Stillwater bail agent acquitted in shooting of client

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Oklahomabassin

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The perp was what we called the "Hamburglar". He was wanted for breaking into several fast food restaurants. The bail bondsman heard he was going to flee to Florida (and he was) so she used a ruse to get him in with the intent of revoking his bond. Anyway the DA failed by not offering a lesser charge of Manslaughter. By definition, First Degree Murder is "with intent and malice aforethought or premeditation" or something like that, with the opinion that "intent and malice aforethought" can be instantaneous. After watching the video, the jury probably couldn't conclude that she had an "intent" to murder him, only that it was in the heat of passion, which would have resulted in a Manslaughter conviction had it been offered.

Just the week before, there was a similar trial. The guy was tried twice and the first trial was last summer which resulted in a hung jury on a Murder 1 charge. The second trial was for Murder 1 with an option for Manslaughter 1 and the jury gave him a guilty verdict on the Manslaughter charge.
Was it also a 3rd story window?
 

RustedBeef

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Damn.... I was on jury duty for a murder case about 6 months ago. Some of the people there were total morons, but I didn't figure it was the norm. How can you see what happened and actually believe her when she said she fought for the gun and thought he was going to shoot her son? Well, guess I've got something to talk about at work tomorrow.

And about that whole shoulda-been-manslaughter thing, sounds like total BS to me. Everyone knows what murder looks like, and that's what I saw in the video. Don't matter what you call it, that man didn't deserve to be shot dead and should've been given justice.
 
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CHenry

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Jurors didn't believe Stillwater bail agent intended to kill client in shooting, defense attorney says
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by Kyle Schwab Published: March 13, 2018 7:15 PM CDT Updated: March 13, 2018 7:16 PM CDT


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Video of Stillwater bail agent fatally shooting client released by DA's officeJurors acquit Stillwater bail agent in shooting death of client

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This image from video shows Stillwater bail agent Chasity Carey, right, after shooting her client. She and her son, Justin Henderson, left, were trying to take the client into custody Aug. 9. [Video provided by Payne County district attorney's office]
STILLWATER — Jurors didn't believe bail agent Chasity Dawn Carey intended to kill her client when she fatally shot him last year at her office, her attorney revealed Tuesday.

Last week, jurors acquitted Carey, 42, of first-degree murder in the Aug. 9 shooting death of her client, Brandon James Williams, 38. She claimed self-defense even though Williams was shot in the back as he was climbing out a window.

A dramatic video of the shooting, which was played at trial, was released by Payne County prosecutors Monday.

“They had a very difficult time with the way the case was charged and could not find the element required in murder one of malice aforethought,” defense attorney Emilie Kirkpatrick told The Oklahoman. “I have nothing but the highest praise for this jury. They stuck by the law that they were given.”

"Malice" is defined in state law as a deliberate intention to take away the life of another. Prosecutors must prove that element to a jury for a first-degree murder conviction.

Kirkpatrick spoke with jurors after the trial. She said they told her they didn't believe prosecutors proved that deliberate intent to kill.

Carey testified at the trial in support of her self-defense claim. Prosecutors argued that because Williams was shot in the back, Carey couldn't have been acting in self-defense.

Related to this story
Video of Stillwater bail agent fatally shooting client released by DA's office Jurors acquit Stillwater bail agent in shooting death of client Video of Stillwater bail agent fatally shooting client

Carey doesn't intend to continue being a bondsman, her attorney said. She plans to pursue a career in photography.

On Tuesday, District Attorney Laura Austin Thomas said she stands by her decision to file the first-degree murder charge against Carey.

"District attorneys across the state have the responsibility and ethical obligation to file charges based upon the evidence presented by an investigation and the law," Thomas said. "A manslaughter charge was not appropriate at the time of filing."

Before closing arguments in the trial, prosecutors asked the judge to give jurors the option of finding Carey guilty of first-degree manslaughter. The judge denied the request so jurors were told to determine guilt only for the charge of first-degree murder.

"It is the jury's job to determine what facts are or are not important to them and render a verdict," the district attorney said. "I am grateful for the service of each and every one of our jurors and do not and will not criticize their verdicts."

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What happened

The day before the shooting, Williams, a burglary defendant, texted Carey, “Gone to Florida,” police reported. After realizing Williams hadn't yet left, Carey came up with a ruse to meet up so she could take him back into custody and revoke his bond, according to testimony.

As part of the plan, Carey's 19-year-old son texted Williams about purchasing his Ford Mustang. Williams had already given Carey the car as collateral for her posting his $35,000 bond. Williams had been charged days earlier in the burglary case.

Carey's son set up a GoPro camera in the office moments before the Aug. 9 meeting. Shortly after Williams arrived, Carey locked the door. In an attempt to flee from the office, Williams moved to a window, which was off camera behind Carey's desk.

At the same time, Carey reached into her desk, grabbed her gun, turned and shot. Carey testified Williams attempted to grab her gun. She said she beat Williams to the gun and turned to fire just as he was going out the window.

The video did not show Williams grab for the gun. Defense attorneys contended Williams was just out of view of the camera.

After the shooting, Carey told investigators she and Williams struggled for the gun. Police later arrested Carey after viewing the video and no struggle was seen.

The shooting video has been seen online hundreds of thousands of times since it was first released to The Oklahoman. On social media, many viewers have expressed anger over the acquittal.

"How the hell is that not murder?" one viewer commented.

Carey's attorney said, "I understand the outrage of the public but this jury did what it was supposed to do in regard to the charge of murder in the first-degree.”
 

tRidiot

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Damn.... I was on jury duty for a murder case about 6 months ago. Some of the people there were total morons, but I didn't figure it was the norm.

I've heard it said the majority of the people who end up on jury duty are the ones too dumb to get out of it. lol. No offense. But, really, people who work, especially people who are smart, driven, analytical and very intelligent often work certain types of jobs and I can see them talking or writing convincingly to the Court Clerk to get out of it. Or, if necessary, giving just the right or "wrong" type of answers on questioning to get dismissed, so they can get back to work. I know for a fact if I got called for jury duty and had to do something like that for days on end, it would cost me an incredible amount of money and I could easily claim significant financial impact. I also would like to think I have a civic duty I'd like to perform, but being cooped up with some of the morons I've read about on juries for days on end would likely end up with me being prosecuted at the end of it all. lol

I won't go into analysis of the type of people who sit around with nothing to do and either wouldn't mind or get stuck on juries... there're lots of possibilities, but a lot of them aren't good, in my mind.
 

MacFromOK

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I was on jury duty for a murder case about 6 months ago. Some of the people there were total morons, but I didn't figure it was the norm.
You're probably not old enough to remember the OJ case...

There's an old saying... "Juries are mostly made up of folks too dumb to get out of jury duty." :D

[EDIT] Oops, just noticed that tRidiot already covered that.
 

RustedBeef

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I've heard it said the majority of the people who end up on jury duty are the ones too dumb to get out of it. lol. No offense. But, really, people who work, especially people who are smart, driven, analytical and very intelligent often work certain types of jobs and I can see them talking or writing convincingly to the Court Clerk to get out of it. Or, if necessary, giving just the right or "wrong" type of answers on questioning to get dismissed, so they can get back to work. I know for a fact if I got called for jury duty and had to do something like that for days on end, it would cost me an incredible amount of money and I could easily claim significant financial impact. I also would like to think I have a civic duty I'd like to perform, but being cooped up with some of the morons I've read about on juries for days on end would likely end up with me being prosecuted at the end of it all. lol

I won't go into analysis of the type of people who sit around with nothing to do and either wouldn't mind or get stuck on juries... there're lots of possibilities, but a lot of them aren't good, in my mind.

It wasn't a bad deal for me. My job still paid me and I got 20 bucks a day from the court house. Lots of people were teachers and they got pretty screwed.


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