COULD YOU CONVICT THIS FATHER? David Barajas Murder Trial

[HairOfTheDog]

to show the community that vigilante justice doesn't come with a free pass. I can't imagine that the state really believed a conviction was forthcoming given the case they presented.

Unfortunately, all they managed to show was that vigilante justice does come with a clean record... as long as you tie up loose ends and cover your tracks.

That applies to all crimes, not only crimes committed to achieve vigilante justice.

People who lie, say the least, have witnesses in their pockets, destroy evidence, have the better lawyer, have the least logical jurists...sometimes walk, despite circumstantial evidence pointing straight at them.

And, often cops have a damned good idea of who committed a crime, but can never file charges because they know their evidence isn't strongest enough to meet the reasonable doubt burden in a court of law. Lotta technically unsolved crimes out there -- not always because the perp's identity is a mystery.

In this case, Barajas was put through the ordeal of standing accused and facing trial. I don't know if prosecutors chose to proceed to trial so quickly -- instead of continuing to push on the witnesses and search for more evidence -- because they wanted to put the case behind them formally and let Barajas be, or because they didn't think they'd ever get more evidence and figured they'd take their best shot. Either way, guilty or innocent, he's a free man -- like OJ (was), Robert Blake, George Zimmerman, and a whole buncha peeps whose names we don't know.

Anyway, it's interesting reading everybody's opinions and feelings in this case. I happen to agree with you on this one and, from all that I've read, we are definitely in the minority. I don't generally support vigilante justice and never when it involves an intentional act like murder in retaliation for an accident (no matter how horrible the accident and the conditions surrounding it).

I do not believe that the person who executed Jose Banda did me a service, did the Barajas family a service, or had a right or a duty to kill (no matter who pulled the trigger).