A former Florida sheriff’s deputy was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with the accidental shooting death of his girlfriend, authorities said.
Leslie Boileau called 911 on Thursday night to report that he had “accidentally shot his girlfriend” at their home in Ocala. The girlfriend was found with a handgun on her lap “and a rifle was also present at the scene,” the Ocala Police Department said in a statement on Facebook.
If you point a firearm at someones head and firearms are one of your professional responsibilities, there are absolutely elevating criterion for higher charges. There is no reasonable doubt he was unaware of the
possibleprobable consequences of pulling a trigger while aiming a firearm at someone.As prosecuting attorney I would have the investigator simply ask ‘WTF were you thinking?’ and use whatever his response was (even a 5a plead) as prima facie evidence of guilt for a pre-meditated offence.
This would get you reprimanded in court at best disbarred at worst. Utilizing the right to remain silent can not be used against you in a court of law. If it could it’d defeat the entire purpose of it by making silence become an admittance of guilt.
Worth it :p
You’re right, but I was being rhetorical. The video would really not be needed. Expert testimony on proper firearm handling, records of his training contrasted against his actual statements, and the collected evidence would be sufficient. My bet is he’ll take a plea if offered.
That seems like good evidence for a manslaughter charge… It doesn’t address motive at all, though, so wouldn’t be enough to upgrade the charge.
Motive isn’t required for murder charges. Premeditation is.
Premeditation isn’t required for murder charges.
Malice aforethought is.
Eh, premeditation is required everywhere, ‘malice aforethought’ (might want to check the definition of it because even it has premeditation baked into the definition) is an additional component for some states and federal law.
If premeditation was a requirement, 2nd degree murder would not exist.
We’re talking about a firearm crime though. Firearms safety training the first thing they tell you is the gun is always loaded so never point it at something unless you intend to kill it. This is my point. If he pointed it at her, he intended to kill her by definition according to his training. His stating it was a ‘dry fire’ means he says it wasn’t a crime of passion, and so he’s going for ‘it was an accident’ defence which as a trained officer he should not have access too.
They have a 1st degree case that will be plead down to 2nd degree/reckless indifference or maybe manslaughter depending on how corrupt the PA is.
All guns are loaded, always. It’s never taught any different.
Even if you’ve pulled the trigger and nothing happened, it’s still loaded.
Throw the book at the chump.