why one should ALWAYS carry your weapon

[duke7595]

I'm not familiar with this case, can someone bring me up to speed? Especially the reason WHY she was murdered and how.

 

[texasjohn]

No one knows the why except the participants. When it comes to murder/crime, not sure there ever is a good answer to "why?"
How...shot as it says in the newspaper article.
Go to first of this thread for details. I am the OP and found the body.

 

[creekbend]

No great loss to the civilized world...

Well stated. I agree.

 

[jinman]

Wow! So Tracie Guzman is now 21 and she is gonna do 25 years for murder. She'll be 46. Then, she'll do another 20 years for tampering with evidence and be 66 when she gets out, just in time to sign up for Social Security and Medicare A&B. What's wrong with this picture? The truth is that she probably won't do the whole time for either crime. She'll probably be released to share her "love" with the world while she is still in her 40s. Sheesh!!! They took a 18 yo girl and got her into drugs and prostitution. Then, Guzman killed her while sitting at a convenience store. Is that 18 year old girl's life only worth 25 years? I wasn't in that courtroom, but I'm not pleased with this sentence. What do you wanna bet that she got a reduced sentence in a plea bargain for pleading guilty? She killed a kid and for that she'll get room and board the rest of her life. Prison is too good for somebody like that.

 

[RoyJackson]

Wow! So Tracie Guzman is now 21 and she is gonna do 25 years for murder. She'll be 46. Then, she'll do another 20 years for tampering with evidence and be 66 when she gets out, just in time to sign up for Social Security and Medicare A&B. What's wrong with this picture? The truth is that she probably won't do the whole time for either crime. She'll probably be released to share her "love" with the world while she is still in her 40s. Sheesh!!! They took a 18 yo girl and got her into drugs and prostitution. Then, Guzman killed her while sitting at a convenience store. Is that 18 year old girl's life only worth 25 years? I wasn't in that courtroom, but I'm not pleased with this sentence. What do you wanna bet that she got a reduced sentence in a plea bargain for pleading guilty? She killed a kid and for that she'll get room and board the rest of her life. Prison is too good for somebody like that.

I agree 100%!!

This should have been a death penalty case...and when I write "death penalty", none of this 20 years on death row BS. Two years of appeals, then execute the sentence.

 

[TripleR]

It is a sad situation, but in some places, how much "justice" you get is determined by $$$$. Some of our counties can only afford part time prosecutors, so some cases don't get the full attention. Some cases are referred to the State Attorney General and capital cases triggers a special team of Public Defenders. Some states are in even worse condition, Illinois is selling one of their newest, most modern prisons to the Federal Bureau of Prisons because they never had the money to full open it.

 

[texasjohn]

This is Williamson County....the most "hang 'em" county in the state. Filled with Republican Judges, just a fact. Republican Dist Attorney. Where on any day between my home and the County Seat, Georgetown, on I 35, you can see from 3 to 6 Texas highway patrol cars with people stopped. Just came that way, 15 miles...3 had people pulled over. Crime committed and judged in Williamson County.

The LEO folks stayed with it until the people were found, in other states, brought back to Texas, Texas Rangers were involved, took several months to find and arrest them.

Point is, the case was NOT IGNORED, it was pursued to arrests and one conviction in just over a year even though victim was black (don't know for sure about the others). Pretty speedy overall.....in an extremely conservative and law enforcing county in Texas. Our jails are filled to over full at present. This is as good/focused as it gets in law enforcement/incarceration. I agree, $$ are a factor everywhere and treatments are surely uneven...it's called local option, or states rights, or something that means worry about it and pay for safety locally in this highly mobile society.

Yep, this was a bad deal where everybody lost...the victim, the slayer, their driver, the taxpayers....come to think of it, all crime is that way.

TripleR, I love your signature line

 

[TripleR]

This is Williamson County....the most "hang 'em" county in the state. Filled with Republican Judges, just a fact. Republican Dist Attorney. Where on any day between my home and the County Seat, Georgetown, on I 35, you can see from 3 to 6 Texas highway patrol cars with people stopped. Just came that way, 15 miles...3 had people pulled over. Crime committed and judged in Williamson County.

The LEO folks stayed with it until the people were found, in other states, brought back to Texas, Texas Rangers were involved, took several months to find and arrest them.

Point is, the case was NOT IGNORED, it was pursued to arrests and one conviction in just over a year even though victim was black (don't know for sure about the others). Pretty speedy overall.....in an extremely conservative and law enforcing county in Texas. Our jails are filled to over full at present. This is as good/focused as it gets in law enforcement/incarceration. I agree, $$ are a factor everywhere and treatments are surely uneven...it's called local option, or states rights, or something that means worry about it and pay for safety locally in this highly mobile society.

Yep, this was a bad deal where everybody lost...the victim, the slayer, their driver, the taxpayers....come to think of it, all crime is that way.

TripleR, I love your signature line

Thanks, it may sound pretentious, but I really try to live by it and tried to instill it in my children.

 

[jinman]

Point is, the case was NOT IGNORED, it was pursued to arrests and one conviction in just over a year even though victim was black (don't know for sure about the others). Pretty speedy overall.....in an extremely conservative and law enforcing county in Texas. Our jails are filled to over full at present. This is as good/focused as it gets in law enforcement/incarceration. I agree, $$ are a factor everywhere and treatments are surely uneven...it's called local option, or states rights, or something that means worry about it and pay for safety locally in this highly mobile society.

Yep, this was a bad deal where everybody lost...the victim, the slayer, their driver, the taxpayers....come to think of it, all crime is that way.

Of course, I agree with you, John. If I were in the justice system, I'd be doing the same things to reduce costs and time. Not dragging the victim's family through a long trial is certainly the best thing to do. There is at least some reward in that the two were identified so quickly and brought to justice before they could harm some other victim. Also, 25 + 20 is a long time to think about your wasted life. The unfortunate thing is that criminals know if they can avoid the death penalty, they'll have food, housing, clothing, and medical care the rest of their lives. What do you do? The justice system did the best it could do in this situation.

 

[two_bit_score]

It is a sad situation, but in some places, how much "justice" you get is determined by $$$$. Some of our counties can only afford part time prosecutors, so some cases don't get the full attention. Some cases are referred to the State Attorney General and capital cases triggers a special team of Public Defenders. Some states are in even worse condition, Illinois is selling one of their newest, most modern prisons to the Federal Bureau of Prisons because they never had the money to full open it.

Justice has not always been "just" in Williamson county. Google Michael Morton and you will find many stories about an innocent man who was convicted of killing his wife on evidence manipulated, altered and hidden by a district attorney, later elected judge, who is now under investigation by a state panel for the misconduct he committed during the Morton trial in order to gain a conviction of an innocent man.

A one time slip up? No. That type of thing has been intrinsic in "Wilco" for years. Also google John Bradley and you will find out about the "Wilco" district attorney who fought testing of the DNA evidence which cleared Michael Morton. He fought it not once but over about a seven year tine span and kept insisting that he would agree to parole if Morton would just 'show remorse' for his 'crime'. The audacity that he would keep an innocent person in jail until he confessed is a travesty of justice.

Hopefully the DA/Judge Ken Anderson who sent Morton to prison will be disbarred and incarcerated himself. That would be a start toward real "justice" in "Wilco".

Seriously look into the Morton case. It's fascinating.

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