So they ARE ABOVE THE LAW. No police report on Cheney incident.

[cantstandbush]

What if he had killed the man? I guess we would not even know about the incident.

[philarq]

1. no law broken

Hunting accidents which are not fatal do not fall under any statute of Texas law and as such are not required to even be reported to authorities.

No matter how much everyone wants there to be some sort of crime here---there isn't

Whittington could sue Cheney for shooting him, and he could sue the person who owns the land, whose insurance company would prob have to pony up some green, but that's about the extent of it.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

3. I think this is what the poster was talking about...

TX Authorities Complaining SS Barred Them From Speaking To Cheney




CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer reports Texas authorities are complaining that the Secret Service barred them from speaking to Cheney after the incident. Kenedy County Texas Sheriffs Lt. Juan Guzman said deputies first learned of the shooting when an ambulance was called.

The Secret Service is looking into how the case was handled at the scene, Maer added.

Cheney was attending routine briefings Monday at the White House.

"It's clearly an accident, but the fact that the White House didn't release this information, that it sat around for almost a day is, in itself, bizarre," Time magazine's Matt Cooper told CBS News' The Early Show. "Late-night comics are going to be all over it. You know, these things — fairly or unfairly — tend to become a metaphor for a presidency and don't be surprised if you see lots of jokes about the vice president was trigger happy, or he might have had better aim if he'd served in Vietnam."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/13/national/main1309344_page2.shtml

DU Thread ... http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x404432

[badgerpup]

8. Oh, c'mon now...

It's been demonstrated time and again these guys are not accountable to anybody for anything.
They can do as they damn well please and there are never any consequences. Ever.
:nuke:

[KansDem]

9. "...he might have had better aim if he'd served in Vietnam."

:rofl:

Priceless!

[Punkingal]

4. Are you serious?

You can shoot someone, as long as you call it a hunting accident in Texas?

[Xenotime]

7. That's why guns should be banned.

If he didn't have the gun, it would have never happend.

[TX-RAT]

5. Thats it in a nutshell.

Other than i will add this. It's required of all hospitals to notify authorities, when a gunshot wound comes in.

[BuyingThyme]

6. Are hospitals not required to report all such wounds to the police?

[philarq]

16. reporting it, and it being a crime, are different things--nt

[BuyingThyme]

19. Not if the law requires that it be reported.

[philarq]

21. smoking gun has the reports---so it was reported

[Common Sense Party]

10. So there is no there there? n/t

[Wordie]

11. Yesterday there were reports of an ongoing investigation, though...

so somebody looked into it, apparently.

[philarq]

15. Ongoing investigation only means

things like how to handle the situation better.

When it is said that the Secret Service is looking into its handling of the situation ---all that really means is ---If Dead Eye Dick shoos a little straighter next time, how fast can we get him to the undisclosed secure location.

When it is said that the Sheriff only learned of the incident later---that does not say that they were looking into it or investigating it or anything else, and the SS keeping Dead Eye Dick from talking to them about it---well big whoop---no one is going to zap him with a taser or anything for leaving the scene--because the entire "investigation" as far as the Sheriff is concerned, fits on one side of a sheet of A4.

The News conference from the hospital, which I find strange that only Fox carried live (maybe the repugs need to play up that macho "Dude shot a guy" bit.), said that the doctor wasnt even pulling out many of the pellets. They seemed a bit unconcerned about the state of the Shootee.

The Shooter on the other hand can at least brag that military service or not, he has now shot someone.

[Wordie]

17. OK...I see. Thanks. Also, heard on cable news (amusing):

"We've all heard how Cheyney was being kept safe in an "undisclosed secure location." Well, that kept Cheyney safe, but who is keeping the rest of us safe from Cheyney?" (paraphrased)

:rofl:

[A Simple Game]

12. So who "knows" that it is an accident?

The shooter, the hospital, the ambulance driver?

Police have to investigate or no truth can be known about the "incident".

[daleo]

13. That seems hard to believe

Suppose two rival drug gangs shot each other up. Can they just go to the hospital and say it was a hunting accident, and there will be no questions asked?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

20. How do you know it's a HUNTING accident?

Doesn't it at least require a police investigation to get to that factual determination, as far as whether the shots were fired in the act of shooting at game and were not intentionally fired at a human being? Or is any non-fatal shooting, whether accidental or intentional that takes place outside of city limits non-reportable and automatically considered an "accidental hunting accident"? It would surprise me if Texas law allowed that much latitude to the individual. Is it up the victim to decide if the shooter was just shooting at game and not at him? Attempted murders would not call for police or sheriff's investigations as long as they took place outside city limits in areas where game is to be found.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

2. They Warned Him....

Be more careful next time Dick. Now go on your way.

You didn't think anything was going to happen, did you? It's not like he was a Democrat.

[caledesi]

14. Hope the lawyer doesn't DIE! There will be questions then, then

again maybe not. These thugs are so evil and really think they are above the law.

[carolinalady]

18. Well no, silly, we are at war. The Urinary Co-Executives don't

have to tell anyone anything. It was classified information. The second ammendment and the AUMF grant them the authority.