Guy was 54 when he was convicted so he was 52 at the time of the incident. He wasn't elderly and you saying he was shows your bias.
Didn't know being "cocky" made someone more or less dangerous than a quiet person.
Guy knew he was in water when he approached the group and got physical with them.
The guy initiated the physical contact knowing he had a heart condition. How was the young group supposed to know? How is him initiating physical contact considered being "timid"?
Ultimately both sides were acting like shitheads, but this guy decided to start stabbing everyone. He was convicted of reckless homicide instead of premeditated homicide. We will see what the judge thinks in a couple of months when he gets sentenced.
Bias? lol. Did you really just say that? How woke of you. I said in another post that he is not that much older at the time of the incident than I am now(almost 47). I also stated that while not “elderly,” compared to them, he is. And age, being just a number, his weaker condition is a major factor in this and how much force he can use to protect himself. A much larger and younger man would not be able to get away with using very much force and a female would be able to get away with a higher level of force. This also has a factor on when you can use higher force. A younger and stronger man would not be able to use a high level of force right off the bat. A small female or an older(there, you happy) weaker male can start the level of force much higher than someone more capable of defending themselves.
Yes, more cocky runs right along with more aggressive which more often than not, means more dangerous.
And lol at you guys claiming that this guy grabbing the tube is aggression or becoming physical. Comparing What he did by grabbing the tube vs what they did to him pre stabbing is laughable. And they don’t have to know about his heart condition. He does. That’s what matters is that his heart condition is in his mind and heightens his threat level. He knows his heart could go at any time during the beat down. His behavior throughout is certainly odd but at no point was anyone afraid of him as evidenced by the laughing, teasing, getting in his face, etc.
He was looking for a phone when these kids started teasing him calling him a pedo. He was minding his own business walking in the river looking for a phone. He only grabbed the tube because he thought they had the phone. He grabbed the tube and then dropped his goggles and let go. They laughed the entire time, so he put them in absolutely no fear and they kept fucking with him.
He stood there while they teased, berated, got in his face. He smiled and looked incredibly embarrassed like he didn’t know what to say or do as he was surrounded by over a dozen people yelling at him, cheering, calling him names, getting in his face, etc. Compared to their hyena like presence, yes, he was what I would describe as timid, scared, or aloof. Those were the words I used.
And if he had been arguing back and forth with them, I would attribute more of this to anger than fear. It saying he wasn’t angry when he went all stabby, but the argument for fear of serious bodily harm, justifying self defense, is much stronger with his behavior compared to someone arguing and standing up for themselves.
Bottom line is that he didn’t get stabby until he was knocked down and struck in the face while down. Then he gets up and is shoved down again. I can’t pick out when he pulls his knife or when he stabs people. I have tried but it’s simply not that evident when it happens. Personally, I think the argument for self defense to the point of injecting reasonable doubt, is easy. The jury verdict was based on emotion and a feeling of responsibility to do something because they feared doing nothing. The original charge of premeditated murder is a fucking joke. You don’t have to pre-plan the event from home for it to be premeditated-the amount of time differs depending on what expert you ask, but most agree that there must be enough time to be able to formulate a plan. Clearly, this guy wouldn’t have been able to formulate a plan to stab his attackers in between shoves. I could see a second degree (,crime of passion) charge if you were wanting to really go after him(which clearly they were), but I don’t see where they could go above manslaughter.
And keep in mind, I am not saying his actions were the correct or only thing to do. I have maintained that his actions were in self defense. Were they absolutely necessary to prevent his death? Probably not. We will never know because he defended himself. I don’t think he would have been able to defend himself using conventional fists because he was so outnumbered and much weaker. I honestly think that if he had tried to hit back, he would have really been jumped with more effort and not just braggadocio or for fun.
Despite what ridiculous assertions made by others itt-such as he should have just accepted his beating with the understanding that they never meant him serious harm or that he HAD to walk away because they were telling him to. They were free to leave as well and they chose to hang up on him and severely beat him.
Bottom line is that these kids are/were total punks looking to pick on someone weaker to make themselves feel superior. The way he lied to police tells me he is a turd or was really afraid of getting in the kind of trouble he is in. Not sure what he thought would happen if the police let him go for that evening-maybe flee back to country of origin or he simply had no idea what to do next because the horror of what he had done had sank in-he heard someone died?