Quanell X humiliated, marginalized by large crowd in Pasadena

Thanks, guys. That exchange made me laugh out loud, and I needed it!

I grew up in SE Houston, between Gulfgate and Hobby, and I know Pasadena (Stinkadena when I lived in Houston, but I digress) very well. Meowgi's "Pasadena, Texas. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.” actually nailed it, whether it was on purpose or not.



Trim Bush... Yesterday!

 

when I first saw this story on the news I noticed the nice homes in the background. I didn't know it was pasedena till the first thread. I didn't realize that they were building new homes out there.

 

I know Pasadena well too. I grew up in Clear Lake and still live here. But I had an apartment on Spencer back in 1990. (KingCheetah and Updawg drank quite a few beers there while watching Rockets on HSE). I also had quite a few friends in the area. There is an Taqueria on Southmore that might be the funkiest place in Houston. I also would wander to the Hobby side of town from time to time when I was a teenager. I knew of some places there that would sell me beer when I was 18. There was also the road by Hobby where the street racing would be happening in the '80s. I think the Hobby area is a little sketchier (at least it was).

 

Does this mean that you don't approve of Jury Nullification and/or don't think that option should exist?

 

You would not recognize the south side of Pasadena (Fairmont Parkway area and Red Bluff past Fairmont headed to Clear Lake). Businesses and new housing have grown tremendously. The Pasadena city limit extends all the way to Clear Lake. They are building high rise condos on the portion of Pasadena that sits on the Clear Lake Shore.

The north side of Pasadena still looks like it used to.


If you get a chance venture over to Pearland, that place is booming with growth.

 

Actually it means I don't practice in the area of criminal law, so I've never seen it in action in that forum. In theory, I suppose I'm ok with jury nullification in that realm as a check on government by the people.

 

and we know this for a fact? Christ, this board, collectively can't figure it out. So go ahead and nail Joe to the wall now...

 

If sketchy means hookers and dealers, yeah the Hobby area is sketchy.

 

No...some of the board can't seperate emotions from facts and that prevents them from figuring it out. I think those two scumbags gambled and lost. I don't feel sorry for them. I just don't think we need to ignore the crime Joe Horn committed just because he killed the bad guys.

 

I have friends in pearland so I know about the growth there. My uncle moved to silver lake in 1987, one of the first people there in the new development.

 

Maybe this is a different problem, but unfortunately, far too often we hear of crimes with plenty of bystanders who do nothing.

There's something called the "Bystander Effect" that essentially says that the more people that witness a crime, and these bystanders see other bystanders, the less likely they are to do anything to stop it and help the victim.

I don't really want to argue about what Joe Horn's motive was here or what he said. Maybe he shot to kill....maybe he just shot. I have no idea.

I'm not an advocate of killing others...ever....under any circumstances. However, if it were my home being burglarized, I'd much rather have a neighbor assist in some fashion, rather than ignore.

One of the most well known cases of the "Bystander Effect" was of Kitty Genovese, who was raped and murdered in 1964 in Queens while more than 10 witnesses did nothing.

Horn could not have known what the burglars had planned. Were they planning to harm the family inside? Was the family there? If he waits, it could be a mistake. I can only imagine what was going through the guy's head at the time.

I guess I am just rambling. But I don't think we can accurately say this guy was a vigilante taking the law in his own hands. Maybe he was just trying to help his neighbors. Maybe no.

 

Max,

It is not that cut and dried, what about the Georgia boy who was sentenced to 20 years for getting a blow job?

Sure they were following the rule of the law, but I would have been Henry Fonda on that jury and NEVER convicted him, no matter what the law says.

The law is not perfect,to me it is a general set of guidelines, and should be interpeted on a case by case basis.

DD

 

My understanding is he absolutely knew the people weren't there. I believe they were out of town....but I could be mistaken about that.

But what you're comparing this to and what actually happened are radically different. This isn't someone watching someone get raped. I don't believe anyone would have a problem with him intervening with whatever force was necessary in a case like that. This is watching burglars leave a house...ignoring authorities who tell you not to get involved...but grabbing your shotgun anyway and shooting them both, including one in the back as he tried to run away.

 

the jury didn't sentence him at all. there were mandatory sentencing guidelines in place. All the jury answered was whether he had sex with someone who was a minor. The jurors had no idea he'd be sentenced to that long a term, and freaked out when they found out after the fact.

i don't believe the law to be perfect either. but i don't want to leave it up to 12 people to tell me what the law is...or what it should be.

 

The law is to be interpreted on a case by case basis ... by judges when dealing with questions of law.

Jurors are there as triers of fact and NOT as triers of law. Any attempt to do anything else is to greatly overstep your authority as a juror and causes more damage to the system than anything else.

In talking about the Georgia case, by convicting the young teen the jury brought more attention to the law than if they had voted to acquit. By voting guilty and then seeing the obscene sentence the people of Georgia were done a great service.

When you take the oath of a juror, you vote to uphold the law AS IT IS. If you can't do that, don't swear that you're able to.

 

There was a perfect street for drag racing to the right of Hobby, if you were facing it from the end of Broadway, that we used in the 1960's. There was nothing there, but a web of long, beautiful streets with nada to interfere. I had a lot of fun with the '65 Mustang fastback (289 V8 w/271hp). It was pretty quick. We'd have a cars at the far ends that would flash their lights if they saw anyone coming, and we'd race.

Yes, you could always find someone to sell around there. If not, you just drove further.

 

We couldn't have accurately have said he was a vigilante without him making made that 911 phone call and confirming it.

 

Depend on what the chick giving the blow job looked like.....

 

But this isn't true. As I alluded to earlier jurors in the United States have the right of jury nullification. The entire point of jury nullification is that it allows juries to rule that a law is unjust, to rule against the law. Now you might think this should not be an option, and there are arguments that can be made the jury nullification is bad, but it is an option. To state that exercising that option is overstepping those bounds is not correct.

ps I am sure the Georgia teen is glad that he lost his football scholarship, had to register as a sex offender, and stayed in jail for a year or so in order to do a great service to the people of Georgia.

 

And as I asked another poster, do you not believe one can turn their life around? Because someone steals today it means their punishment should be death because they can’t learn from their mistakes and make a positive impact later down the line? Is that your stance?

Malcolm X was a thief as well (broke into houses just like these guys). Those who benefit from the Cival Rights movement are sure happy someone didn’t pop him!!!!

Samuel Jackson was a crackhead (illegal drug in this country). Some crackheads stole all the copper wiring from this duplex I was going to buy.

Tim Allen dealt cocaine (served over 2 years for it too). Is a thief worse than a drug dealer? Most would say being a drug dealer is one of the most despicable things to be.

One of the Watergate participants (Chuck Colson) became an evangelist. Surely the Watergate crime was worse than stealing a TV or something, right?

Many gang members realize their mistakes (some after getting caught) and go back to their communities to persuade kids not to join or act as counselors, etc. Sometimes they are the only types that these kids will listen to.

Need I go on???

I understand that when an intruder is in your home you have no clue what their intentions are and that you have a right to protect yourself if you feel threatened. But I call BS if you tell me you feel threatened by a dude RUNNING AWAY when you are holding a gun, especially when you are on tape saying you are going to kill them BEFORE you even step outside. In most cases if someone says I’m going to kill this person, and they actually go do it, then that leads ya to believe that’s what they meant to do (i.e. premeditated). This dude took the law into his own hands, and I don’t recall any US cases where someone was put on death row for stealing…..