Posted on 02/22/2014 11:12:48 AM PST by BBell
NEW ORLEANS —An Orleans Parish grand jury didn't return anything Thursday in the case against a Marigny homeowner who shot a teen intruder in the head in July 2013.
Merritt Landry, 33, was arrested and accused of second-degree attempted murder in the shooting of 14-year-old Marshall Coulter.
Police said the teen climbed a fence into Landry's yard in the 700 block of Mandeville Street at 2 a.m. on July 26. Landry fired once at Coulter, striking him in the head.
The grand jury didn't take any action in the case as it convened on Thursday. The grand jury meets in six-month cycles.
Thursday's inaction doesn't mean the case is closed. It could be in the hands of another grand jury later on, legal analyst Robert Jenkins told WDSU.
A Grand Jury generally handles a case in one of three ways: returning an indictment, returning a "no true bill" (rejecting the case) or taking no action. In the latter case, the jurors can seek additional information before making a decision.
In the Landry case, failing to act by Feb. 20 essentially resets the process. A new grand jury would consider any evidence and testimony -- starting from scratch.
After the shooting, Landry told police when he went outside his home, he saw the teen near his car and felt threatened. Landry then fired one shot from a distance and struck Coulter in the head.
The case sparked controversy throughout the community with rallies by Landry supporters and protests by his opponents.
As for Coulter, he suffered a serious head injury. His family has said he's been in trouble with the law previously but was not known to carry a gun. Investigators said he was not armed when Landry shot him.
(Excerpt) Read more at wdsu.com ...
This man was quickly charged with attempted second degree murder because the local DA did not want a Trayvon Martin reaction on his hands.
A warning shot perhaps would have been enough.
But in cases like this had the teen not been in the guys yard a 2 am there would not have been these events.
Why exactly was the teen out at 2 am?
Why exactly was the teen out at 2 am?
Duuugh......
Looking for something to steal.
Why exactly was the teen out at 2 am?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Walking home from the local library where he and some of his peers were in a study group for final exams - after they did the 4-12 shift at the local seniors home.
If the 4-12 job paid 10.10 an hour rather than the 8.00 they are making, they could ALL afford a car, get off of food stamps and be able to move out of the bad neighborhood the ‘crackas’ are forcing them to live in.
On his way to 7-11 for some Skittles, ice tea and cough syrup.
“...failing to act by Feb. 20 essentially resets the process. A new grand jury would ....[start] from scratch.”
How many bites at the apple do they get?
Not only that, the yard that he was in at 2:00 AM was surrounded by a fence with a closed gate. About a week or so ago, another man in Metairie heard a noise in his yard at about 2:00 AM, came out to investigate and found someone trying to steal items from the back of his truck. The thug in this case shot the home owner in the leg before taking off. They still haven’t arrested him, but when they do I’ll bet he gets charged with aggrevated battery instead of attempted 2nd degree murder.
......he has a family?.....”uh, hey family, a 16 year old kid should be home in bed down the hall from you at 2am!”
Where should the 14 year old kid that was the subject of this article be?
“Why exactly was the teen out at 2 am?”
He was stealing. I recall the case. The boy’s older brother, sort of the head of the family, said that the teenager was a “professional thief” at 14. He seemed to have a bit of pride about it. He said, however, that his brother would never hurt anyone.
According to the article family members said he wasn’t known to carry a gun./sarc
Look at all the great replies that question prompted. Nothing duuugh about it.
Every 14 year old I ever had was home in bed at 2am, notwithstanding that even if he/she were not at home they would not be out trespassing on someone else’s property.
Sadly, odds are the “family” referred to was a single mom and siblings and the poor kid never knew his dad.
This can play out over the next few years. Sad but that is the LA laws are written.
http://theadvocate.com/news/7848829-123/deadline-for-da-to-act
Deadline for DA to act on Merritt Landry case is near, but meaningless
snip
Louisiana law gives the district attorney 150 days to charge a criminal defendant
who has been booked with a felony and is out of jail on bond. That time limit
expires Dec. 22.
But, legally, it means little for Merritt Landry.
His attorney, Kevin Boshea, describes the deadline as a “paper tiger” — a meaningless
time clock often misunderstood by the public.
If Landry is not charged by the deadline, his $100,000 bond obligation would be erased.
He would become formally a free man, unencumbered by bail restrictions, but with a
pending attempted-murder arrest still simmering on the back burner.
“It doesn’t mean much at all,” Dane Ciolino, a Loyola University law professor,
said of the deadline. “I’m sure they’re rather do it deliberately than quickly.”
The true deadline, after which the state can no longer bring charges against Landry,
does not arrive for six years. The district attorney could, in theory, do nothing until 2019.
end sniip
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