Neighbors testify to gunfire in Castle Doctrine case

kens5.com ^ | 7 Mar 2011 | Joe Conger

[smokingfrog]

SAN ANTONIO-- Belinda Nieto told a jury she was watching television when she was interrupted by gunfire outside her home.

She said it terrorized her.

“I just threw myself on the ground. I honestly thought I was being attacked by gangs," Nieto said. "That’s how it sounded.”

Nieto was one of several neighbors asked by prosecutors to describe the scene where Ray Lemes took aim with his glock pistol at an intruder in his home.

Lemes is on trial for murder in the 437th District Court in connection to a shooting that happened in front of his home in August 2007.

Tracy Glass, a 19-year-old student from Angelo State University, died a block from his sister’s house that night. Prosecutors said Glass had been drinking and may have blundered into the wrong neighborhood and the wrong home, thinking he was on his sister’s street.

Instead, he awoke Lemes’ wife, who began screaming. Lemes’ attorneys say the 51-year old had just seconds to react and shot the intruder to defend himself and his wife.

But because Glass died in the cul-de-sac in front of the house -- in the street-- prosecutors are calling it murder, not self-defense.

The medical examiner said Glass was shot five times in the neck, head and chest. Nieto said the gunfire got her scared for her life and that of her sleeping son.

[jimt]

I’ve got a problem with this shooting. The Castle Doctrine and the Stand Your Ground laws both have the axiom that if no longer on your property, you cannot chase down and shoot someone.

There was no need to pass laws like the above in Texas.

Texas state law permits the use of deadly force in the situation described. If they are fleeing the scene of a crime at night, you can chase them down the street and plug 'em. On the face of it what the homeowner did was legal.

Bexar (pronounced "bear") County DA Susan Reed is not a 'Rat. She may be a RINO, but maybe not. Perhaps there are circumstances here we don't know about.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

See #18 above, it has the link to the TX statute, which are not that bad as far as readability goes, granted some legalese.

I noted that it specified that you could shoot them while fleeing if they had some of your property you wanted to recover, and this might be the sticking point. Since supposedly the dead guy was not a thief, he didn’t have stolen goods on him.

As with such cases, “the devil is in the details”, and this might be what gets him convicted. His big defense seems to be that after he chased down the guy, he turned and lunged. That will be for the medical examiner to determine with shot angles, etc.

From a jury’s point of view, firing five shots at close range is problematic, as the two being off the homeowner’s property, and no evidence that the intruder committed any crime other than intruding.

I’m still leaning strongly to conviction. Time will tell, though, and pretty soon.