Hmong Man Found Guilty in Hunter Deaths

[Flashermac]

<< My understanding is he systematically hunted down a half dozen armed hunters. >>

 

 

Seems like the odds were on their side. Hunting is only truly fair when both hunter and prey are armed.

[ALHOLK]

Hi!

 

Now I see he did try to show he was shot at but the jury didn't buy it.

 

How many of his jurors were Mong or even Asian Americans?

 

regards

 

ALHOLK

[chuckwoww]

None it looks like....basically it comes down to his word against the surviving hunters....

 

Outside court, Vang's sister questioned the jury's makeup.

 

"Everyone was white," Chou Vang said. "They do not understand. They will never understand what my brother went through out there," she said. "He was not a dog to sit there and let them shoot at him. He was proud of who he is."

 

Defense lawyer Steven Kohn said the verdict was not a surprise. "We had no illusions. The facts were incredibly difficult from a defense standpoint," he said.

 

The original jury pool of 450 people included minorities, but most asked not to serve on the jury because of a conflict or personal feelings. "They were given the same deference as the Caucasians," Kohn said.

[Guest lazyphil]

He shot dead 6 men, hes going down. Justice at work.

[chuckwoww]

He's going down alright. Jury found him guilty. First degree murder, mandatory life sentence, no mitigating circumstances. He should have just apologized when he had the chance and gone home.

[Flashermac]

What has the racial make up of the jury got to do with it? If I committed a crime in Sweden, could I demand to be tried only by Americans? Have I a right to complain if my jury in the US is not all white, university educated and middle class?

 

 

But it would be interesting to know what the guy had gone through in Laos. He is old enough to remember the war there and the attempts afterwards of the communists more or less to exterminate the Hmong. Maybe something just snapped in him and he was back in the PDJ again.

[ALHOLK]

Hi!

 

What has the racial make up of the jury got to do with it?

I beleive that the whole idea with the jury system is to tried by ones peers.

If I committed a crime in Sweden, could I demand to be tried only by Americans?

As we don't have the jury system in Sweden for criminal cases I think that such a request might not be heeded.

 

regards

 

ALHOLK

[Flashermac]

What have you got, a panel of judges?

 

With the way lawyers can sway juries, that might not be such a bad idea these days -- at least in democratic countries with free judicial systems.

 

Some years ago, my mother walked into a grocery, promptly slipped on chocolate sauce that was leaking all over the floor from a defective machine, and fell -- dislocating her knee. (OUCH!)

 

A lawyer took on the law suit on contingency, he was so sure of winning. All my mother was asking for was the medical expenses. But the grocery chain sent down a hot shot "New York lawyer" who convinced the jury that it was my mother's fault. None of the employees had witnessed the accident, but the manager ordered them all to swear under oath that they had -- and that my mother was wearing high heels, which somehow made it her own fault. (My mother hasn't worn high heels in 30 years! Doesn't even own any.) Even the boy in the stockroom swore to seeing it happen.

 

Afterwards, the judge turned to the jury and told them what he thought of them before dismissing them. He said they had not listened to one word of the testimony and had been swayed by the lawyer's fancy words. The judge offered to declare a mistrial, but my mother had had enough and called it quits.

 

I now know the judge and he has told me how disgusted he was with that trial. He said it was clear to him that all of the grocery's employees were lying through their teeth. Oh, yeah -- after the trial the manager of that grocery was fired and the grocery was closed. Sort of tells you something.

 

The judge told me that you never know what is going to happen when you go into a jury trial. The decision can go anyway, regardless of the facts of a case. At least judges can't be fooled by fast talking lawyers.

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

"What has the racial make up of the jury got to do with it? If I committed a crime in Sweden, could I demand to be tried only by Americans?"

 

Not exactly the same, is it? You and the jury are still of the same race (although maybe not cultural background).

A more appropriate example might have been being tried in Thailand by an all Thai jury.

 

Regardless of intentions people do tend to identify themselves easier with someone of the same race.

 

Sanuk!

[Guest lazyphil]

<<Regardless of intentions people do tend to identify themselves easier with someone of the same race.>>

 

So you moved to bkk :: look, this asshole murdered 6 men, who were possibly assholes too but thats not the point is it!