Matthew Warmus who shot Parking Lot Attendant Over $20 Charge Found Guilty

[RamboLiberal]

Posting this because I remeber discussing this case on DU. Warmus also came from a very upscale family & background.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Matthew Warmus chose not to comment after a jury convicted him of murder Thursday in the slaying of a downtown parking lot attendant, but the judge said plenty.

"I have a comment for you," Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Daniel Gaul told Warmus. "Few cases have shook the conscious of a community like this one has. You murdered a man for $10. People think that Cleveland is a dangerous place, but you're not even from Cleveland."

Gaul sentenced Warmus, 25, of Uniontown, to 15 years to life in prison for murder and an additional three years for using a gun in committing the crime. The judge sent him away with another comment with even more sting.

"If I am contacted 18 years from now for your first parole hearing, I will tell the board that you lacked the courage and honesty to even apologize to the family," Gaul said.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/10/jury_in_warmus_murder_trial.html

Defense attorneys John Pyle and Ed LaRue are expected to argue to jurors before their deliberations that the seven eyewitnesses to the shooting in the bustling parking lot simply did not notice Williams pulling his gun before Warmus fired.

They will also argue that Williams had high levels of THC in his system and was in a marijuana-induced rage after tussling with Warmus, who was angry about being charged $20 to park in a lot advertising spaces for $10.

-----

On Friday, Patrick Roach, a Cleveland manufacturing company vice president, testified that he parked at the East Ninth Street lot before the Cavs game and saw what others said they saw on their way to the game: Warmus going to his car trunk, pulling out a pistol and firing three shots. None of the seven saw Williams pull out his gun.

Williams was struck twice in the abdomen and once in the head behind his left ear. The shooting came after the men exchanged shoves, according to some witnesses, and Williams placed and subsequently released Warmus from a headlock.

http://www.ohio.com/news/105573273.html

[cleanhippie]

1. "had high levels of THC in his system and was in a marijuana-induced rage..."

If that ain't stretching for a scapegoat. I don't know what is!


"marijuana-induced rage"...Is there EVEN such a thing? Methinks not...

[FiveGoodMen]

3. Pot is one of the best ANTIDOTES for rage you can find

That quote is total fucking bullshit.

[provis99]

8. pot turns me into a paranoid maniac.

Try smoking to much of it; no one is pleasant to be around when they've smoked too much pot. Stuff's as bad a crack.

[cleanhippie]

9. Then you have obviously never been around someone on crack.

I think that if you had been, you would not try and make that association.

[provis99]

18. I meet crackheads all the time on the streets of Indianapolis.

so you are wrong.

[shadowrider]

4. Hell, the last two times I smoked pot ('78 and '88) it put me to sleep

than I woke up and puked my guts up. Can't smoke it.

Rage? Sheesh. Munchies maybe, rage, no way.

[SteveM]

16. I went to sleep, too. Last time? October 31, 2010. Four-twenty approaches, now.

[nomorenomore08]

5. I agree, ridiculous. That's why I un-rec'd (and I never un-rec normally).

nt

[Euromutt]

14. Sounds like voodoo pharmacology to me

Though I've seen people get nasty on hashish, but they were invariably assholes to begin with.

And let me get this clear: did the defense counsel in effect state that Warmus was in possession of a firearm while "under the influence" and intending to get behind the wheel of his car while in a "marijuana-induced rage"? That's supposed to elicit sympathy from the jury?

[Swede]

2. Guns guns guns

[proteus_lives]

6. criminals criminals criminals

[jazzhound]

10. self-delete NT

[jazzhound]

11. Your complex, multi-faceted thesis is just flying over

my head. Could you kindly break it down into smaller bits so that my defective gun-owning brain can digest it?

Thanks in advance.

[Euromutt]

13. Notice which sub-forum this is?

It's the Guns forum, so it shouldn't come as a complete surprise that what gets discussed in here is gun-related.

[SteveM]

17. Thug, thug, thug...

...and their enablers.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

7. The correct judgement.

[russ1943]

12. Both had CCW permits.

Key to some, is the fact that both the shooter and victim had concealed carry permits. The vignette was also listed and discussed on VPC’s People Killed by Concealed Handgun Permit Holders http://www.vpc.org/fact_sht/ccwtotalkilled.pdf This shooting was an example of both the fact that 1.some Concealed Handgun Permit Holders not only commit crimes but they also kill people and that 2. not all “killers” with or without legal concealed carry permits have criminal backgrounds (Warmus' attorney, Edward La Rue, said his client had no arrest record before the incident).

[Euromutt]

19. We're aware of the existence of anecdotal evidence, thank you

Nobody on this forum has ever claimed that every single permit holder is a clean as a whistle and will remain so for life. In any given class of people, including those in whom the public places its trust (such as police officers, physicians, teachers, elected officials, accountants, licensed drivers, etc.), you're always going to have some members who betray that trust. The point that has been argued is that, among CCW permit holders, the percentage of people who do is comparatively low; even compared to LEOs.

For all its seeming thoroughness, the VPC's "study" on "CCW killers" does not rise above the level of pseudoscience, primarily because all it does is collect and list anecdotes, and the plural of "anecdote" is not "data." Moreover, as I have observed before (http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=118&topic_id=321300&mesg_id=321478), the premise of the "study" is incoherent: what the VPC would really like to present is evidence that CCW permits enable people to commit homicides they would otherwise not have been able to commit, but if they limited themselves to presenting examples of that, the pickings would be slim indeed. So, instead, the VPC presents every instance where a CCW permit holder was involved, however, indirectly, in a violent death, including at least one instance in which the permit holder shot only himself, and one in which the permit holder strangled his victim to death (as if not having a CCW permit would have prevented that).

[Kennah]

21. The VPC doesn't always tell the whole truth

David Lee Noriega - Was working as a security guard when he shot and killed a man with a rifle. His license to carry was of no consequence. He pled guilty in December 2009.

Paul Michael Merhige - Killed family members in the home. His license to carry was of no consequence. He was arrested in January.

Humberto Delgado, Jr - Killed a police officer, charged with murder and carrying a concealed firearm (so I'm unclear how he could have a license to carry), and he's a former police officer.

Narcisse Antoine - He's charged with murder, so he's not yet been convicted. His attorney is claiming self defense.

Andrew Sherman Conley - Shot and killed his girlfriend, Theresa Anderson, while showing her a gun inside their home. His license to carry was of no consequence. He pleaded no contest and got 13 years for manslaughter.

James Wonder - Killed Customs Agent Donald Pettit in what appears to be a road rage incident. There was some flight, Wonder made AMW, but he's been out on bond since August 2008. Seems odd it's not yet gone to trial, and I have to wonder if even Florida prosecutors smell a road rage incident that may have been instigated by a cop.

William Garrido - Shot and killed Josue Reyes, he was arrested, but I can find nothing indicating he was ever charged.

[Kolesar]

15. Warmus fucked up when he went to his trunk for his equalizer

The son of a wealthy developer was going to teach that parking lot attendant a lesson. Warmus could have run off with his date. He could have come back later with a cop.

He let his hate get the better of him. His daddy is going to fund an appeal, but Warmus is going to spend 18 years in the hole before parole. And I get to pay for his incarceration.

Life ain't a TV show, dickhead (warmus).

[creeker]

20. I smoke weed And own weapons-- that asshole got what he deserved

[PavePusher]

22. Not a good idea to admit to Federal felony actions on a public forum.

I got no problem with it, but we'd miss you.