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Road Rage Shooting


ReconRat

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Wait, so are you saying you were joking now?

The difference between you and I is an appropriate understanding of the law. You're probably one of those folks who advise people; "put a knife from your kitchen in his hand" or "drag the bad guy into your house" after a self-defense shooting.

(Oh, and I am acutely aware that forums are public and any conversation here could wind up in the prosecutor's hands. That unrepentant asseveration that the BG must die rather than just be stopped could come back to haunt you)

Nope good one is to say he tryed to rape me so I shot him. LOL

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I have heard people say "dead men don't talk" when regarding whether to shoot to kill or not. I'm gonna say that if there are witnesses, shooting to kill beyond just stopping the threat may not work out well for someone trying to defend their self. If there are no witnesses, it's going to be between the shooter and God.

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Back to our regularly scheduled program:

Stillwagon waived his hearing and was bound-over to the Common Pleas court. I guess no Grand Jury then.

Still just the Felonious Assault charge. Nothing new in the paperwork except that they are going for the 3-year gun specification (Brandishing/using), not the 5-year "Drive-by" (shooting from a vehicle) specification. So, if convicted an sentenced to the minimum of 2 years for the felonious assault charge then he will serve 5 years (2+GunSpec). If they throw the book at him it will be 11 years (8+GunSpec).

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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2013/02/01/delaware-ohio-state-stillwagon-indicted-in-road-rage-shooting.html

DELAWARE, Ohio - A grand jury has indicted former Ohio State football star James Stillwagon for a shooting out of a road rage incident.

Stillwagon was indicted on four counts of felonious assault for allegedly firing several rounds at another man's truck during an incident on Sept. 30.

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I'm reading the indictment now - they are taking him to the cleaners...

4 counts of felonious assault (3 "attempted to cause harm" and 1 "Did cause harm"), both of which have both the 2941.145 (Brandishing) and 2941.126 (From a motor vehicle) gun specifications. If found guilty, those two specifications will add 3 and 5 years (respectively) to any sentence.

My guess? He'll please out to the "did cause harm" charge, get a couple years for that felonious assault, 3 for the 'brandishing' and 5 for the drive-by specification for a total of 10 years. (Or his plea may be to all 4 charges and in exchange they give him concurrent sentencing)

The sentencing range is 2-8 years for and F2, and the judge could say concurrent or consecutive. So he could get anything from 2 to 24 years.

There's some debate though. Under State v Moore, acts that are bound by time, space and objective count as one "transaction" and the gun specifications should be concurrent (http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/7/2005/2005-ohio-3311.pdf). BUT under State v Kehoe, the act of firing from inside a vehicle, then exiting and firing again were ruled as two separate "transactions" with consecutive specifications. A closer example, though, is State v Franklin where a chase with shots fired multiple times was considered a single transaction, and the 7 consecutive gun specifications were merged to run concurrently upon appeal. http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/7/2008/2008-ohio-4811.pdf

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I guess I never understood how sentences should be concurrent. If he committed the crime 4 times, he gets a sentence for each time, plus the brandishing and the from a vehicles specification added to each count. Get tough on enforcing the laws that are on the books!

/rant

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I guess I never understood how sentences should be concurrent. If he committed the crime 4 times, he gets a sentence for each time, plus the brandishing and the from a vehicles specification added to each count. Get tough on enforcing the laws that are on the books!

/rant

Well, if he got all maximums to be served consecutively then that'd be 59 years (not 64, because one of the charges does not have the 5-year drive-by specification because he was off the bike)

Does this event deserve 64 years in jail? Might as well just euthanize him now.

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Well, if he got all maximums to be served consecutively then that'd be 59 years (not 64, because one of the charges does not have the 5-year drive-by specification because he was off the bike)

Does this event deserve 64 years in jail? Might as well just euthanize him now.

Why not? Seriously, if you don't want to do the time, don't commit the crime! The more you commit the crime, the more time gets added. The more conditions (drive-by, brandishing, etc...) the more time gets added. Maybe more people would think about the consequences before being STUPID.

Honestly, I think trying to kill someone deserves more than 10 years, even if unsuccessful.

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Honestly, I think trying to kill someone deserves more than 10 years, even if unsuccessful.

Agreed - he should be charged with attempted murder.

Still, don't know how they get 4 counts of assault from a single combination of events that all happened at the same time and place. Understood, for different victims, but there was only one victim.

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Well, if he got all maximums to be served consecutively then that'd be 59 years (not 64, because one of the charges does not have the 5-year drive-by specification because he was off the bike)

Does this event deserve 64 years in jail? Might as well just euthanize him now.

This was an out of control road rage murder attempt. Only reason it failed is because he is a shitty shot.

I am fine with life for this guy.

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This was an out of control road rage murder attempt. Only reason it failed is because he is a shitty shot.

I am fine with life for this guy.

I wonder how they got 4 counts of felonious assault. To me it should be 2 - one while on the bike, and the other for when he got off the bike. This all happened at the same time over the space of about 500 yards.

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  • 1 month later...

Quoting the bill of particulars filed a little over a week ago - more info on why there are 4 counts:

Count 1: Multiple gunshot shots on the off ramp from Route 23 N, vehicle to vehicle (Attempted physical harm)

Count 2: Multiple gunshots in the parking lot of 137 East William Street, vehicle to vehicle (Attempted physical harm)

Count 3: Single gunshot in the parking lot of 137 East William Street, both outside of vehicles (Attempted physical harm)

Count 4: Single gunshot in the parking lot of 137 East William Street, both outside of vehicles (Actual physical harm - the bullet that grazed the victim's head)

Back to what I keep saying about the difference between a single event and multiple events is a separation of time and/or distance... Apparently the prosecutor thinks there is enough of a time/distance separation between the off ramp shooting and the parking lot shooting to call them two different events. Also, by taking the time to get off the bike and approach the victim created a 3rd event where a gunshot was fired in an attempt to harm the victim. It is unclear whether the bullet in 4th charge is the same bullet for the 3rd charge, as the only difference is that the bullet struck the victim in the 4th charge. He may have been charged separately with "attempting to cause harm", and "succeeding in causing harm" for a single gunshot (in case the actual physical harm count fails and the attempt may still be punished) - or there may have been two gunshots.

Next event is a status conference on April 8th.

Edited by Scruit
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Im late to this thread but like how in this article the writer make a big deal about traffic violations.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/10/01/delaware-shooting-tied-to-road-rage.html

Court records show that Stillwagon has had nine traffic-related convictions in Ohio since 1996, mostly for speeding. At least one conviction was for following another vehicle too closely.

In 2002 alone, he was convicted of speeding four times, including twice going at least 80 mph on the northern Outerbelt.

I probably know a dozen people who have worse traffic records (to my knowledge).

Sounds like he seriously lost it and is going to pay big time for his mistake. The truck driver was being a dumbass also and very nearly paid the ultimate price for his stupidity. Did not hear if he got charged with moving violations which is the least that should have happened.

When you are in control of a deadly weapon then you have to also remain in control of your temper. Whether that weapon is a truck or gun.

Craig

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  • 6 months later...

Mind.  Completely.  Blown.

 

http://www.nbc4i.com/story/23610896/attorney-charges-dropped-against-former-osu-football-star

 

 


 

According to an eyewitness report, Stillwagon was almost killed by the truck. The witness stated that the driver of the truck had tried to run Stillwagon off of S.R. 42 several times.

 

A second witness reported that Stillwagon appeared to be upset and dazed following the initial encounter with the driver of the truck. The witness stated that following the first encounter with Stillwagon on S.R. 42, the driver of the truck waited for Stillwagon up the road. At a green light, the driver of the truck allegedly attempted to back over Stillwagon. Stillwagon then reportedly fired two shots into the tailgate of the truck.

 

The witness further stated that the driver of the truck and Stillwagon ended up in the parking lot of an Autozone. The witness stated that the driver of the truck did a 180 degree turn and attempted to ram Stillwagon in the parking lot. Stillwagon then fired at the engine of the truck. The driver of the truck then exited the vehicle and a confrontation ensued. Stillwagon reportedly kicked the driver of the truck in the leg and then hit him in the head with his gun, at which time his gun discharged. Investigators say the bullet grazed the driver's head.

Meeks stated that the driver of the truck had been drinking all day and was holding a ball bat and threatening Stillwagon. Responding police officers found open containers and a ball bat upon arriving at the scene, according to Meeks. The driver of the truck allegedly admitted to drinking all day to the officers, according to Meeks.

 

 

I know a lady who witnessed the shooting.  I'm going to go ask her if this is consistent with what she saw...   None of this was reported in the news prior to this acquittal, and she never mentioned it when I asked he what she had seen. 

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flip flop - who'd a guessed...

hard to make a decision without all the data

 

having had cars try to whack me on a bike, I don't understand why he didn't just book it. Gone in 60.

edit: I guess a BMW can't outrun a pickup truck...

Edited by ReconRat
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flip flop - who'd a guessed...

hard to make a decision without all the data

 

having had cars try to whack me on a bike, I don't understand why he didn't just book it. Gone in 60.

edit: I guess a BMW can't outrun a pickup truck...

 

 

Witnesses say that at at least one point the truck drove away and the bike slowed down - but the truck got some distance and waited for the bike.

 

This is the separation of time and distance that the law requires to consider the biker to have disengaged from the 14 miles of road rage.  If the truck got out of sight and then waited for the bike then he is starting a new road rage incident that the biker was clearly considered blameless in.

 

I had said at the beginning that the truck driver claimed that his truck accidentally rolled into the bike behind him on the US23 off-ramp at US36/SR37 when his foot came off the brake.  Problem is that the off-ramp is downhill.  Assuming this is the the Electric Brae, trucks don't roll uphill. I said if a witness told the police that the backup lights came on in the truck the the first shooting may be justified (I believe Castle Doctrine applies as he is in/on his vehicle).  I guess that is exactly what the witness stated.

 

I'd also like to know who entered the FOE parking lot first - the truck or the bike.  Whoever entered second is the aggressor.  That is another separation of time and distance that gave both the opportunity to disengage.  Whoever entered the lot second clearly did not disengage.  The the truck enter first and the bike stopped figuring the police would have to be called due to the shots fired, then the truck driver threatened him with the baseball bat?  No clue.

 

I didn't see where any news source mentioned the truck driver was drunk and carrying a baseball bat - clearly a deadly force weapon. 

 

 

If nothing else, let this be a lesson that what you read in the news is not always correct.

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No way any pickup truck is getting anywhere near me on the bike, especially given time and separation like that....

as others have stated, get on the throttle.

Like the junkies in that video with the truck and quad down south a few years ago?

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Those bikes could have gotten away from the guy. The only reason they didn't is because there was a bike stuck behind him... If I was on the bike I would found an opportune time to get around him and took off... Front bike stopped to wait on rear bike, and rear bike was stuck behind truck... That's a completely different scenario

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Articles like this show why I don't watch the evening news or read the papers anymore. Every story has so much slant you don't even get enough truth to make a call. If I am going to have to suspend reality to watch the news or read a paper i'd rather watch a movie or read a book. They need to not protect the media in slander cases at all so they wait for facts before dumping emo bs on the web.. I can get on facebook for teen attention whoring.. end rant.

Edited by Tinker
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