Purse Snatcher Shooter INDICTED

[kilimanjaro]

Anyone know what the purse thief can expect for a penalty? Two to ten years and ten grand?

[Clock]

Quite right, Double Naught, the only law to be considered is Texas law, which in this case has resulted in a 3rd degree felony charge. Considering the penalty if she's found guilty, were I her, I'd rather give up my driver's license.
Even if she is found not guilty, this is likely to cost her a few thousand. For starters, if she used a bail bondsman to get out, that costs $1000 (10% of $10,000). A decent lawyer would probably cost at least $3000 if not more. She may lose some time from work and until this is settled she is probably going to think/worry about this every day & night. This was an expensive trip to the mall.

[gyvel]

It looks like she shot in the air as a warning shot.

At the very least, she could have shot into the ground. Don't know if it would have made any difference insofar as charges go, but it would probably look a little better to a jury.

[johnwilliamson062]

she could shot into the ground

Parking lot, not inside the building as I originally thought. Neither location has much that would be expected to stop a bullet without a ricochet.

[101combatvet]

At the very least, she could shot into the ground. Don't know if it would have made any difference insofar as charges go, but it would probably look a little better to a jury.

She probably got her training from watching episodes of Barney Miller.

[dajowi]

I don't care what the women thought she was doing. Just another idiot with a gun making us all look bad.

[Tom Servo]

Let's stick to the legal aspects of this case, folks.

[kilimanjaro]

Please. There was no gun use on the Barney Miller show.

We'll see what the jury says, if it isn't pled down to a misdemeanor.

[Clock]

Carrying a gun without a permit in Texas is a class A misdemeanor. That carries a penalty of up to one year and or $4000 fine. I think discharging the gun is what brought it to the more serious crime. Anyway it comes out, this is going to be a very expensive trip to WallyWorld.

[rickyrick]

Almost every city in texas has ordinances against discharging firearms within city limits.

[HPmatt]

If I were on the Jury, and given the 'facts' as presented in these newspaper reports, I would have a hard time voting to convict her. I also think a jury of McLennan county voters from Belmeade- just n of Waco, would too.

Issue is really stopping this purse thief ripping off an 80 y/o. Lock him up. She should keep her 2A rights after going to a gun safety class.

[carguychris]

Originally Posted by rickyrick

Almost every city in texas has ordinances against discharging firearms within city limits.

Yes, but such a charge is a trifle compared to being charged with deadly conduct under TX Penal Code 22.05, my emphasis in boldface:

Sec. 22.05. DEADLY CONDUCT. (a) A person commits an offense if he recklessly engages in conduct that places another in imminent danger of serious bodily injury.
(b) A person commits an offense if he knowingly discharges a firearm at or in the direction of:
(1) one or more individuals; or
(2) a habitation, building, or vehicle and is reckless as to whether the habitation, building, or vehicle is occupied.
(c) Recklessness and danger are presumed if the actor knowingly pointed a firearm at or in the direction of another whether or not the actor believed the firearm to be loaded.
(d) For purposes of this section, "building," "habitation," and "vehicle" have the meanings assigned those terms by Section 30.01.
(e) An offense under Subsection (a) is a Class A misdemeanor. An offense under Subsection (b) is a felony of the third degree.

The last linked news report specifically mentions a felony deadly conduct charge.

[Clock]

There are a few types of purse snatching with the more serious involving some type of assault such as hitting the victim or using a weapon.
What this guy is alleged to have done, is grab the purse from a cart that was being used by 2 women. Apparently there was no physical contact or threat. Unless the purse contained a lot of money, he is looking at a maximum of 180 days in County Jail.
He is also charged with some kind of attempted credit card fraud and I have no idea how serious that is likely to be.

[zincwarrior]

Quote:
It looks like she shot in the air as a warning shot.
At the very least, she could have shot into the ground. Don't know if it would have made any difference insofar as charges go, but it would probably look a little better to a jury.

No no no. This is Texas. her mistake was firing the warning into the air and not center mass. Hey don't blame me, blame the law.

Seriously, she made several mistakes.
1. She went to Walmart.
2. She drew down and fired the weapon.

Texas has peculiar laws when it comes to defense of property, but most of these peculiarities occur at night. Note however the police weren't indicting-which indeed is very Texas. I would imagine she could settle for a minor fine or such. Outside of San Antonio and Austin we're off the chart when it comes to protecting ourselves/property (due to our frontier history, plus constant invasions by Mexico, the US, and now Californians).

[kilimanjaro]

I would think a jury looking at the thief getting maybe six months and this woman looking at a couple of years, is going to let her walk in short order, especially since no one was harmed. We'll see what happens.

[Double Naught Spy]

As a first offense (I am assuming), I bet they let her plead down to a lesser charge, a bunch of community service, fine, maybe a gun safety course, and she will be right as rain.

[Clock]

If the state wanted to sweep this under the rug, why give her the charge to begin with? Why ask for $10,000 bail? Once this trial starts, it's going to receive National attention. Should she be perceived to be receiving special treatment, there are likely to be political consequences. IMO the best thing "they" can do at this point is treat it as other such cases are treated & let the chips fall where they may.

[Dreaming100Straight]

That lady is dangerous and if not to punish her but to protect the public she needs to lose her gun rights. That was no warning shot. She just missed. You don't kill a human being for trying to steal a purse and what if she hit someone in the back ground.

[Double Naught Spy]

Well Dreaming, Cotten isn't charged with attempted murder or event assault. She is charged with a felony of dangerous conduct (which can also be a misdemeanor), however, which if convicted for that felony would result on the loss of her gun rights.

It is certainly not unusual for DAs to bring forth the highest possibly charge(s) they think they could potentially make stick, ask for high bails, in an effort to convince the defendant or the potential significant negative consequences of their actions and actually hope the defendant requests for a plea or actually later offer a plea deal to the defendant for a lesser charge for not going to trial. As a first time offender (apparently), and as a person who has been reported by the police as being cooperative with their investigation so far, it is not unreasonable to expect to seen a lesser conviction for Cotten if she does not choose to fight the charges. This would have nothing to do with special treatment, but simply SOP in the court system.

[Clock]

From what I've read the Grand Jury came up with the charge. The $10,000 bail could have come by the DA's request or the Judge's opinion on her flight risk or threat to the community.
BTW on the subject of bail, the alleged purse snatchers bail was only $2,000.
This would seem to indicate to me at least, that Texas, views her crime as a more serious one than his.
I doubt this is going to be a landmark legal case, but would make a great movie of the week. If it were done in a Rashomon style documentary, it would be a blockbuster with something for everyone.

[Double Naught Spy]

Clock, you have a citation for Dawson's charges and bail? Exactly what is Dawson charged with? Since he did not harm or otherwise assault the elderly lady, he may be charged with a simple misdemeanor of petty larceny.

Don't forget that bail can be set relative to ability to pay.

With that said, it doesn't matter of Cotten's bail was more or Dawson's. The cases won't be tried on the basis of whose bail was more.

[Dreaming100Straight]

Looking at a better copy of the video, she does appear to be shooting well up into the air (almost at the Wendy's sign in the background.

[Clock]

Was unable to recover the article regarding Dawson's bail, but have retrieved source of Grand Jury statement

"When police arrived at the parking lot, a group of men had 27-year-old Andre Dawson detained after Dawson reportedly stole a purse belonging to an 84-year-old woman from her shopping cart. Police recovered the purse and arrested Dawson on theft of property and credit or debit card abuse charges.

Martin said the woman, who does not have a concealed handgun license, met with police later Friday after she learned through media reports that officers wanted to speak to her about the incident.

He declined to reveal details of the interview, but said “it appears in the video and part of the investigation that she chose to shoot above the person.”

He declined to release the woman’s name.

“We intend to send it to a grand jury to see if they consider it a criminal offense that needs to be indicted,” Martin said. “It will be up to the grand jury if they want to indict it or no-bill it. The purpose of that is to allow a jury of her peers to make that decision without an arrest.”

Dawson's charge was some level of misdemeanor in that the dollar amount was less then $100. and there was no violence.

[SSA]

Looks to me like a recording of one felony and a whole stack of misdemeanors.