight where anyone in this comment section or the original post implied there's going to be a "huge uptick in slayings of sex workers"? Because as far as I can tell, you built that straw man on your own. Saying something sets a dangerous precedent is entirely different from saying "this is clearly going to set off an unprecedented string of murders."

By: LoriAdorable

LoriAdorable — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:15:44 +0000

I’m glad all the dewds came out of the woodwork to tell us silly little ladies how the law works and why we shouldn’t worry our pretty heads about being murdered.

And by ‘glad’, I mean I threw up in my mouth a little.

By: SamE

SamE — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 20:56:21 +0000

You said: “Here, he walked up to her and shot her with an AK47.” Can you point me to a news article that says that? Thanks.

By: Bella

Bella — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:17:06 +0000

@Paul – A decision by a jury isn’t legally binding precedent, but the decision by the judge to allow the affirmative defense to be considered can be cited to in briefs by other attorneys in the county (and in other counties in Texas). As stated in the article, this fact pattern did not meet the elements required for the affirmative defense to apply at all. Not even a little. There was NO theft and yet it was allowed to be considered by the jury. Even with insanity defenses, which I agree are considered in instances where they shouldn’t be, an expert has to (in most states) testify as to the defendant’s mental health. The judge determining that this defense could be used in this instance could be damaging for future cases, regardless of whether the victim is a sex worker or not.
Is this individual case going to instantaneously cause a bunch of sex worker murders? No. Is it yet another instance of a case that is damaging towards how the legal system and culture views sex workers? Yes. And each case like this makes things less safe for sex workers nationally.

Precedent also does not have to mean a SOCTUS or appellate court decision – or a legal decision at all. It can also mean an example or rule used to justify behavior. Which is why, in the article, I did not state that strictly legal precedent had been set.

I’m curious if you or Noah are trial attorneys. If you are, you may have had cases where you really had nothing to stand on case law or legislative history wise to back your argument and had to dig deep to find any leg to stand on for your brief or motion. I know I have – and that’s where decisions like this judge’s choice to allow the defense to be considered comes in.

@Sam – I consulted 8 articles on this case, including Texas news articles. They all listed the same fact pattern, which is why I listed the facts in my article to follow suit.