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News-Sentinel.com Your Town. Your Voice.
Opening Arguments

Aggravating charges

We're so civilized now that crashing a wedding reception and shooting up the place, including putting a bullet in a 2-year-old's head, isn't considered attempted murder. It's just "aggravated battery."

David Wyser, the prosecutor's chief trial deputy, said after the hearing that the office chose aggravated battery over attempted murder because Francisco Ponce apparently didn't target anyone. Aggravated battery is a Class B felony carrying six to 20 years in prison on each count.

 "There is no evidence that he intended to kill," Wyser said. "These shots were fired at knee-high level."

I'd think shooting into a crowd, even at "knee-high level" would be evidence of something, and it's not much comfort that he "apparently didn't target anyone." He hit three someones, including the 2-year-old. If she dies, would that be considered "murder," even thought her wounding isn't considered "attempted murder"? Or would it just be called extreme aggravated battery?

Oh, and this is the very last sentence of the story:

The Ponce brothers are undocumented immigrants from Mexico, Wyser said, and he said Francisco Ponce apparently wasn't deported after a 2006 handgun possession conviction in Hamilton County.

Thank goodness they're only undocumented immigrants. I was starting to worry that they might be some sort of troublemaking illegal aliens. And since Francisco had had only one handgun violation against him, he obviously was unfamiliar the such a weapon and had no idea shooting it off might hurt someone.

Comments

Bob G.
Thu, 07/30/2009 - 8:58am

Leo:
ONLY in....Frisco!
(and it sure not the one Dirty Harry used to prowl)

This is idiotic on WAY too many levels...even for San Fran!
(too much medical marijuana being passed about the local government, I'd wager)

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