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pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 12:02 PM Jun 2012

The Texan who claims SYG after killing someone because of noise had a history

of aggressive behavior.

This is the guy who objected to the volume at his neighbor's party, so walked over there with a gun and a flashlight, ordered them to turn the music down, whined how fearful he was while he was on the phone to 911, and then shot three people, killing a teacher. Now he's on trial claiming "stand your ground" as a defense.

http://www.khou.com/news/Former-neighbors-union-Rodriguez-always-paranoid-157943785.html

“He was a nuisance that thought he pretty much ran the street in a way,” said Jamie Johnson, one of Rodriguez’s former neighbors. “He had us paranoid because he was paranoid. We didn’t know when he was going to go off.”

SNIP

The president of the Baytown Firefighters Union, who was asked not to go on camera by Harris County prosecutors because of the trial, told KHOU 11 News that Rodriguez was the first and only firefighter voted out of their union. The union felt he was divisive, prejudiced and always felt people were out to get him.

“He was paranoid to the point he thought somebody was going to do something to him,” Johnson said.

Johnson said Rodriguez often showed off his gun, argued with adults and children and had confrontations in his old neighborhood similar to what was caught on tape and showed in court Wednesday.

SNIP


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The Texan who claims SYG after killing someone because of noise had a history (Original Post) pnwmom Jun 2012 OP
People need to learn what that phrase actually means. TheWraith Jun 2012 #1
But he was assaulted. pnwmom Jun 2012 #16
Paranoia is the defining characteristic of gun culture. nt onehandle Jun 2012 #2
As pointed out in the other thread on this metalbot Jun 2012 #3
"Now, I'm standing my ground here. Now, these people are going to try and kill me." pnwmom Jun 2012 #4
He's not claiming stand your ground metalbot Jun 2012 #5
You're splitting hairs. He used the "standing my ground" claim to justify to 911 pnwmom Jun 2012 #9
Him saying it doesn't make it law. 4th law of robotics Jun 2012 #6
No, it doesn't. It's merely a "claim." Unfortunately, even if he is wrong pnwmom Jun 2012 #7
Right, but him being an idiot doesn't mean that the law in general is wrong 4th law of robotics Jun 2012 #11
The law is poorly written if too many people misunderstand it to think shootings pnwmom Jun 2012 #13
The law is pretty clear: 4th law of robotics Jun 2012 #17
It is not clear to the many people who are defending him on the basis of SYG. pnwmom Jun 2012 #19
The many people? 4th law of robotics Jun 2012 #20
Would you be willing to pull the switch on him? You have already convicted and sentenced him. oneshooter Jun 2012 #28
Rodriguez convicted his victim of excessive noise and then shot him to death. pnwmom Jun 2012 #31
So the fact he chose to shoot firemen.... dixiegrrrrl Jun 2012 #24
That is something I had not considered sarisataka Jun 2012 #25
Good question. He had some kind of gripe with the department, pnwmom Jun 2012 #29
Excellent question. dixiegrrrrl Jun 2012 #30
Terrific find -- thanks for posting obamanut2012 Jun 2012 #8
I know. He was expecting a serious confrontation and decided to tape it. pnwmom Jun 2012 #12
Exactly obamanut2012 Jun 2012 #23
Another NRA hero. n/t Cali_Democrat Jun 2012 #10
Thanks for the very enlightening background here, pnwmom. That's really something, there. freshwest Jun 2012 #14
You're welcome, freshwest. n/t pnwmom Jun 2012 #15
If ours were a healthy society Mairead Jun 2012 #18
Texas penal code has rules for loud music, the police should have been call to have this handled. Thinkingabout Jun 2012 #21
I agree he was at fault. He did call 911 about the loud music, but they didn't get there pnwmom Jun 2012 #22
It's clear he was just some paranoid, passive-aggressive with some serious maturity/anger issues Blue_Tires Jun 2012 #27
I'd said in the other thread that it was pretty soft for "loud" music... Blue_Tires Jun 2012 #26
In fact, the police had already investigated Raul's noise complaint, and decided to take no action. pnwmom Jun 2012 #32

TheWraith

(24,331 posts)
1. People need to learn what that phrase actually means.
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 12:04 PM
Jun 2012

It means you don't have to run away if you're assaulted.

metalbot

(1,058 posts)
3. As pointed out in the other thread on this
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 12:13 PM
Jun 2012

The article does not contain the words "stand your ground". You are making up your own headline here. Since we are talking about a murder trial, it means that a grand jury rejected any claims he might have had based on the Texas "Castle Doctrine" (which has some elements of "stand your ground&quot .

He may try to argue "self defense" in this case, but it's going to be the same "self defense" argument that he would have attempted to argue 100 years ago long before the phrase "stand your ground" came into use from a legal perspective.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
4. "Now, I'm standing my ground here. Now, these people are going to try and kill me."
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 12:28 PM
Jun 2012

If you'd have listened to the tape, he uses those very words.

The fact that the jury indicted him does not preclude any defense he may wish to make, including a stand your ground defense; it just means his claim wasn't automatically accepted, as the police first tried to do with Zimmerman. It will be up to the trial jury to decide if they accept that defense or any other defense -- the indictment just means the Grand Jury found probable cause to think that he MIGHT be found guilty by a jury.

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/man-claims-self-defense-fatal-shooting-neighbor-115652180--abc-news-topstories.html


"It's about to get out of hand sir, please help me. Please help me, my life is in danger now…," Rodriguez told police over the phone. "Now, I'm standing my ground here. Now, these people are going to try and kill me."

Seconds later, a fight about loud music ends with the crack of gunfire.

"Look, I'm not losing to these people anymore," Rodriguez said. "I'm just totally going to stay back, because they're drunk, they're…"

Rodriguez is interrupted by wild laughter, and then the sound of gunfire, before the tape stops as Rodriguez is tackled to the ground. In addition to the shot that killed Danaher, Houston Fire Capt. Ricky Johnson and Marshall Stetson received multiple gunshot wounds after the camera stopped

metalbot

(1,058 posts)
5. He's not claiming stand your ground
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 12:51 PM
Jun 2012

He can say what he wants to 911. That's not the legal defense that he is invoking, nor is it the one that his lawyer is invoking. His lawyer is trying to argue that this is self defense. It has absolutely nothing to do with the Texas law that does not require you to retreat (aka "stand your ground&quot .

If anything, this case is an example of why "stand your ground" laws are NOT a problem, since in this case the grand jury felt it didn't apply. Had Texas not passed the Castle Doctrine, there would have been absolutely no changes to the criminal process involved in charging this guy with murder.


pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
9. You're splitting hairs. He used the "standing my ground" claim to justify to 911
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 01:27 PM
Jun 2012

why he was pulling the gun. Whether or not he is now using or can win on that defense doesn't really matter. A huge problem with "stand your ground" laws is that they are so easily interpreted by paranoid types to mean they have a right to shoot under almost any circumstances.

I'm not talking about the Castle Doctrine, by the way. The Texas Legislature wrote new law in 2007, which added to the old Castle Doctrine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_your_ground

Senate Bill 378, made effective September 1, 2007, also "abolishes the duty to retreat if the defendant can show he: (1) had a right to be present at the location where deadly force was used; (2) did not provoke the person against whom deadly force was used; and (3) was not engaged in criminal activity at the time deadly force was used."[34]

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
7. No, it doesn't. It's merely a "claim." Unfortunately, even if he is wrong
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 01:23 PM
Jun 2012

his is an all-too-common misunderstanding, as can be seen from a perusal of the comments sections of the local news coverage.

 

4th law of robotics

(6,801 posts)
11. Right, but him being an idiot doesn't mean that the law in general is wrong
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 01:29 PM
Jun 2012

some people think driving when they've "only had a few" is just fine.

That doesn't have any bearing on the legitimacy of anti-drunk driving laws.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
13. The law is poorly written if too many people misunderstand it to think shootings
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 01:39 PM
Jun 2012

like this one are justified.

 

4th law of robotics

(6,801 posts)
17. The law is pretty clear:
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 01:42 PM
Jun 2012

In 2005 Texas passed House Bill 94[32] which created an exception for unlawful entry of place of residence to a 1973 statute, which required a person to retreat in the face of a criminal attack unless a "reasonable person in the actor's situation would not have retreated".[33]

In 2007 Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 378 which extends a person’s right to stand their ground beyond the home to vehicles and workplaces, allowing the reasonable use of deadly force when an intruder is:

Committing certain violent crimes, such as murder or sexual assault, or is attempting to commit such crimes;
Unlawfully trying to enter a protected place; or
Unlawfully trying to remove a person from a protected place.[13]
Senate Bill 378, made effective September 1, 2007, also "abolishes the duty to retreat if the defendant can show he: (1) had a right to be present at the location where deadly force was used; (2) did not provoke the person against whom deadly force was used; and (3) was not engaged in criminal activity at the time deadly force was used."[34]

There will always be people who assume the law means one thing when it fact it means another.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
19. It is not clear to the many people who are defending him on the basis of SYG.
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 02:01 PM
Jun 2012

Just read the comments sections on the many local media stories and you will see. It's pretty scary.

 

4th law of robotics

(6,801 posts)
20. The many people?
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 02:03 PM
Jun 2012

Who?

Comments on the internet don't really count.

Look at the average comment on youtube or any other social media site and you'll find that 99% of the population fervently believes everyone else is "teh gey fagz". That isn't really representative of society in general. Or even that persons own views, they're just seeking attention by being intentionally stupid.

oneshooter

(8,614 posts)
28. Would you be willing to pull the switch on him? You have already convicted and sentenced him.
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 03:48 PM
Jun 2012

I guess that this is your form of justice.

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
31. Rodriguez convicted his victim of excessive noise and then shot him to death.
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 04:10 PM
Jun 2012

I haven't convicted him. But there's no doubt that he did the shooting and there's no doubt this all happened because he grabbed his gun to make a noise complaint.

sarisataka

(18,220 posts)
25. That is something I had not considered
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 03:28 PM
Jun 2012

What was the relationship with the firemen there, the union and R?

obamanut2012

(25,911 posts)
8. Terrific find -- thanks for posting
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 01:25 PM
Jun 2012

His taping the confrontation mentioned in the other thread was also very "WTF." Who does something like that past the age of 16?

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
12. I know. He was expecting a serious confrontation and decided to tape it.
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 01:38 PM
Jun 2012

And now he thinks it documents that he said all the "right words." Instead, he comes across as a paranoid sicko.

freshwest

(53,661 posts)
14. Thanks for the very enlightening background here, pnwmom. That's really something, there.
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 01:39 PM
Jun 2012

K & R for those following the story.


 

Mairead

(9,557 posts)
18. If ours were a healthy society
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 01:43 PM
Jun 2012

he would long since have received treatment for his delusions, personality deficits, and lack of insight.

Thinkingabout

(30,058 posts)
21. Texas penal code has rules for loud music, the police should have been call to have this handled.
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 02:51 PM
Jun 2012

This is another case in a wanna be charging into a situation who does not have proper training and just because he held a gun gives him a right to go out and kill someone. This needs to be punished to the fullest. He had plenty of opportunity to allow proper handling of this situation, he chose not to do so. He had time during the time he was video taping to take flight but apparently wanted to "use his gun" though not a wise decision. He needs to go down.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
22. I agree he was at fault. He did call 911 about the loud music, but they didn't get there
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 02:52 PM
Jun 2012

fast enough to suit him.

Blue_Tires

(55,445 posts)
27. It's clear he was just some paranoid, passive-aggressive with some serious maturity/anger issues
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 03:43 PM
Jun 2012

He probably felt he was getting shit on by the whole world until he started packing everywhere he went...THEN he felt empowered -- Nobody was going to fuck with him...

Listen to the way he talks to those guys when they pull up in the truck...Just a very disrepsectful, authoritative, you're-gonna-do-what-i-tell-you-to-or-else tone...Men don't talk to men that way unless there is something to back it up:

1. Authority, office, rank, etc
2. Superior numbers
3. Superior weaponry
4. Superior physical strength

I guess my point is he'd never have the stones to confront anyone if he wasn't carrying...

Blue_Tires

(55,445 posts)
26. I'd said in the other thread that it was pretty soft for "loud" music...
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 03:34 PM
Jun 2012

He was standing on the street and it was 85 dB, so it was what, maybe 70 dB in his own house??

That's not something you call the cops for, repeatedly -- So it's no wonder they stopped giving a shit after the thousandth time he called...(and no wonder his neighbor was pissed off)

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
32. In fact, the police had already investigated Raul's noise complaint, and decided to take no action.
Fri Jun 8, 2012, 08:41 PM
Jun 2012
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