Judge sets Tidewater man convicted in shooting death free
hiram alejandro rodriguez briceño | Wikimedia Commons
A very early morning at the 7-Eleven. Two guns. One concealed carry permit. And an argument over a woman.
That’s a dicey mixture where ever you happen to be and in this case it was in Tidewater. One guy ended up dead, another guy ended up charged — and later convicted — of murder.
And in February, after ruminating on the convicted murderer’s sentence for a year following conviction, a Circuit Court judge threw out the case and let the man convicted of murder go free. From HamptonRoads.com:
Judge Karen J. Burrell rejected the jury’s verdict and released [Joshua] Wood last month.
Lawyers say the judge’s move is rare. Both defense attorneys, James Broccoletti and B. Thomas Reed, said they have seldom seen a similar decision during their decades of criminal practice.
Burrell’s actions, which lawyers on both sides of the case say is within a judge’s powers, has left two jurors with mixed feelings. One juror said she struggled with the decision. She said she agreed to convict only after the jury foreman told her the judge could overrule their verdict if she felt they made a mistake.
In essence, this is what happened: Someone in car ‘A’ (Woods’ car) starting firing shots. The concealed carry permit holder in car ‘B’ returned fire. But as he aimed across the back seat at car ‘A,’ he inadvertently shot his cousin in the head.
The driver of car ‘A’ was convicted, even though the prosecutor started his case by acknowledging the defendant had not fired the fatal shot.
What do YOU think?
March 6, 2012 - 11:30 AM
Good god, what a mess. I’d need to see all of the evidence before I gave any meaningful opinion.
Wood was convicted in November 2010 after a five-day trial in Norfolk Circuit Court. The case began with a prosecutor acknowledging that Wood, 22, did not fire the shot that killed another man on July 26, 2009.
Yep, I agree…he should have been set free. How can someone be convicted of a murder that they did not actually participate in? Doesn’t add up. The person who actually fired the shots from car A should have been charged with attempted murder. The driver of car B who accidentally killed his cousin should have been charged with manslaughter or a something like it.
I think the driver in car B screwed up and should probably have shown more discipline as to WHEN to shoot. What we can’t gather from the story is what may have happened had car A been able to empty multiple magazines at will into car B without resistance. Perhaps both B and B’s cousin would BOTH be dead. Clearly A showed no regard for the safety of anyone in car B.
It’s a tragedy and will encourage me to practice some additional discretionary shooting drills next time I’m at the range.
The guy in car A is guilty.
Its kinda like that young OK widow that shot and killed one of two intruders a couple of months ago. The second intruder was charged with murder.
I don’t know what the law in VA but in OK, if you are involved in a crime and the events of that crime cause a death you’re subject to prosecution for it.
@1 Agreed. That is just weirdness. But I find it hard to believe that the person who began shooting should get sentenced to time because a second shooter actually hit something. Or perhaps be charged with something other than murder.
The key point is that the prosecution failed to prove that he was the initial shooter. If they had done that, then felony-murder seems like a pretty easy case to make. Without it, the whole thing falls apart.
If someone dies during the commission of a felony, they are generally charged with murder, even if they didn’t kill, or even touch, the victim.
Re: #6 & #7
http://tinyurl.com/88uefk3
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§ 18.2-18. How principals in second degree and accessories before the fact punished.
In the case of every felony, every principal in the second degree and every accessory before the fact may be indicted, tried, convicted and punished in all respects as if a principal in the first degree; provided, however, that except in the case of a killing for hire under the provisions of subdivision 2 of § 18.2-31 or a killing pursuant to the direction or order of one who is engaged in a continuing criminal enterprise under the provisions of subdivision 10 of § 18.2-31 or a killing pursuant to the direction or order of one who is engaged in the commission of or attempted commission of an act of terrorism under the provisions of subdivision 13 of § 18.2-31, an accessory before the fact or principal in the second degree to a capital murder shall be indicted, tried, convicted and punished as though the offense were murder in the first degree.
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http://tinyurl.com/78zxjdy
http://tinyurl.com/7f72a2n
Guns are scary.
Own guns, buy guns… You have the right ! In Michigan alone, the individuals who own guns and hunt..just the hunters, mind you, are over 800,000 strong…the 8th largest army in the world…X 49 states…alot of firepower…who knows..might need it one day ! Load up, people !