Marksville City Marshall sentenced to 40 years in death of 6 year old

[Bronzeage]

The original thread is here

Former Marksville deputy marshal Derrick Stafford gets 40 years in boy's shooting death

Even thought the actual charge was manslaughter, under Louisiana law (Napoleonic Code) it is treats as 2nd degree murder would be in any other state. The 40 year sentence is the maximum. There was also a 15 year sentence for wounding the boy's father. The sentences are concurrent.

This is a case where a dash cam video was conclusive evidence.

 

[Will Wiley]

The original thread is here

Former Marksville deputy marshal Derrick Stafford gets 40 years in boy's shooting death

Even thought the actual charge was manslaughter, under Louisiana law (Napoleonic Code) it is treats as 2nd degree murder would be in any other state. The 40 year sentence is the maximum. There was also a 15 year sentence for wounding the boy's father. The sentences are concurrent.

This is a case where a dash cam video was conclusive evidence.

So is he just a bad apple?

 

[LordKiran]

The original thread is here

Former Marksville deputy marshal Derrick Stafford gets 40 years in boy's shooting death

Even thought the actual charge was manslaughter, under Louisiana law (Napoleonic Code) it is treats as 2nd degree murder would be in any other state. The 40 year sentence is the maximum. There was also a 15 year sentence for wounding the boy's father. The sentences are concurrent.

This is a case where a dash cam video was conclusive evidence.

Good then all is right with the world. It sucks that a young boy was murdered but these things happen. The important bit is that the legal system worked and didn't allow the good deputy marshal to circumvent itself.

 

[Bronzeage]

The original thread is here

Former Marksville deputy marshal Derrick Stafford gets 40 years in boy's shooting death

Even thought the actual charge was manslaughter, under Louisiana law (Napoleonic Code) it is treats as 2nd degree murder would be in any other state. The 40 year sentence is the maximum. There was also a 15 year sentence for wounding the boy's father. The sentences are concurrent.

This is a case where a dash cam video was conclusive evidence.

So is he just a bad apple?

I'm sure he had his good points, but at the end of the day, he let the excitement of the moment overcome his judgment. Who knows what was going through his mind, but Marksville is a small town and he knew the driver of the car. It's impossible to say why he thought this man was a deadly threat, but once the brain has latched onto a something like that, it's easy to lose control of the situation.

I believe the root cause of these kinds of incidents is lack of training, and poor training, when it exists. A lot of attention is paid to shooting a pistol, but very little time is spent on why to shoot.

Another aspect of Napoleonic Code is an idea the punishment must fit the crime. This means all factors of the crime, including motive and reasoning must be considered. Each degree of severity is matched with a harsher sentence. It's entirely possible the 40 year sentence will be reduced, maybe even cut in half, when an appeals court examines the testimony and evidence.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I have a problem with this--I have a hard time seeing how a mistake like this can be higher than manslaughter. First and second degree murder requires intent, something that I can't see in a mistake.

 

[Bronzeage]

I have a problem with this--I have a hard time seeing how a mistake like this can be higher than manslaughter. First and second degree murder requires intent, something that I can't see in a mistake.

Manslaughter in Louisiana is a homicide that would normally be considered first- or second-degree murder, but which was committed in such a sudden passion that a normal person would be deprived of their regular faculties. A homicide is only manslaughter rather than murder if it was committed immediately following provocation.

The Napoleonic Code is a legal system which carefully defines a crime and then breaks it down into degrees, each with its own definition. You can call this a mistake, but it does not lessen the severity if the offence. This means a manslaughter conviction may carry the same sentence as a murder conviction, depending on the circumstances.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Manslaughter in Louisiana is a homicide that would normally be considered first- or second-degree murder, but which was committed in such a sudden passion that a normal person would be deprived of their regular faculties. A homicide is only manslaughter rather than murder if it was committed immediately following provocation.

The Napoleonic Code is a legal system which carefully defines a crime and then breaks it down into degrees, each with its own definition. You can call this a mistake, but it does not lessen the severity if the offence. This means a manslaughter conviction may carry the same sentence as a murder conviction, depending on the circumstances.

Most states do it:

First degree: Premeditation.
Second degree: Heat of the moment.
Manslaughter/third degree: Reckless conduct that resulted in somebody's death but you did not intend to commit a crime.

I can't see how a policeman making a mistake can rise higher than the bottom level. There's no intent to commit a crime.

 

[fromderinside]

I'd put under the cover of authority accidental killing as a reckless conduct situation myself.

 

[Bronzeage]

The Napoleonic Code is a legal system which carefully defines a crime and then breaks it down into degrees, each with its own definition. You can call this a mistake, but it does not lessen the severity if the offence. This means a manslaughter conviction may carry the same sentence as a murder conviction, depending on the circumstances.

Most states do it:

First degree: Premeditation.
Second degree: Heat of the moment.
Manslaughter/third degree: Reckless conduct that resulted in somebody's death but you did not intend to commit a crime.

I can't see how a policeman making a mistake can rise higher than the bottom level. There's no intent to commit a crime.

Because in the case, they thought it was a mistake he shouldn't have made. It wasn't one mistake, it was the culmination of a series of errors in judgment, all of which led to him leaving a position of safety, running a position of supposed danger, and killing an unarmed child, while critically wounding an man, whose raised hands are visible on the camera. The Marshal did not stop firing until his magazine was empty. A single shot might qualify for your definition of manslaughter, but somewhere around the 14th bullet, Napoleon says, "Yeah, I think he meant to do that."

I gave the the legal definition of manslaughter under, our law. You can insert your preferred definition, but it doesn't strengthen your argument. Whatever else, Louisiana does have the highest incarceration rate in the nation.

 

[BH]

You are never going to see policemen or policeladies sent to prison for beating or shooting suspects except in the rarest occassions. The reason why is the police are the enforcers on behalf of those who wield political power and wealth. The political leaders and well off are not going to do anything that pisses their "Muscle" off at them. The only reason the police serve the poor are just to get us to go along with the charade made by the political elites and rich.

And it was a DPS tropper who told me this. He said he could kill anyone in the name of doing his duty and there pretty much isn't any excuse he could use that would fail to get him off criminally speaking. And he wasn't being a smart ass. He said he knew of cases where cops beat people just because they could or shot people just because they could but did not really need to. He's been in the MArines and had to take life then and had to take a life in law enforcement. It's not something he says you should enjoy doing or think funny. And a lot of folks in law enforcement feel the same way but it all goes back to the quandry I mentioned before. How do you realistically hold the enforcers to account but avoid them turning against the system they are supposedly protecting when they do need to be rebuked and punished themselves?

 

[Bronzeage]

You are never going to see policemen or policeladies sent to prison for beating or shooting suspects except in the rarest occassions. The reason why is the police are the enforcers on behalf of those who wield political power and wealth. The political leaders and well off are not going to do anything that pisses their "Muscle" off at them. And it was a DPS tropper who told me this. He said he could kill anyone in the name of doing his duty and there pretty much isn't any excuse he could use that would get him off criminally speaking. And he wasn't being a smart ass. He said he knew of cases where cops beat people just because they could or shot people just because they could but did not really need to.

I'm sure this is consistent in all police agencies, but I wouldn't call it common. Sociopaths tend to seek positions which give them power over other people. Your trooper is probably one of them.

We give police a lot of leeway, simply because part of their job to get close to people who intend to hurt them. Except for bullfighters, we don't require people to risk unnecessary injury as part of their job duties. The first rule for a Fire Chief is, don't get your fire fighters killed. The building will burn to the ground before life or limb is risked to put out the fire.

Since we do give police so much power, we want to believe they always do a good job. This gives them more than a benefit of the doubt in cases of deadly force.

As for the trooper and his political science, the idea that politicians and the well off "won't do anything to piss off their protectors" is not the kind a assurance on which one can depend.

 

[BH]

Bronzeage,

The DPS trooper did not like the idea of people being able to be hurt or killed so easily. You can disagree with his political view and I myself am not so sure I agree with him 100% either but he in no way likes hurting people.

I just mentioned what he said because it is food for thought, another angle to look at things from, especially since it came from him too.