any opinions?
The suspects shot at an assailant in self-defense when a bullet hit the 9-year-old last month, L.A. police say. Critics are irate.
9:03 PM PST, January 16, 2007
A few days after a bullet from a gang shooting tore into an Angelino Heights home last month, killing a 9-year-old girl, police announced with much fanfare that they had arrested the two gunmen.
But the suspects — Cesar Zamora, 23, and Steven Castanon, 20 — are now out of jail and back in their old neighborhood, to the dismay of residents who held candlelight vigils to memorialize Charupha Wongwisetsiri.
Police released the men without filing charges after determining that Zamora or Castanon fired the shot that killed Charupha in self-defense when a rival gang member pulled up in a car and tried to shoot them in front of their apartment complex next to Charupha's home.
The situation has shaken and angered residents of Angelino Heights, a diverse neighborhood with commanding views of downtown Los Angeles. The area includes rows of grand Victorian houses restored by television writers and downtown office workers side-by-side with apartments housing working-class families.
Authorities insist that they are simply following the law.
"Evidence was presented that it was self-defense, and we did not feel we could charge the two people at this time," said Jane Robison of the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
Instead, police detectives say they now are trying to build a murder case against the man who tried to shoot at Zamora and Castanon — even though his gun jammed and he didn't get off a shot.
He caused "this horrible event, and we hope to make a strong case against him in this murder," LAPD Lt. Paul Vernon said.
Legal experts said the circumstances of the shooting would make it difficult to build a murder case against Zamora and Castanon.
According to police, the men were sitting outside an apartment on East Kensington Road when a car pulled up. One man got out, walked onto the apartment property and pulled out a gun. Witnesses said he tried to shoot but his gun apparently jammed, according to law enforcement sources.
Zamora and Castanon pulled guns of their own and fired several times. None of the shots hit the gunman, who fled in the car. But one bullet traveled down the street and into Charupha's home.
Police believe the shooting was gang-related. But detectives concluded that the pair had the right to shoot because the gunman had pulled out a weapon and seemed ready to fire at them.
Robert Pugsley, a criminal law professor at Southwestern Law School of Law, said the circumstances of the shooting would give Zamora and Castanon a strong self-defense case in court.
"A person has a right of self-defense, and third-party damage, as sad as it may be, is considered an unintended consequence," Pugsley said.
The suspects shot at an assailant in self-defense when a bullet hit the 9-year-old last month, L.A. police say. Critics are irate.
9:03 PM PST, January 16, 2007
A few days after a bullet from a gang shooting tore into an Angelino Heights home last month, killing a 9-year-old girl, police announced with much fanfare that they had arrested the two gunmen.
But the suspects — Cesar Zamora, 23, and Steven Castanon, 20 — are now out of jail and back in their old neighborhood, to the dismay of residents who held candlelight vigils to memorialize Charupha Wongwisetsiri.
Police released the men without filing charges after determining that Zamora or Castanon fired the shot that killed Charupha in self-defense when a rival gang member pulled up in a car and tried to shoot them in front of their apartment complex next to Charupha's home.
The situation has shaken and angered residents of Angelino Heights, a diverse neighborhood with commanding views of downtown Los Angeles. The area includes rows of grand Victorian houses restored by television writers and downtown office workers side-by-side with apartments housing working-class families.
Authorities insist that they are simply following the law.
"Evidence was presented that it was self-defense, and we did not feel we could charge the two people at this time," said Jane Robison of the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
Instead, police detectives say they now are trying to build a murder case against the man who tried to shoot at Zamora and Castanon — even though his gun jammed and he didn't get off a shot.
He caused "this horrible event, and we hope to make a strong case against him in this murder," LAPD Lt. Paul Vernon said.
Legal experts said the circumstances of the shooting would make it difficult to build a murder case against Zamora and Castanon.
According to police, the men were sitting outside an apartment on East Kensington Road when a car pulled up. One man got out, walked onto the apartment property and pulled out a gun. Witnesses said he tried to shoot but his gun apparently jammed, according to law enforcement sources.
Zamora and Castanon pulled guns of their own and fired several times. None of the shots hit the gunman, who fled in the car. But one bullet traveled down the street and into Charupha's home.
Police believe the shooting was gang-related. But detectives concluded that the pair had the right to shoot because the gunman had pulled out a weapon and seemed ready to fire at them.
Robert Pugsley, a criminal law professor at Southwestern Law School of Law, said the circumstances of the shooting would give Zamora and Castanon a strong self-defense case in court.
"A person has a right of self-defense, and third-party damage, as sad as it may be, is considered an unintended consequence," Pugsley said.
