you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 15 points 3 weeks ago* (15 children)

Coroners don't determine whether a death is lawful or not...

  • source
  • hideshow 15 child comments
  • [–] 60 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

    Family members were in tears during the hearing at Cheshire Coroner's Court as Coroner Jacqueline Devonish announced that she found Lucy Harrison died due to unlawful killing on the grounds of gross negligence manslaughter.

    The coroner said: "To shoot her through the chest whilst she was standing would have required him to have been pointing the gun at his daughter, without checking for bullets, and pulling the trigger.

    "I find these actions to be reckless."

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 28 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

    Yeah, still. Coroner determines cause of death and manner of death. Not what the charges are.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 11 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    This is a statement from a court case though.

    When called to court to testify coroners do absolutely give their opinion about the deaths.

    Also reminds me of Gary Webb's coronor saying there is a "distinct possibility" that someone could shoot themselves twice in the head. And he wasn't even in court

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 2 points 3 weeks ago

    I don't understand what this is intended to prove?

    Coroners can have opinions but @village604@adultswim.fan is correct they don't determine whether its lawful or not.. that is literally the point of the court case.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 13 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

    This kind of thing tends to work completely differently depending upon municipality, county, and state.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
  • [–] 2 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

    And in Texas the coroner doesn't. They determine cause of death.

    A DA or jury determines lawfulness.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 4 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

    Okay so what point are you making? The coroner didn't determine lawfulness, the court did. He just offered his opinion, as coroners do, about the actions that killed the woman.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 0 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

    My point is that the coroner's opinion isn't an official determination of whether the death was lawful.

    The opinion here was basically that the wounds didn't match the defendant's story. That's not determining the lawfulness of the death, although it's likely good evidence towards that determination.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    I think the fact that she is dead prove the unlawfullness of her death. Unless you can tell me a story where an unarmed person could be lawfully shot in the chest. The unlawfulness description isn't why most people are upset about this story.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 0 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

    In Texas it's legal to shoot a thief in the back as they're fleeing.

    And I wasn't speaking to what most people were upset about; I was nitpicking because 2/3 of OP's excerpts were about the coroner.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 10 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

    Words mean different things in different contexts. A legal finding is different than a coroner's findings and a coroner's opinion is different than a judges legal opinion. A coroner saying something is unlawful is different than a judge saying something is unlawful.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    They kinda do. There are five possible causes of death: homicide, suicide, accidental, natural causes, and unknown. All deaths not determined to be accidental or natural require a police investigation.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment