If they get away with creating a new charge, I wonder when they will apply it to autos,
etc.
http://www.dispatch.com/news/newsfea00/feb00/170176.html
Accidental fatal shootings
Teens facing felonies under new Ohio law
Sunday, February 6, 2000
By Matthew Marx, Dispatch Staff Reporter
When the bullet exploded out of the .38-caliber revolver Scott Stepp was holding, it ended the life of Frank E. Moore Jr., 15. But it also began legal proceedings that will likely be subject to controversy and curiosity around Ohio.
On Dec. 20, 14-year-old Stepp became the first of three Columbus-area youths -- within a five-week period -- to accidentally shoot and kill a friend, according to police reports. On Dec. 27, Zachary Amick, 13, of Hilliard, killed James Cruz, 10. On Jan. 18, Kyle Proffit, 14, of the Hilltop, killed Matthew Osborne, 13, police said.
Columbus police charged all three in Franklin County Juvenile Court alleging reckless homicide, a new felony offense that took effect in September. The youths also were charged with negligent homicide, a misdemeanor.
Police and prosecutors didn't stop there. They also charged the adult owners of the guns with negligent homicide, alleging they didn't adequately keep the guns and bullets out of the youths' hands.
An attorney who represents one of those gun owners thinks his case could result in a landmark precedent in firearms accessibility and safety.
"The case has some interesting facts and legal issues. This could be a test case,'' defense attorney Bill Meeks said. He represents Jerry Amick, Zachary Amick's father.
"You have the responsibility of the gun owner and the responsibility of the teen,'' Meeks said.
Authorities in other Ohio cities said they were interested in how the Columbus cases play out in court because of the newness of the reckless- homicide charge and because such incidents are rare.
Cincinnati, for instance, has a city ordinance allowing a gun owner to be charged with a misdemeanor if the weapon is used by a minor to wound someone, Prosecutor Terry Cosgrove said.
In Cleveland, Blaise Thomas supervises the juvenile court unit of the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office.
"This would be a good and creative way to apply the law, but it is novel,'' Thomas said of the two charges facing the youths. "Up here, that would be viewed as pushing the envelope, but I'm not saying it's wrong.
"I think it's good.''
Dennis Hogan, chief counsel in the juvenile division of the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office, has asked police to file the felony and misdemeanor charges in similar accidental shooting cases.
That way, Hogan said, if the court determines the youth wasn't reckless, he or she still could be found guilty of the lesser charge of negligence, Hogan said.
"I wouldn't call it a crackdown, but police are doing their job and filing appropriate charges,'' he said. "When teen-agers start pointing loaded firearms at others and they unintentionally go off, I would say that is reckless.''
The reckless-homicide charge alleges a defendant acted with heedless indifference to the consequences of his or her actions, whereas negligent homicide is a failure to perceive or avoid a risk because of a lapse in due care, Hogan said.
No other Ohio police agency has had the opportunity, or perhaps the inclination, to file a reckless-homicide charge, according to the office of state Rep. William Taylor, R-Norwalk, who sponsored the law.
The law was approved in June after a girl was shot by a friend with a stolen gun in northern Ohio.
Reckless homicide is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $15,000 fine. It fills the gap between the charge of involuntary manslaughter and the less serious offense of negligent homicide, criminal defense lawyer Terry K. Sherman said.
It gives juries another option, which is good, Sherman said.
A colleague in the defense bar, Sam Weiner, disagreed, calling the law a "knee-jerk'' reaction.
"To felonize some young kid because he did a dumb thing or acted in a negligent manner doesn't make any sense to me,'' Weiner said. "To stigmatize a young kid who has killed a friend or a family member is just the worse kind of politicking.''
Weiner said it was tough to say whether the cases will be landmarks.
Attorneys could challenge the constitutionality of the statutes, but what Weiner said might ultimately happen is that cooler heads will prevail on the prosecution's side.
"I will hope if a negligent homicide plea is warranted, then it will be offered,'' he said.
While the teens-agers' cases will be tried in Juvenile Court, Columbus city prosecutors will handle the negligent homicide charges against the adults in Franklin County Municipal Court.
Police charged the three gun owners after considering the evidence, said Sgt. Wallace Rushin of the Columbus police homicide squad.
"No one sat down and said that we need to crack down on these. We are just filing charges based on individual cases,'' Rushin said. "We have had a lot of these in the past, too, where the parents had no idea the kid had a gun.''
These are the first cases that Columbus City Prosecutor Steve McIntosh can remember in which gun owners were charged with negligent homicide for someone else's actions.
"A lot of responsibility needs to be placed on a gun owner,'' McIntosh said.
The reckless homicide charge against the three youths sounds appropriate, said John Murphy, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association.
But Murphy also is interested in seeing how the courts handle the cases against the gun owners.
Usually in such cases, a parent has been charged with endangering a child -- a misdemeanor -- for making the gun accessible, Murphy said.
"Negligent homicide -- I have not heard of that particular prosecution before,'' he said.
However, authorities are now more willing to charge not only those who fired the gun, but those responsible for the weapon, said Douglas A. Berman, criminal law professor at Ohio State University.
"When someone ends up dead, police and prosecutors look for everyone involved,'' he said.
Filing homicide charges against parents in accidental shootings is uncommon, said Mark Soler of the Youth Law Center in Washington, D.C.
"It has to do with how available the guns are,'' he said. "Does putting the gun on the top shelf of the closet make them them available?''
A proposal in the Ohio General Assembly would require gun owners to put trigger locks on their weapons, or place them in a locked cabinet or somewhere where an owner would not "reasonably'' expect a child to have access to them.
However, opponents contend the bill would hamper homeowners' ability to defend themselves, for instance during a burglary.
Charging parents isn't the answer, said some criminal-defense lawyers and gun-rights activists.
"Are we going to start criminalizing every accident or just the ones that pull the heartstrings of registered voters?'' asked defense attorney Thomas Beal of Columbus.
------------------
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.
etc.
http://www.dispatch.com/news/newsfea00/feb00/170176.html
Accidental fatal shootings
Teens facing felonies under new Ohio law
Sunday, February 6, 2000
By Matthew Marx, Dispatch Staff Reporter
When the bullet exploded out of the .38-caliber revolver Scott Stepp was holding, it ended the life of Frank E. Moore Jr., 15. But it also began legal proceedings that will likely be subject to controversy and curiosity around Ohio.
On Dec. 20, 14-year-old Stepp became the first of three Columbus-area youths -- within a five-week period -- to accidentally shoot and kill a friend, according to police reports. On Dec. 27, Zachary Amick, 13, of Hilliard, killed James Cruz, 10. On Jan. 18, Kyle Proffit, 14, of the Hilltop, killed Matthew Osborne, 13, police said.
Columbus police charged all three in Franklin County Juvenile Court alleging reckless homicide, a new felony offense that took effect in September. The youths also were charged with negligent homicide, a misdemeanor.
Police and prosecutors didn't stop there. They also charged the adult owners of the guns with negligent homicide, alleging they didn't adequately keep the guns and bullets out of the youths' hands.
An attorney who represents one of those gun owners thinks his case could result in a landmark precedent in firearms accessibility and safety.
"The case has some interesting facts and legal issues. This could be a test case,'' defense attorney Bill Meeks said. He represents Jerry Amick, Zachary Amick's father.
"You have the responsibility of the gun owner and the responsibility of the teen,'' Meeks said.
Authorities in other Ohio cities said they were interested in how the Columbus cases play out in court because of the newness of the reckless- homicide charge and because such incidents are rare.
Cincinnati, for instance, has a city ordinance allowing a gun owner to be charged with a misdemeanor if the weapon is used by a minor to wound someone, Prosecutor Terry Cosgrove said.
In Cleveland, Blaise Thomas supervises the juvenile court unit of the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office.
"This would be a good and creative way to apply the law, but it is novel,'' Thomas said of the two charges facing the youths. "Up here, that would be viewed as pushing the envelope, but I'm not saying it's wrong.
"I think it's good.''
Dennis Hogan, chief counsel in the juvenile division of the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office, has asked police to file the felony and misdemeanor charges in similar accidental shooting cases.
That way, Hogan said, if the court determines the youth wasn't reckless, he or she still could be found guilty of the lesser charge of negligence, Hogan said.
"I wouldn't call it a crackdown, but police are doing their job and filing appropriate charges,'' he said. "When teen-agers start pointing loaded firearms at others and they unintentionally go off, I would say that is reckless.''
The reckless-homicide charge alleges a defendant acted with heedless indifference to the consequences of his or her actions, whereas negligent homicide is a failure to perceive or avoid a risk because of a lapse in due care, Hogan said.
No other Ohio police agency has had the opportunity, or perhaps the inclination, to file a reckless-homicide charge, according to the office of state Rep. William Taylor, R-Norwalk, who sponsored the law.
The law was approved in June after a girl was shot by a friend with a stolen gun in northern Ohio.
Reckless homicide is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $15,000 fine. It fills the gap between the charge of involuntary manslaughter and the less serious offense of negligent homicide, criminal defense lawyer Terry K. Sherman said.
It gives juries another option, which is good, Sherman said.
A colleague in the defense bar, Sam Weiner, disagreed, calling the law a "knee-jerk'' reaction.
"To felonize some young kid because he did a dumb thing or acted in a negligent manner doesn't make any sense to me,'' Weiner said. "To stigmatize a young kid who has killed a friend or a family member is just the worse kind of politicking.''
Weiner said it was tough to say whether the cases will be landmarks.
Attorneys could challenge the constitutionality of the statutes, but what Weiner said might ultimately happen is that cooler heads will prevail on the prosecution's side.
"I will hope if a negligent homicide plea is warranted, then it will be offered,'' he said.
While the teens-agers' cases will be tried in Juvenile Court, Columbus city prosecutors will handle the negligent homicide charges against the adults in Franklin County Municipal Court.
Police charged the three gun owners after considering the evidence, said Sgt. Wallace Rushin of the Columbus police homicide squad.
"No one sat down and said that we need to crack down on these. We are just filing charges based on individual cases,'' Rushin said. "We have had a lot of these in the past, too, where the parents had no idea the kid had a gun.''
These are the first cases that Columbus City Prosecutor Steve McIntosh can remember in which gun owners were charged with negligent homicide for someone else's actions.
"A lot of responsibility needs to be placed on a gun owner,'' McIntosh said.
The reckless homicide charge against the three youths sounds appropriate, said John Murphy, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association.
But Murphy also is interested in seeing how the courts handle the cases against the gun owners.
Usually in such cases, a parent has been charged with endangering a child -- a misdemeanor -- for making the gun accessible, Murphy said.
"Negligent homicide -- I have not heard of that particular prosecution before,'' he said.
However, authorities are now more willing to charge not only those who fired the gun, but those responsible for the weapon, said Douglas A. Berman, criminal law professor at Ohio State University.
"When someone ends up dead, police and prosecutors look for everyone involved,'' he said.
Filing homicide charges against parents in accidental shootings is uncommon, said Mark Soler of the Youth Law Center in Washington, D.C.
"It has to do with how available the guns are,'' he said. "Does putting the gun on the top shelf of the closet make them them available?''
A proposal in the Ohio General Assembly would require gun owners to put trigger locks on their weapons, or place them in a locked cabinet or somewhere where an owner would not "reasonably'' expect a child to have access to them.
However, opponents contend the bill would hamper homeowners' ability to defend themselves, for instance during a burglary.
Charging parents isn't the answer, said some criminal-defense lawyers and gun-rights activists.
"Are we going to start criminalizing every accident or just the ones that pull the heartstrings of registered voters?'' asked defense attorney Thomas Beal of Columbus.
------------------
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.