Posted 3/19/2007 09:44:00 AM by Douglas

I'll admit I'm no legal scholar, nor have I ever been mistaken for one, but as a "blogger," I have certain opinions, and legal questions are bound to be included with them. For example, the death penalty. I think in a black & white world I have to come down against, it, but I live in Texas and I can't say that it really bothers me. If the circumstances of your crimes are used as a determining factor during sentencing and decide whether or not you get the cyanide drip or life in prison, I think the sheer idiocy of your crimes should be taken into account, too. For example, if you murder four people for $17. That's just stupid. And for another example, this guy.

The 26-year-old man accused of killing a Texas Parks and Wildlife game warden was moved to the Harris County jail Sunday and was charged with capital murder of a police officer.

James Garrett Freeman, of Lissie, is accused of killing Justin Hurst, 34, during a shootout Saturday when officers were trying to arrest him as an illegal-hunting suspect.

[. . .]

The events that led to Hurst's death began late Friday night or early Saturday morning when a warden, suspecting that Freeman was poaching, approached his vehicle. Freeman fled, and a chase ensued.

Hurst and officers with the Wharton County Sheriff's Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety were called in as backup. After a lengthy pursuit, the DPS stopped Freeman, and heavy gunfire was exchanged.

"Heavy gunfire?!?" From a guy that was probably poaching on the side of the road? What an idiot. Now a four month old boy will never know his father because this guy had a shoot-out over what would have been a misdemeanor. Now, it's capital murder. Way to go, dumbass.