Is a racial insult a valid defense for homicide?

[Montrovant]

Obviously there's a lack of information here, but to me it sounds like a freak accident. I've seen news stories of this kind of thing before, although I can't remember any specifics offhand.

What would the charges be against this man if his victim had simply been knocked out, or even just gotten a bruised jaw and backed off? Unless there's reason to believe there was an intent to kill, I don't think anyone could reasonably claim he should have known he might kill the victim. So, again not taking any forthcoming information into account, this sounds like a manslaughter case and one in which a relatively light sentence would be called for, especially when you add likely assault charges.

Oh, and as far as any martial arts training the man might have had : I am far from an expert, but I don't think that even with such training anyone would expect to kill a person with a single blow to the side of the face (as described in the original link). If such an event were at all likely I'd think we'd see quite a few deaths in MMA or martial arts competitions, and so far as I'm aware that doesn't happen. Had he punched the victim in the throat it would be a different story. Also, I don't think the size of the victim would have too much effect on whether a single punch leads to death.

 

[Ravi]

Here are a few more details.

Wife calls fatal Vegas casino punch self-defense | National news | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

 

[catzmeow]

This is unexpected, I had thought of the OP as more of a rhetorical question, yet for some people the answer to the OP appears to be yes. We are heading in the wrong direction in America when we lower our standards for civility to form a tolerant attitude towards violent criminal behavior. With such a permissive attitude towards crime, it's no wonder we have the worlds largest criminal population.

150 years ago, a verbal insult was likely to result in a duel where one or both of the combatants might die. 20 years ago, if two boys got into a fight at school, charges were almost never filed. If anything, we've become less permissive about societal violence, rather than more.

I think your comments lack historical perspective on crime in the U.S.

 

[Flagwavrusa]

This is unexpected, I had thought of the OP as more of a rhetorical question, yet for some people the answer to the OP appears to be yes. We are heading in the wrong direction in America when we lower our standards for civility to form a tolerant attitude towards violent criminal behavior. With such a permissive attitude towards crime, it's no wonder we have the worlds largest criminal population.

150 years ago, a verbal insult was likely to result in a duel where one or both of the combatants might die. I think your comments lack historical perspective on crime in the U.S.

You watch way too many Westerns, death by gunfight 150 years ago was almost unheard of. There is way more violence today than there was back then. Check out the story:

Old West Violence Mostly Myth

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/0717hill0717.html?&wired

 

[MikeK]

yes manslaughter, the bar fight paradigm.

in today's society I would except that some sympathy would go to the man who thinks he suffered harm for a stupid remark and was justified in hitting him[...]

Therein you have precisely defined the cause of this unnecessary and wholly unjustifiable killing -- the expectation of sympathy. The problem is in today's excessively PC society minorities are so hypocritically patronized that most Blacks have gotten the idea that it's okay to assault Whites who say something they don't like. And many, such as this assaultive fellow, are poised to do exactly that.

Stupid comments are cause for contemptuous disregard, not for potentially lethal force.

If this fellow tries to account for his action by saying he was uncontrollably provoked by a relatively benign comment, (". . . black man in a yellow shirt"), then he should be sent to prison or to a mental institution for the rest of his life because he is a menace to civilized society.


"The American negro will not truly be free until the word ****** no longer troubles him. Because the striking of chains and the death of Jim Crow does not free the mind." (James Baldwin; speaking at Columbia University, December, 1964.)

 

[Tank]

This black guy always wears a yellow shirt:

 

[catzmeow]

You watch way too many Westerns, death by gunfight 150 years ago was almost unheard of. There is way more violence today than there was back then. Check out the story:

Old West Violence Mostly Myth

Old West violence mostly myth

I'm not a westerner, I'm a midwesterner. 150 years ago, bands of ruffians from Missouri were wiping out free staters all over the place in Kansas, and free staters (called jayhawkers) were wiping out confederate sympathizers in Missouri. Ever heard of the Lawrence Massacre?

The Lawrence Massacre, Part One

THere was neighbor against neighbor bushwhacking, and in the 20 years following the civil war, the baldknobbers committed similar kinds of crime. The James/Younger gang holed up in my hometown (which was celebrated annually with a festival when I was a kid, before the community decided that maybe the annual summer festival shouldn't be named after an outlaw).

Before you lecture me about history because you've read a single article, don't. I said 150 years, and I meant it. Per capita violence in that part of the U.S. was much, much higher than it is today.