Posted on 12/07/2011 4:00:56 AM PST by marktwain
A Tulsa County jury on Tuesday night acquitted a man of a murder charge in the fatal shooting of a neighbor in Broken Arrow.
Jurors found Joshua James Vaughn, 34, not guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of Tommy James Lovell on Feb. 10, 2009.
District Judge William Kellough gave jurors the option of reaching a verdict on the lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter. The jury found Vaughn not guilty of that alternative also.
First-degree murder in this case carried a possible sentence of life in prison, either with or without the possibility of parole. First-degree manslaughter has a sentencing range of four years to life.
Police dispatched to the scene observed the body of Lovell, 34, shortly after midnight in Vaughn’s yard in the 400 block of West Miami Street, reports show.
Assistant District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said evidence indicated that Vaughn fired six shots from a .40-caliber handgun, resulting in eight bullet holes in Lovell.
Vaughn, “a peaceable man," defended himself against Lovell, who had a history of threats and violence and who went to Vaughn’s house to provoke a fight, defense attorney Clark Brewster said.
A furious Lovell threatened to kill Vaughn and came at Vaughn, who pulled his gun in self-defense and “shot until the threat was eliminated,” Brewster said.
Lovell had a knife that he could have used to hurt somebody, Brewster told jurors. Assistant District Attorney Erik Grayless said testimony showed that Vaughn “never saw the knife,” and did not see any weapon in Lovell’s hands. The knife was in Lovell’s pocket, Grayless said.
Vaughn, who had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, was arrested Feb. 10, 2009. He was released on $125,000 bond on Feb. 20, 2009, and was out of custody while awaiting this trial, records show.
six shots fired resulting in eight bullet holes, did they count exit holes?
Excellent gun control! Looks like he hit with every round.
That’s the way you handle a bully. And a jury with some sense!
I want to see the CSI episode that explains how he got 8 holes with 6 shots - "magic bullets" left over from the Kennedy era?
Never take a knife to a gunfight.
Never threaten to kill someone and then show up at his house in a belligerent manner.
Sounds to me like the dead man died of terminal stupidity.
We had a somewhat similar happenstance here where I live.A man was on a jury who set a shooter loose for shooting a man. The man who was shot threatened the jury and one juror in particular.
Every time they met he would threaten the ex-juror.
One day the juror was in a bar and got threatened again
He told the man doing the threatening that he was going to go home get his gun and come back and kill him. He had enough.
The others at the bar kept telling the man to go home, but he said the ex-juror didnt have the balls to shoot him.
Three 12 gauge pumpkin balls later he found out the juror did have the balls.
Of course this ex-juror was found guilty because of premeditation.Still: When you threaten to kill someone more than once to his face,sooner or later the man being threatened will get tired of hearing it.
If I had been on the jury I would not have convicted him, base upon what you presented. Threatening someone is one step away from doing it so he had a right to protect himself, at least in my view.
Use your imagination....
And a couple of rounds hit him twice.
I have always thought that attempted cold blooded murder should be punished the same as 1st. degree murder.
Only the fact that someone did not die changes the circumstances.The fact is that the person that attempted to murder someone is a murderer, only the person they attempted to murder survived.
As a murderer they should receive the punishment.
You shoot a cop and he survives you should be executed.
You attempt to murder a rival and they survive execution.
Sound good to me, why let them off with less punishment for incompetence.
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