OK, calmed down now. Didn’t mean to kill the thread! Find YAHOO irritating, rather frequently.
Smoky:
Your observations are excellent. When the police gave the green light to the victim family, that is pretty much the end of the story, there. Unless something shows up in sample tests of stuff they took, the rest is wrap up. We certainly are in agreement on the issue of narcotics connections. There weren’t any! Guess I made that opinion clear, in the rant.
As you said, if someone knocks on your door in the middle of the night, open the window and find out what they want. No need to open the door. Watch the guy’s hands, carefully. He may have a gun. If you can’t see his hands, ask him to show them to you. If he won’t do it, respond accordingly. Take cover! I would avoid standing in the stairwell. Motorhome doors and walls are not much of a barricade, not bullet proof at all!
We keep our steps so that they pop out when the door is opened. I’ll have to rethink that. Not sure what I will do. Like you, I see myself falling face first on the ground, if I forget to extend the steps. Been there - done that!
Woodartist: You must have heard a shotgun go off inside a vehicle, at one time. My ears are ringing, from reading about it!
You know, of course, the person who fired the gun, most likely never heard it. He/she may not even have known that he/she fired the gun! That is until the target reacted. Everything on automatic, tunnel vision, no conscious awareness, recoil not felt, no sound at all, no understanding that you have just fired a gun! Slowly, senses come back - realization begins to set in. “What have I done? What happened?”
On Rvs being used in the making and selling of drugs. I’ve seen it, but only in pickup campers and pickups with shells. Never seen a motorhome or a trailer used for that purpose. At least, not yet. Now, I have seen mobile homes used for narcotics. Different animal - different circumstances. But, I am sure that someone, somewhere, deals out of a motorhome, somehow. Just haven’t seen nor heard about it.
I did say “pretty much the end of the story.” Not a perfect ending. No trial means he’s on the hook, from now on - with no way off. His attorney has told him to keep his mouth shut. He is not even to discuss it with friends and family. If he is smart, he will follow the attorney’s advice. If he has a civil attorney, already, same deal. “Don’t say nothing - ever - to anyone! This isn’t over!”
All things going well, the police will close the case, eventually. (It can be reopened.) Or, they will turn it over to the prosecutor and failing to find a prosecutable case, he will decline to prosecute - effectively ending the active criminal case. It may take a while. That will put the case back into the headlines, either way. Whichever will be reported to the public - media.
Then, the civil case begins, or it doesn’t. There is no statute of limitations on Homicide, but there is on wrongful death civil litigation. Time starts running when the case ends, in criminal court or by being closed.
You are right, too, with your observation that Utah is a good state for the shooter, in this case, and on the shotgun vs. handgun issue in some states. The pendulum is swinging, more toward being legally permitted to defend yourself, in many states.
The shotgun is somehow, in some perverted way, seen as more acceptable, and the pistol - less so. Shotgun a “nicer” weapon? Oh, my! But gun laws are not made by people who understand guns!
