Posted on 06/21/2012 12:42:20 PM PDT by CHRISTIAN DIARIST
Imagine if you caught a man molesting your five-year-old daughter. Or if you discovered that a man was pimping out your 17-year-old daughter. What would you do?
When a 23-year-old Texas father heard his little girl crying behind a barn, when he saw her being sexually violated by Jesus Mora Flores, he beat the deviant to death.
And when San Francisco parents Barry Gilton and Lupe Mercado were unable to rescue their teen daughter from her pimp, Calvin Sneed, by peaceable means, they shot and killed him.
Both the Texas dad and parents Gilton and Mercado were accused of taking the law into their own hands. But their cases have been handled quite differently by the legal system.
In the case of the Texas dad, a grand jury in Lacava County declined this week to indict him, deciding that he was justified in using deadly force to protect his five-year old.
However, in the case of San Francisco couple Gilton and Mercado, they have been charged with murder by the city’s District Attorney and are currently being held on $2 million bail each.
To my mind, the San Francisco parents are no more guilty, no less deserving of mercy, than the Texas dad.
For the parents took the lives of wicked men who preyed upon their beloved daughters. The difference is that the Texas dad acted in the heat of the moment, while the actions of the San Francisco parents were premeditated.
But while neither law enforcement, nor the legal system, can be faulted for Flores’ molestation of the Texas dad’s little girl, both law enforcement and the legal system are to blame for leaving the teen-age daughter of Gilton and Mercado in the clutches of her pimp.
Indeed, the San Francisco couple tried for months and months to get help from the authorities, but to absolutely no avail. As time passed, they could no longer sit idly by knowing their daughter was whoring herself on the streets for Sneed, a reputed member of the Nutty Blocks Crips gang.
So they killed him and freed their daughter.
San Francisco D.A. George Gascon said this week, “I fully understand the frustration the family felt.” But he really doesn’t. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be prosecuting the couple for what he describes as “vigilante murder.”
It will be interesting to see what happens when Gilton and Mercado eventually stand trial. If I was on the jury, I would vote to acquit.
I would be sympathetic toward the parents of the 17 year old girl. They rescued her from a gangster. That she maybe didn’t want to be rescued is neither here nor there. She’s their under-aged daughter; they have a responsibility to get her out of that situation.
The predator would be back after her, and if he couldn’t get her, he would get someone else.
We delegate justice to a professional system, but it is not the property of the system. There are times you have to act, and then face the consequences. They may do time for what they did; that doesn’t mean they should not have acted.
I wouldn’t vote to convict any of these parents if I were on the jury.Even though I see some big differences between the two cases, I still agree with you.
Amen,Don,t mess my family.
I didn’t say that it was “revenge”. Frankly, I would have done the same thing.
I didn’t say that it was revenge. Frankly, I would have done the same thing.
You are familiar with the Hatfield/McCoy feud?
You are familiar with the Hatfield/McCoy feud? The Montague/Capulet?
“up to and including lethal force(in extreme circumstances), to protect their children from the wicked individuals out there who would prey on them. “
I think “prey on them” is extreme enough to warrant lethal force. We used to hang pedophiles and rapists, now we give then 18 months in prison and lifetime therapy.
Have you tried decaf?
Except that story took place in Louisiana.
That was Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Exactly! Children learn emotional security from their parents in how they treat or mistreat them.
The families shouldn’t need to lift a finger. The community should do the job.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_McElroy
Nothing wrong with either of the scenarios listed above, both parental units responded in a just manner.
Many years ago I was walking into a store and heard a woman screaming “Help me, He is killing me”
I then noticed a man savagely beating a woman, I hustled over tapped him on the shoulder, he turn and swung. He did not regain consciousness until paramedics arrived. When the cops arrived and found out I was the reason for the unconscious man, I was cuffed & stuffed. A few minutes later the officer returned, unlocked the cuff, shook my hand as did many onlookers. The woman being beat hugged and profusely thanked me time and again. The guy had mistaken the woman for someone else.
I have been helpless before and completely dependent on others. It is a horrible state to be in. I wanted my daughter and my wife to know that I would always do what I could to defend them. I thought of soldiers in Viet Nam after Tet and Walter Cronkite saying we couldn't win. Who wants to die for that? Who will defend those that gave their lives? Who will defend my daughter if the justice system takes control? Someone that kills my daughter or wife that gets 8 or 10 years will die by my hand. They cannot be allowed to live. I will give my life for that purpose. This has been in my mind since the birth of my daughter. I cannot imagine my daughter losing her life to scum and someone saying time will heal the wound. Who will speak for my daughter?
They will never see it coming. I would die of heart failure knowing he had 3 hots and a cot while my daughter was gone.
Not the same. One is clearly a case of defense, and one is not.
How about the case where the father found out the neighbor was molesting his 13 year old daughter, entered the neighbors house and killed him in front of his mother? Oh wait, that really happened, except the girl had lied about being molested to cover for the guy she was really screwing.
Due process exists for a reason. The founders weren’t a bunch of dumbasses that threw it in for giggles.
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