Stabby Former Tempe, AZ Attorney Off to Prison

A report at AZCentral.com relates the disposition of the manslaughter conviction of former Tempe Prosecutor Daniel Gukieson (mugshot:)

[F]ormer Tempe attorney [Daniel Gukeisen] was sentenced Monday to five years in prison in the fatal 2009 stabbing of a 22-year-old college student, according to Maricopa County Superior Court spokesman Vincent Funari.

Judge Cari Harrison sentenced Daniel Gukeisen, 39, to prison for non-dangerous manslaughter.

Gukeisen was found guilty in April for stabbing Arizona State University student Garret Hohn after an argument broke out between the two in front of Gukeisen's Tempe townhouse in September 2009.

Hohn and a friend were walking on First Street in Tempe about 2 a.m. on Sept. 26, 2009. Gukeisen, who had been a prosecutor in South Dakota but had a bankruptcy-law practice in Tempe, confronted the two for making noise. When the quarrel escalated, Gukeisen came out onto the street, and the two men fought. Hohn fell to the ground with a stab wound. He died at a nearby hospital 45 minutes later.

The two parties did not appear to know each other, police said[.]"
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Amazing, huh?

"I'm Gonna Kill Myself!"..."Okay, Here's Your Gun, Go For It."

The Miami Herald is reporting on the manslaughter arrest of the area woman who gave her drunk, depressed, suicidal husband a handgun.  This is reporter, David Ovalle's coverage:

Tired of their bickering and her husband's complaints that he wanted to die, an exasperated Cutler Bay woman asked him if he wanted his pistol.  Yes, he replied -- so she fetched the weapon from another room and tossed it on the couch next to him, police said.  Then he shot himself, fatally, in the head.

For her `reckless disregard for human life,'  Valerie Jenkins will be charged Wednesday with manslaughter with a deadly weapon for the May 2009 death of her husband, Robert Jenkins, prosecutors say.  The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office is expected to file formal charges against Valerie Jenkins, 56, on Wednesday in front of Circuit Judge Reemberto Diaz.

Robert Jenkins, 51, a longtime South Miami-Dade auto mechanic, was an avid fisherman who loved life and never talked of suicide, relatives say. `We all have to be accountable for our actions,' said Robin Jenkins, the dead man's sister-in-law. `Her actions resulted in Bob's death.'  Robert and Valerie Jenkins were married for seven years and lived in a home in the 10000 block of Martinique Drive. They had no children.

Her attorney, James Best, did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment.

Jenkins told Miami-Dade police homicide detectives that she and her husband fought frequently, and he often said `he wanted to die,' according to an arrest warrant. On May 4, 2009, the couple fought over his not taking his blood pressure medicine. Robert Jenkins was `probably depressed' and had been drinking beer, his wife told police.

Robert Jenkins again said `he wanted to die.'

Angry and frustrated, Jenkins asked her husband if he wanted his gun. After he said yes, she retrieved his .22-caliber pistol, in a zippered pouch, from a dresser drawer, she told police. She flipped it onto the sofa where Robert Jenkins sat.  When she turned to enter the kitchen, `she heard a single gunshot, and when she turned back, she observed the victim slumped over on the sofa with a gunshot wound to the side of the head,' the warrant states.  Jenkins frantically called 911, saying that while her husband had threatened to use the gun in the past, `he had never actually asked her for it while they were arguing.' The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office ruled the death a suicide. Robert Jenkins' blood alcohol level was .14, nearly twice the legal limit for driving.

In preparing its manslaughter case, Miami-Dade prosecutors Lody Jean and Kathleen Hoague relied on the successful case against Jeramy Ricky Rushing, who in February 1986 gave a cocked, loaded gun to a despondent woman outside a Dania Beach bar.  A Broward County judge dismissed a manslaughter charge against Rushing, but the Fourth District Court of Appeal reinstated it, clearing the way for a trial. In 1992, jurors convicted Rushing and he was sentenced to two years of house arrest plus 300 hours of community service.

Prosecutors said Valerie Jenkins `engaged in a course of conduct that was gross and flagrant, showing reckless disregard for human life' by giving the loaded gun to her intoxicated husband."
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This prosecution will turn on intent.  The "frantic" 911 call may vitiate against the prosecution.  Intersting story, though.

Murder or Manslaughter, Certainly Mayhem In Springfield, Mass

Murder or manslaughter, you decide.  MassLive.com is reporting on murder charges leveled against 22 year old Lucas Allen (pic) of Springfield, Massachusetts.  Allen, who was arraigned on murder charges, then denied bail (?), following an altercation at the Fat Cat Bar (pic) where Allen either worked as a bouncer, or was working as a bouncer, or had worked as a bouncer.   This fact is unclear--based on statements by the Bar owner's attorney who rest assured is doing his best to muddy the waters in an effort to help the bar owners avoid civil liability for the death of patron 25 year old Francis Fasanelli.
According to the report at MassLive Fasanelli had been trying to gain entrance into the nightclub but had been denied entry because of a "dress code violation," but had twice gained entrance and twice been ejected.  Outside the bar he got into an altercation with Mr. Allen.  Here are the facts that are supplied in the report:

"This was an unusual circumstance," defense lawyer, Ferrara said, saying that there could have been a situation where a blow was struck but there was a 'secondary impact' with the victim hitting his head.  Allen was originally charged with assault and battery with intent to commit serious bodily injury.  Police obtained surveillance footage from cameras outside the bar that shows the start of the altercation between Fasanelli and Allen but not any exchange of blows.  Police said the investigation revealed that Fasanelli had apparently been denied entry into Fat Cat for a dress code violation. At some point, he managed to sneak inside the bar’s outside courtyard through a fence, but was discovered and escorted outside. He apparently tried to sneak in again, and at that point while still outside the bar he got into a verbal dispute with Allen that escalated into a fight."

That's it.  Murder?  How does, this guy get charged with murder? 

This week in the comments section of the post about the guy who stabbed his live-in girlfriend.  My cyberpal, Gayle has had me thinking about first principles in the law.  As ususal she is writing eloquently about justice in connection with the Merchant of Venice.   

Regarding first principles, doctrinally, when we discuss the crime of murder is to recognize that two elements are required to be shown: the criminal act of homicide, in other words a human kills another human plus necessary criminal intent or mens rea.  Returning to first principles you might be surprised to lear that the concept of murder is discussed repeatedlyin the Torah or Old Testament.  In fact the idea of "malice aforethought" is directly from the Book of Numbers attributed to none other than the lawgiver, Moses at Ch.35:20.  Amazingly, Moses also deals with the lesser act of mansluaghter 35:22-24.  While the penalty for muder is in the Old Testament is death, the provisions for reaching this judgment require a certitude that I'm not sure we approach in all of our sophistication, Deuteronomy 19:15-19 which also makes for provisions for Citys of Refuge for lesser acts of killing not arising to malicious acts of intentional murder--remember Cain?

So back to Mr Allen, how is it that this guy--who may or may not be a bouncer for the bar--gets himself charged with murder.  Something is a little off, and we need to mark this matter for follow up.

Scared to Death

The Charlotte Observer reported on Saturday that 21 year old Larry Whitfield will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the kidnapping that resulted in the death of Mary Parnell, a 79 year old Grandmother.  Apparently this Brainiac invaded Mrs. Parnell's house in an effort to flee following a failed armed robbery. Whitfield did not touch Mrs. Parnell, but she had a heart attack and died.  For more:  http://www.charlotteobserver.com/nation/story/1068754.html  A Charlotte jury acquitted Whitfield of murder but convicted him on the manslaughter count.