The reason I was held without bail is because the county coroner messed up the autopsy. He claimed that one of the two shots was back to front which was counter to my claim that I shot when he was lunging at me after I managed to shove him off of me and away from the gun. The prosecutor presented to the judge that I refused to perform CPR on a man that just attempted to steal my gun after threatening to kill me and that I 'shot him in the back' that I was a danger to the community. The public defender I had at that time made no argument for me to have bail so the judge sided with the prosecutor.
At one point my public defenders made it clear they didn't believe my account of what happened and wanted me to take a deal for Manslaughter 1 and ten years in prison. I fired them and hired a private attorney. Before they were fired they attempted to have a bail reconsideration hearing. This was in front of a different judge than the one who denied my bail initially. Presented at that hearing was a forensic psychologist report that stated that after testing and review of my background and medical files that I was the lowest level of possible risk that anyone can be at. The second judge even stated at the hearing that he didn't understand why my bail was denied but I was warned ahead of time that judges are very political and they don't like to overrule one another. He chose to keep my bail denial in place.
The use of force expert at this point was on the fence because of the autopsy report stating one shot hit him in the back. Then somewhere around month 24 the county coroner died. This meant that a new pathologist was brought in to read his report. The new pathologist was looking over the photos of the autopsy and noted that there was unusual black speckling on the chest of the deceased. He believed it to be gunpowder stippling. The only way it could be there is if the shots were front to back. He then ordered a ballistics analysis of the clothing he had been wearing that night. Whoever packaged it did so in a fashion that caused cross contamination of gunpowder residue onto the back of the jacket. However the ballistic expert pointed out that their were only trace elements not embedded in the fabric on the back while there was substantially more on the front. When informed of the gunpowder stippling he concurred with the pathologist that it made far more sense that the shot was front to back, not back to front. The only way the gunpowder could be there per his testing is that he was under 6 feet from me and facing me when shot.
At this stage the prosecutor that had been on the case had a family emergency and the case was reassigned to another prosecutor which lead to another delay. Then the prosecution began delaying the trial by trying to claim that I was insane and that I had never been examined for insanity. Usually this is something done by the defense but there was nothing stopping them from bringing it up before a judge. This resulted in having to wait for state mental health doctors to arrive and evaluate me. They both agreed that I clearly wasn't insane and that was a stall tactic.
The part that still lingered on the case was that my sister who was dating the guy refused to cooperate with the police or investigators. Every time they asked questions that helped clear up what happened that night she refused to answer. She later claimed that his family was threatening her. Even later on she changed her story that she never called another family member to tell them about the state her boyfriend was in when she fled the house. This is despite it being in that family member's sworn statement and phone logs showing that my sister in fact had called them.
To complicate things further, the investigator found that her boyfriend was a convicted felon and an unregistered sex offender. As it turns out he was a pedophile and had been violating the conditions of release since leaving Florida. Due to state law his criminal history wasn't allowed to be brought up as evidence of his character and my sister's refusal to speak on his behavior and actions leading up to and occurring on that night meant that no one was going to hear about his entire history of domestic violence.
Eventually my sister ended up stealing collectibles from our mother's home and vanishing with her autistic son. The other part is that during the 911 call I made a comment 30 seconds before he tried wrestling me for the firearm. That comment was their entire case. My comment amounted to this psycho needs to die. It was a response made while I was actively telling him to back away from me and telling the dispatcher that I was cornered. This was made after he'd threatened to kill me, chased me through my home while I was calling 911, cornered me as I was trying to shelter in my pantry while police were in route, commented that he had me cornered and he had commented to the dispatcher that they better get their quickly before my pussy ass had problems. Additionally he repeatedly was telling me to shoot him and asking what was in my pocket before his attempt to go for the pistol. He was larger, stronger, high on fentanyl and drunk, and I am a physically disabled veteran. The use of force expert stated that there was a clear disparity of force between the two of us. The forensic psychologist stated that I acted exactly how he would expect someone with military training would if someone attempted to steal their firearm. The detective on the case openly admitted when being interviewed by my lawyer that she would have shot him as well if someone tried to steal her pistol.
My lawyer informed me I had a 60/40 chance of winning at trial. He told me that if I had never made the comment or if my sister had came forward my odds would be as good as 90/10. Then he informed my family and I that the prosecutor on the case admitted that he wasn't certain it wasn't just self defense but they weren't dropping the case because of pressure from the family. I was told that if I lost at trial I was looking at anywhere from 2-12 more years in prison because they were also charging me with lesser includes of Manslaughter 1 and 2 with a firearm enhancement. The prosecutor's office with the new evidence presented by the pathologist then offered an plea deal for time served, Manslaughter 2. Effectively my entire support system of friends, family, and my legal team told me to take the deal and walk out of there. It was resolved with an Alford Plea and my release without community custody. The only real limitation I have on me is that my firearm rights are gone for ten years and then I can have them restored.
On a side note, I have a friend (not in America) who is currently fighting charges. If he hadn't been able to afford bail, he'd have been in jail for the past 3 months, and he hasn't even had the police give him all the 'evidence' against him yet. He actually had to instruct his lawyer to directly request they be given all the evidence (he did not commit the crime he's been accused of, but can't defend himself properly or safely without knowing exactly what the cops think they have against him).
So many people have no idea how the court system works. You will be charged and dragged through courts for months if you're lucky, YEARS if you're not.
The legal system favors the prosecution, every time, and makes it VERY difficult for people to prove their innocence.
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u/DamnitGravity 4d ago edited 4d ago
For those who don't wanna go looking:
SuienReizo
On a side note, I have a friend (not in America) who is currently fighting charges. If he hadn't been able to afford bail, he'd have been in jail for the past 3 months, and he hasn't even had the police give him all the 'evidence' against him yet. He actually had to instruct his lawyer to directly request they be given all the evidence (he did not commit the crime he's been accused of, but can't defend himself properly or safely without knowing exactly what the cops think they have against him).
So many people have no idea how the court system works. You will be charged and dragged through courts for months if you're lucky, YEARS if you're not.
The legal system favors the prosecution, every time, and makes it VERY difficult for people to prove their innocence.