Gay Bashing Victim Guilty Of Assault For Defending Himself

[rawTOP]

WTF is up in Ontario? Look at this guy's face and tell me how in the hell he could be the one who's forced to plead guilty for assault? The guy (Jake Raynard) needed reconstructive surgery to fix his face he was beaten so badly...

jake-tbnewswatch.jpg

Yet he had to plead guilty to assault for kicking his attacker. Why in the hell didn't he go to jury on this one? I can't imagine anyone finding him guilty... I mean even if he over reacted, it was heat of the moment and none of it would have happened if he hadn't been attacked.

Read more...

http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2010/05...ds-guilty.html
http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/T...ault-8694.aspx

[Boxir55]

Yeah, here in the UK you need to be careful. You can only use just enough force to defend yourself. I am lucky never been attacked or had a violent sex partner.

[cmmolthr]

The picture speaks for itself....this is *outrageous*.....there should be mass demonstrations outside their provincial capital over this one

[TonyRedux]

Canada is a Commonwealth country, where the right of Authority to crush you is ultimately royal/divine. In that model, the Government very jealously guards its right to be the only "legitimate" source of violence.

the American system fully rejected this theory from our Revolution on...which is why both the American electorate and the US Supreme Court have thoroughly rejected the ultimate claims of Gun Control theorists. self-defense is a basic and inalienable right...and it very much includes the inherent human right to keep and bear arms.

Kick him? He should have shot him. Glad I live in America, because even though NYC is really no better in this matter, that is likely to change over the next few years of emerging litigation now that the SCOTUS has handed down the Heller (2008) and McDonald (2010) decisions .

[cmmolthr]

Very well said.....there is a reason that was placed into our constitution.....Our forefathers had some amazing foresight!!

[TonyRedux]

Very well said.....there is a reason that was placed into our constitution.....Our forefathers had some amazing foresight!!

i remain astonished at how easily people of demonstrably lesser intelligence and wisdom than the Founders have the temerity to declare the US Constitution irrelevant because it was written centuries ago.

[cmmolthr]

Exactly!!! It's just as relevant today as it was back then.

[Jimmy1212]

As an Ontarian, I recommend you guys get down off your high horses and learn the real story before trashing the Canadian legal system--you know, the one that's based on the exact same common law as yours. Raynard allegedly responded to verbal taunts with physical violence. He was drunk and attacked teenagers with a brick for fucks sake. Also his plea bargain did take into account the harassment he received prior to losing his cool. He received an absolute discharge, meaning that if he stays out of trouble for a year, the whole thing will be expunged from his record.

From a more balanced account:

"Raynard himself has admitted, 'I may have exceeded some bounds. I’m a little bit in shock that I reacted that way. I’m not a violent person. There was alcohol and flared tempers. I have feelings of massive regret. It’s something that I’m dealing with on a daily basis.'"

[TonyRedux]

As an Ontarian, I recommend you guys get down off your high horses and learn the real story before trashing the Canadian legal system--you know, the one that's based on the exact same common law as yours. Raynard allegedly responded to verbal taunts with physical violence. He was drunk and attacked teenagers with a brick for fucks sake. Also his plea bargain did take into account the harassment he received prior to losing his cool. He received an absolute discharge, meaning that if he stays out of trouble for a year, the whole thing will be expunged from his record.

From a more balanced account:

"Raynard himself has admitted, 'I may have exceeded some bounds. I’m a little bit in shock that I reacted that way. I’m not a violent person. There was alcohol and flared tempers. I have feelings of massive regret. It’s something that I’m dealing with on a daily basis.'"

my high horse is fine and true, no need to get off at all. u neglected to include a link from ur "more balanced account", but such is the nature of internet argument about news stories...sources vary in reliability. what is NOT in doubt is the larger point about how Commonwealth nations disregard self-defense and self-armament for the average citizen in favor of agents of Government AND whatever criminals n reprobates that choose to ignore Government authority. that is a social theory that has no purchase amongst most Americans...and the attempt by The Few to foist that idea upon The Many is in severe retreat.

Thank God.

[rawTOP]

US law isn't based on Common Law - informed by it, but our system is generally different. In the US people aren't accountable for what they do when they're under "extreme emotional distress" (like when they're in the middle of getting beaten). No one here wants to be assaulted, so we give a pass to people who are defending themselves - even if they go a bit too far.

[TonyRedux]

US law isn't based on Common Law - informed by it, but our system is generally different. In the US people aren't accountable for what they do when they're under "extreme emotional distress" (like when they're in the middle of getting beaten). No one here wants to be assaulted, so we give a pass to people who are defending themselves - even if they go a bit too far.

overall this is correct, thank God, but at one point states like Massachusetts had Commonwealth-style laws about self-defense...such as the horrifically absurd requirement that someone experiencing armed home invasion was legally required to be able to prove that they were cornered and had no other room to escape to before using violence against the invader. thankfully that dark comedy has long been repealed in Mass., but it serves as a reminder of where such legal attitudes about self-defense eventually lead. my impression is that Great Britain regularly prosecutes home dwellers for attacking burglars, and homeowners who attack "squatters".

in the USA, "squatting" typically means taking residence in an abandoned home or other structure...however in Great Britain apparently there is an epidemic of people burglarizing homes, registering themselves with the local jurisdiction as residents, and then enjoying legal protection from attack or even eviction when the RIGHTFUL resident returns!

that sort of government idiocy is in retreat in the USA, thankfully...but what sucks is that the mere existence of it elsewhere serves as a bogeyman for the US right wing political element.