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Old November 22, 2011, 02:27 PM   #1
Bartholomew Roberts
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Join Date: June 12, 2000
Location: Texas and Oklahoma area
Posts: 8,462
Jesus Gonzalez, WI Open Carry Activist, Sentenced to 20yrs in Shooting

Recently, Jesus Gonzalez was sentenced to 20 years in prison (which due to WI's "Truth in Sentencing" laws means an actual 20 years for the charge of first degree reckless homicide. The verdict was the result of a shooting that Gonzalez claimed happened in self-defense. Gonzalez shot two men, both of whom had past criminal records, who he claimed assaulted him as he attempted to move his car.

Here is the criminal complaint regarding the shooting.
The court docket for the trial is here.

What is interesting about this case is we don't really know what happened from the shooter's perspective; because other than making a 911 call, he declined to give any statement to police and did not testify in defense of himself. With that important exception though, the case is actually well-documented online. Also problematic for Gonzalez was that although he claimed to have been in the process of moving his car when he was assaulted, his car was actually located in the opposite direction.

I thought the case was interesting in that on the surface, it seems like a winnable case. The people he shot both had criminal records, including charges of battery. Both of the men he shot were way over the legal limit and had recently been thrown out of a nearby bar just 75 feet away from the shooting. The story told by one of the people shot seemed to lack credibility. However, it seems Gonzalez's decision not to tell his side of the story had an impact on how the jury saw the facts.
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