Will Cheney be charged with manslaughter if Whittington dies???

[Sojourner]

It appears the gunshot wounds were worse than we were led to believe.



The question is, will Dick Cheney be charged with manslaughter if Whittington dies as a consequence of being shot by Cheney??? You know *for sure* if the shooter was 'regular folk' the DA would absolutely press for an indictment from a grand jury.



Harry Whittington suffers heart attack due to shot pellet(s) near heart



BTW, I like Whittington 'cause he's been kicking the City of Austin's butt over an eminent domain case where the City of Austin screwed him.

 

[RustyJC]

You know *for sure* if the shooter was 'regular folk' the DA would absolutely press for an indictment from a grand jury.

In Texas? Unless intent or criminal negligence (such as being drunk) was involved, hunting accidents are generally accepted as just that - tragic accidents. Criminal charges are not typical in such cases.



My wife's youngest brother was killed by his best friend in a hunting accident west of Odessa. No charges were filed.



Rusty

 

[Sojourner]

If Whittington does indeed die as a consequence of being shot, then the law requires the case be referred to a grand jury.



Rusty, you can't tell me that the case involving your brother-in-law wasn't reviewed by a grand jury. There may have been 'no charges filed' but the grand jury still reviewed the case and 'no billed' the shooter for whatever reason(s).



Even in cases of bona fide self defense where someone dies, the grand jury still reviews the case.



If this is a matter of negligent manslaughter, then there should be an indictment, just like there should be with *anyone*. To think it should pan out any other way is just plain assinine.

 

[RustyJC]

A case being reviewed by a grand jury and having a prosecutor press a grand jury for an indictment are two entirely different matters. Yes, a shooting is reviewed by a grand jury, but in many instances such as this, the case is submitted directly to the grand jury without any recommendation for charges, and the grand jury "no bill" prevents future prosecution which would constitute double jeopardy.



Rusty

 

[RustyJC]

If this is a matter of negligent manslaughter, then there should be an indictment, just like there should be with *anyone*.

If criminal negligence was present, yes. We'll see how things proceed, I suppose.



Negligence covers my neighbor backing over and killing her 2 year old child in the driveway because she didn't know he was behind the car. Would you have her indicted? She wasn't, by the way.



Rusty

 

[Sojourner]

In this case the shooter broke the first rule of gun safety: "Make sure of your target" Ultimately the shooter is responsible for what he/she shoots. Was Cheney's judgement and reaction time impaired by alcohol??? We will never know because he apparently pulled off a Teddy Kennedy and leisurely *chose* not to answer to the sheriff until 8 a. m. the next morning, plently of time to eliminate any alcohol in his system. Do you *really* 'regular folk' would have been able to enjoy the priviledge of blowin' off the sheriff without the sheriff sending his deputies out to immediately get some sort of statement??? That is highly unlikely unless one is 'connected', which of course happens all the time, so why do I even bother posting this stuff??? There will always be you types who think this sort of thing is hunky-dory and that *anyone and everyone* should not be held responsible and accountable for themselves and their own actions.

 

[RustyJC]

Give my best to Ronnie Earle the next time you have dinner with him.



Rusty

 

[Pawpaw]

Not to get in the middle of your, uh, "conversation", but one thing bothers me about this...



A 28 gauge shotgun drives number 7-1/2 pellets all the way to a man's heart at a range of 30 yards??? Doesn't sound right. I don't think even a 12 gauge could do that. The shot is just too light. Not enough inertia.



BTW, I've been a Cheney fan since I met him while he was SecDef.



Bob

 

[JoshPeters]

In this case the shooter broke the first rule of gun safety: "Make sure of your target" Ultimately the shooter is responsible for what he/she shoots. Was Cheney's judgement and reaction time impaired by alcohol??? We will never know because he apparently pulled off a Teddy Kennedy and leisurely *chose* not to answer to the sheriff until 8 a. m. the next morning, plently of time to eliminate any alcohol in his system. Do you *really* 'regular folk' would have been able to enjoy the priviledge of blowin' off the sheriff without the sheriff sending his deputies out to immediately get some sort of statement??? That is highly unlikely unless one is 'connected', which of course happens all the time, so why do I even bother posting this stuff??? There will always be you types who think this sort of thing is hunky-dory and that *anyone and everyone* should not be held responsible and accountable for themselves and their own actions.

First of all, this is right from the page above where you can read about what happened:

"Katharine Armstrong, a witness to the accident and owner of the ranch where the shooting occurred, said Whittington made a mistake by not announcing that he had walked up to rejoin the hunting line after going to retrieve his bird, and Cheney didn't see him as he took a shot. "





OK last time I checked... . Accidents happen. We do not TRUELY know the whole story here? Your talking 2 old men walking through a field. I personally have a hard time not stumbling occasionally.



Hypothetical: What if as he was pulling up to shoot, he was also moving his feet to get a better shooting position... . Looses his balance... as he tries to regain it... . boom.



OK... ... How about this.....

He has no problem with balance. He pulls up to shoot, knows his buddy is to his left, the blind side. As he follows the bird left, his partner, WHO IS NOT PAYING ATTENTION, is standing right there.



Personally, the times I've been hunting like that, you not only know where your partner is, your partner is watching for you as well. In this case, he thought is partner was behind him! His partner had NOT told him he was there! IMO that's just plain stupid. He doesn't deserve to die, but he deserved what he got.



I'd say the other guy is at fault just as much as he is. Thing of it is, Crap happens. He did not TRY to shoot him.



Here's one for ya. This is one that I know of here in MN. A FAMILY was out deer hunting. They were in stands, one was over a mile away in a field that had a crown to it. Not worried about it, or thinking it would be an issue, the person took a shot at a nice Buck, but Missed. It just happened that the crown and the location of the person in the other deer stand was the ammount that the bullet dropped. The other person was ACROSS a field, through a small grove of trees, and across another field. That person was Killed. Neither hunter could see eachother due to the crown in the field.



There were no charges pressed.



With what your saying, he should be in jail too.

 

[nps]

Dang Rusty, when did Texas fall to the liberals?

 

[WDixon27]

that's what i was thinking, probably hurt like hell and put out a unprotected eye but go through a few layers of clothing and few inches of flesh/bone/muscle

A 28 gauge shotgun drives number 7-1/2 pellets all the way to a man's heart at a range of 30 yards??? Doesn't sound right. I don't think even a 12 gauge could do that. The shot is just too light. Not enough inertia.





Bob

 

[TowPro]

I don't think the shot actually penetrated his heart, it probably got lodged into a blood vain, then came unlodged and the blood flow carried it to the heart where it got stuck in the mess already collected in the heart of a 78 year old man, causing final blockage and thus a heart attack.

 

[RandyHamilton]

Dang Rusty, when did Texas fall to the liberals?

Ya'all better get busy and take it back!!!

 

[RustyJC]

The area around Travis County (Austin) in central Texas is our version of Berkeley, California. And there are still a few yaller dawg Democrats left scattered around as well.



Rusty

 

[gitchesum]

I don't think the shot actually penetrated his heart, it probably got lodged into a blood vain, then came unlodged and the blood flow carried it to the heart where it got stuck in the mess already collected in the heart of a 78 year old man, causing final blockage and thus a heart attack.

Doctors have confirmed this as well.

 

[SHobbs]

First of all Cheney is second in command of your fascist US gov. Secondly I personally believe that he will not face charges due to that fact that he is in the brotherhood. The gov. in my opinion is the worlds largest organized crime ring and just like the mafia they take care of their own.



What if his wife wanted to press charges of some kind, what next?



Oh and yes I used the word fascist. I know some disagree but the definition fits.

 

[NIsaacs]

Normally when you are hunting/shooting birds, you are shooting on a much higher plain. At thirty yards out, chest high on a man is kinda low??





"NICK"

 

[benhall]

Bird shot just pisses off the receiver of the shot more than anything else. My dad was a state trooper up in Iowa for 26 yrs and only carried slugs for his shotgun. If you're going to shoot them, you might as well make it count.



Ben

 

[RustyJC]

This morning's Houston Chronicle carried an ARTICLE in which this accident was discussed with the TP&W personnel and the DA involved. It basically confirms what I was saying yesterday. To wit:

Meanwhile, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said it will classify the Saturday shooting as an error in judgment by Cheney, said Steve Hall, education director for the department. Members of the hunting party have blamed Whittington for not announcing his location to the others.



Regardless of who was at fault, Nueces County District Attorney Carlos Valdez said there are no plans to prosecute the case because the Kenedy County Sheriff's Department ruled the shooting an accident.



Valdez, who has jurisdiction in both counties, said his office does look into hunting fatalities. But Valdez said he has not prosecuted hunting accidents in 26 years as a prosecutor, including the last 14 as district attorney.

Rusty

 

[Pawpaw]

Normally when you are hunting/shooting birds, you are shooting on a much higher plain. At thirty yards out, chest high on a man is kinda low??

Not when you're hunting quail. They huddle down in the grass until spooked. Then they'll typically fly up 4 or 5 feet off the ground and level off.



As I understand it, Whittington was 30 yards away. That doesn't mean the bird was that far.



Bob