47 year old Jesus Mora Flores was an invited guest to a house party in Shiner, Texas ten days ago. Because of his alledged rape attempt against the owner of the house's four-year old daughter, Flores wound up dead at the hands of her father. Following a short investigation, police decided not to charge the man. Yesterday, the District Attorney as well as a Grand Jury concurred, and the man will not face charges in the beating death of Flores.
http://outfront.blogs.cnn.com/2012/...d-daughters-attacker-spared-from-prosecution/
Both the father and daughter's names are being withheld to protect the identity of the daughter, which is common in cases of sexual abuse of minors. On Saturday, April 10th, 7 people gathered at the father and his family's home for a horse shoeing at their ranch where they keep horses and chickens. Of the 7 guests, Flores was the only relative unknown, and was considered an acquaintance to the father only. When the family and friends went to the barn for the horse shoeing, the 4 year old little girl stayed back in the home. So did Flores. Moments after headind out to the barn, the father heard his daughter scream. Upon arriving inside, he saw Flores alledgedly sexually assaulting his daughter, and began striking Flores in the head repeatedly. According to the autopsy report, Flores died of trauma to the head and neck consistent to the man's story. When the father saw Flores dying, he called 911 and he and members of his family tried to save the man's life, according to the transcript from the 911 call.
The four year old girl was taken to a nearby hospital, whereas Flores was pronounced dead at the scene. The little girl was "physically ok" due to a statement from Sheriff Micah Harmon. He added that she was "Ok, besides the obvious mental tramua." The sheriff then commented on the local authorities decision not to charge the man:
What is this Defense of Third Person that the Sheriff referenced? It's a Texas law that allows a person to use deadly force against another person who is in the commission of, or attempting to, commit assault of any kind, including sexual of course. According to the Texas penal code website, the law reads as follows:
In this case, it seems the man would be justified, no? One thing the law doesn't touch on is the state of mind of the person. In his statement to police, the father acknowledged that he flew into a "blind rage" when he saw Flores attempting to force himself upon his daughter. I imagine if it was me, and it was my daughter being a potential rape victim, I'd use as much force as possible as well to remove the man from my daughter and eliminate any chance of him fighting back. The law also doesn't specify that the third party's life has to be in danger, just that "unlawful force" has to be taking place. Said District Attorney Heather McMinn, who announced that the Grand Jury did not indict the father:
Who of us, in that situation, wouldn't use physical force against a man we saw raping our child? The question for me becomes "How much is justified or necessary?" in a case like this, as one would have to use substantial force to kill someone with their bare hands. I always wonder, in these cases, where the line is between necessary force and force out of blind rage, because it truly seems to blur. The fact that the father tried to save Jesus Flores' life shows perhaps a realization that he went too far. But personally, I think the right decision was made not to charge the father here, as Im sure his primary motive, though he's not spoken, was to keep his daughter safe. If Jesus Flores, an invite to the man's home, could do this to his daughter so brazenly with 7 witnesses around, I shudder to think what he would have done with no witnesses, and what he may have done in the past.
Do you agree with the decision not to indict the father who killed Jesus Flores?
What would you have done if you were the father in this situation?
Does the Defense of Third Person Law give too much leeway to the protector to use deadly force in these situations?
Any other thoughts or discussion of this is more then welcome here.
http://outfront.blogs.cnn.com/2012/...d-daughters-attacker-spared-from-prosecution/
Both the father and daughter's names are being withheld to protect the identity of the daughter, which is common in cases of sexual abuse of minors. On Saturday, April 10th, 7 people gathered at the father and his family's home for a horse shoeing at their ranch where they keep horses and chickens. Of the 7 guests, Flores was the only relative unknown, and was considered an acquaintance to the father only. When the family and friends went to the barn for the horse shoeing, the 4 year old little girl stayed back in the home. So did Flores. Moments after headind out to the barn, the father heard his daughter scream. Upon arriving inside, he saw Flores alledgedly sexually assaulting his daughter, and began striking Flores in the head repeatedly. According to the autopsy report, Flores died of trauma to the head and neck consistent to the man's story. When the father saw Flores dying, he called 911 and he and members of his family tried to save the man's life, according to the transcript from the 911 call.
"I need an ambulance. This guy was raping my daughter and I beat him up. And I don't know ... I don't know what to do. The guy's dying on me!"
The four year old girl was taken to a nearby hospital, whereas Flores was pronounced dead at the scene. The little girl was "physically ok" due to a statement from Sheriff Micah Harmon. He added that she was "Ok, besides the obvious mental tramua." The sheriff then commented on the local authorities decision not to charge the man:
"You have a right to defend your daughter. He acted in defence of his third person. Once the investigation is completed we will submit it to the district attorney who then submits it to the grand jury, who will decide if they will indict him."
What is this Defense of Third Person that the Sheriff referenced? It's a Texas law that allows a person to use deadly force against another person who is in the commission of, or attempting to, commit assault of any kind, including sexual of course. According to the Texas penal code website, the law reads as follows:
"The actor would be justified under Section 9.31 or 9.32 in using force or deadly force to protect himself against the unlawful force or unlawful deadly force he reasonably believes to be threatening the third person he seeks to protect."
In this case, it seems the man would be justified, no? One thing the law doesn't touch on is the state of mind of the person. In his statement to police, the father acknowledged that he flew into a "blind rage" when he saw Flores attempting to force himself upon his daughter. I imagine if it was me, and it was my daughter being a potential rape victim, I'd use as much force as possible as well to remove the man from my daughter and eliminate any chance of him fighting back. The law also doesn't specify that the third party's life has to be in danger, just that "unlawful force" has to be taking place. Said District Attorney Heather McMinn, who announced that the Grand Jury did not indict the father:
"The substantial amount of evidence showed that the witness statements and the father's statement and what the father had observed was in fact what had happened that day. The father called 911, and he and his family tried to save the life of alleged attacker Jesus Mora Flores despite what they had just witnessed."
Who of us, in that situation, wouldn't use physical force against a man we saw raping our child? The question for me becomes "How much is justified or necessary?" in a case like this, as one would have to use substantial force to kill someone with their bare hands. I always wonder, in these cases, where the line is between necessary force and force out of blind rage, because it truly seems to blur. The fact that the father tried to save Jesus Flores' life shows perhaps a realization that he went too far. But personally, I think the right decision was made not to charge the father here, as Im sure his primary motive, though he's not spoken, was to keep his daughter safe. If Jesus Flores, an invite to the man's home, could do this to his daughter so brazenly with 7 witnesses around, I shudder to think what he would have done with no witnesses, and what he may have done in the past.
Do you agree with the decision not to indict the father who killed Jesus Flores?
What would you have done if you were the father in this situation?
Does the Defense of Third Person Law give too much leeway to the protector to use deadly force in these situations?
Any other thoughts or discussion of this is more then welcome here.