Cop Enters Wrong Apartment, Kills Occupant, Says, "Oops, I thought this was my place."

How would the "castle doctrine" remotely apply? It isn't intended to protect a home invader!!

Maybe you should go fuck yourself, kid.

wow! Talk about a speedy trial!

I actually have to agree with you here. Denying the defense would have opened the door for an appeal. It would have made the original trial look biased against her. In this case the judge gave her an absurd claim and let the jury decide it was false. The defense sounds ridiculous, but that is the fault of the defense and not the judge. The judge is supposed to allow the defense a lot of leeway in presenting a defense. It should be the prosecutor's job to state the obvious flaws in the castle defense in this case.

It was expected to go two weeks but wrapped up in just over one.

killing a federal employee is a federal (might be capital too) offense. For example recently somebody murdered a Post Office mail carrier here when they were on the job. Throw some extra charges on that bonfire when (if) they catch who did it.

One of the lawyers I follow on Twitter said that Texas law requires the mention of the castle doctrine in cases like these. The judge had no choice, and it’s nice to see that the jury didn’t grasp for it.

If this is accurate, then she’s fucked.

“Another little detail of good news, is that since she used an affirmative defense, there's no retrial option, and getting a decision like this reversed is only possible if they can convince an appeals court that her civil rights were violated in an unconstitutional manner, which is highly unlikely.“

Source is a comment in a Facebook thread, so I’ve no idea of the validity.

You seem angry. Don’t post about satire if you wish but we both know the tards will believe it. It is kind of what they do. That is kind of what makes them tards.

What I don't get is how it could've been a mistake if (1) the shooting happened inside the apartment and (2) the victim was in a reclined/rising/cowering position.

When this story first broke, I pictured the guy opening the door and BLAM! But she entered the residence and was STILL unaware it was not her place?

Was it dark inside? Did they have similar furnishings, interior arrangements, etc.?

Do some reading on it. The victim got up from his seated position, but still shouldn't have been viewed as a threat by the cop.

Yes to the first, no to the second. The floor plan for each apartment was the same, but the interior furnishings were different enough that the cop should've known.

As soon as she realized someone was in "her" apartment, she should've backed off and called for reinforcements. She was never in any danger whatsoever.

No one gets a retrial.

I still find it hard to believe she was in her apartment. I was visiting a friend that lived in an apartment similar to where she was living. The day I got there, I entered the wrong apartment 2-3 doors down. I had gone across the street to get something from the market (drinks/snacks) he said to leave the door unlocked. I came back and went into the wrong one, that one had the door unlocked as well. As soon as I took a few steps in I realized I was in the wrong apartment. It just didn't feel right and was off, the layout was the same but I knew it was the wrong one. And then I heard the shower running, so I stepped and went to the right one.

And the other thing, she was a trained officer, just her training should have kept her from immediately firing her weapon and instead assess the situation and treat it like she was in a different apartment and follow the same steps in dealing with an intruder.

The guy was sitting, seeing that, her next step should have been to order him show his hands and assume a non threatening position, the position would be one her department was trained to use, I don't if it would be on knees, stomach, etc.. Officers are trained to look at the hands and determine if the person is armed or has the ability to arm themsleves.

Oh please. Link or it didn't happen.

I cannot find anything that says she cannot try to appeal, but the court is going to look for something new and she simply won't have it. I would say she is probably SOL, but you never know.

Oh please @ed629. I've kidded you about your lack of friends countless times before.

Your autism is causing you to confuse yourself with others.

How does my not having friends have anything to do with you?

QFT

The cop fucked up and deserves manslaughter (I'm absolutely stunned they got a murder charge to stick in the one cop shooting that could have passed for an accident), but it goes to show how quickly misunderstandings become deadly when "shoot first, ask questions later" is SOP.

The only thing I could think of is that the door opens, she comes inside, and he sees her in police uniform pull her gun out and he dives for the floor.

I think that murder as a result of an emotional reaction is murder 2 not manslaughter.

She sounds like a model officer and a proud example of police work at the highest standard.

This happened to me once too. After a late evening of rhythmic thumping on the floor above, the girl from the apt upstairs banged on my door in the middle of the night. Scantily dressed. Luckily I wasn't armed.

She said, "Oopsie" and ran upstairs.

sorry, wait, what?

Good question . Even in a tired state I would know I was in the wrong apartment the minute I opened the door and saw the furniture and TV in different spots.

That's what I said.

According to the BBC report I was listening to, the guy was reclining on a lazy boy in his underwear and playing a video game

You'd think she'd at least notice the layout was different or question why a so-called burglar was sitting and chilling in his underwear.

maybe she recently watched The Twilight Zone because somebody having an exact replica of your apartment would be pretty trippy!