Friday, May 21, 2010

Grand jury decides subway stabbings were self-defense


From Fox 5:

A Manhattan grand jury has decline to indict a criminal justice student who said he was defending himself when he stabbed two New York City subway riders to death, according to District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.

The AP reported that Brenddy Garcia, 19, was set to be freed later Friday from behind bars. He has been held in jail since the March 28 incident in a subway, said his lawyer, Lawrence Fredella.

"Brenddy Garcia never wanted this to happen. He never intended to kill anyone," Fredella said. Garcia, he said, had been distraught over the incident and the charges and wanted to extend condolences to the slain men's families.

The district attorney's office initially said Garcia overreacted and lashed out with a knife after a group of passengers kicked a bag of beer bottles at him. Darnell Morel and Ricardo Williams, both 24, were killed.

But prosecutors said Friday that "significant evidence of self-defense" emerged after Garcia's arrest.


If there was significant evidence of self-defense, why didn't they just drop the charges?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Didn't even charge him with criminal possession of a weapon for carrying a knife!

Anonymous said...

Read the weapons laws - if the blade was under 4" - not a weapon, unless it's a swithcblade, gravity knife etc (won't go into full definition)

Anonymous said...

You know, if someone was legitimately in danger of being killed and defended himself with an illegal weapon, what would you have preferred, that he die instead?

There is an old saying, "Better judged by 12 than carried by 6." Who wouldn't take an illegal weapons charge over death? What is the point?

Anonymous said...

Better to let the grand jury clear them then let a few white guys in a room decide the killer of blacks go free.

All about bad preess and blaming the grand jury.

Anonymous said...

Obviously none of you have ever been jumped. If you start shit with someone you deserve whatever you get.

Anonymous said...

A small knife is still a dangerous instrument,when used in the commission of a crime,cpw is then charged.

Queens Crapper said...

Right, but there was no crime committed here. When the DA realized that, he should have dropped the charges rather than bring it to a grand jury.