Black Man’s Killing in Georgia Eludes Spotlight

[groovedaddy]

LYONS, Ga. — Norman Neesmith was sleeping in his home on a rural farm road here in onion country when a noise woke him up.

He grabbed the .22-caliber pistol he kept next to his bed and went to investigate. He found two young brothers who had been secretly invited to party with an 18-year-old relative he had raised like a daughter and her younger friend. The young people were paired up in separate bedrooms. There was marijuana and sex.

Over the course of the next confusing minutes on a January morning in 2011, there would be a struggle. The young men would make a terrified run for the door. Mr. Neesmith, who is 62 and white, fired four shots. One of them hit Justin Patterson, who was 22 and black.

The bullet pierced his side, and he died in Mr. Neesmith’s yard. His younger brother, Sha’von, then 18, ran through the onion fields in the dark, frantically trying to call his mother.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/us/spotlight-eludes-black-youths-killing-in-georgia.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120426

[rocktivity]

1. I think the big difference in this case is that Neesmith is a victim, too

Last edited Mon Jan 6, 2014, 10:59 PM - Edit history (6)

...(Neesmith) took in a great-niece, who has a black parent, when she was a baby. She is now 19 and admitted to investigators that she invited Justin Patterson to their trailer home that night, timing it so Mr. Neesmith would be asleep. The two had been flirting on Facebook and in texts...

The other girl in the trailer was 14, though she had told the men she was 18. Mr. Neesmith’s lawyers pointed out that a statutory rape charge could be brought...

As far as I'm concerned, the great-niece is the real perp. And if anyone is guilty of statutory rape, she's guilty of facilitating it.

On Thursday, Mr. Neesmith is expected to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct, which might bring a year in a special detention program that requires no time behind bars.

Neesmith had every right to believe the young men were intruders, but he acted recklessly since their intent was clearly not to rob. Since he committed voluntary manslaughter because he was trying to hurt the intruders, this is a very good plea deal.


rocktivity