Killer gets 180-day sentence for YouTube stunt gone wrong

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/03/15/killer-gets-180-day-sentence-f.html

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Would have to know whose idea this was.

But I may show my bias by saying I think many more stunt shows like jackass and especially their producers should face criminal charges for endangerment.

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180 days can change a person, but not that much…

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This still is mind boggling to me. I mean, I can’t even fathom this was simple ignorance. Unless the guy just had zero regard for his own life, I can’t see how 1) you wouldn’t know a book won’t stop a bullet or 2) that maybe test it first before standing in front of it. My only other possible idea is he wanted to commit suicide, but didn’t want to or couldn’t do it himself.

That said, I don’t know what would be benefited by having her serve more time, especially with two kids. I mean, it seems on all account be an accident. A preventable one? Yes. An accident caused by gross negligence? Yes. But given the circumstance the victim seems to be a 100% willing participant and should have at least equal blame.

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When I started reading I thought “ah, she must have been using something like a .22 short and be one of those idiots who thinks that just because it isn’t a big beefy round it isn’t goddamn firearm and— Desert Eagle?!” Holy hell. I’d say it’s far too lenient a sentence because it is beyond human imagining that someone could handle a Desert Eagle and the stupidly large cartridges it fires (though it could have been one chambered for something sane like the .357 Magnum) and not imagine it will straight murder you even if you happen to be holding the goddamn Codex Gigas in front of you. Nobody is that stupid.

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Well, there’s one fewer person that stupid in the world after this stunt, anyway.

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So I guess it goes without saying that they didn’t test the theory first. What, they weren’t willing to sacrifice two books?

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They were going to burn them afterward anyways.

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Their innate respect for academia probably prevented that.

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They did! But the angle the book was being held at, distance from Target, whether or not it was the same book and a million other things could force a different test result. It’s insane.

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They should have went with Atlas Shrugged. NOBODY gets through that.

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Nice one! (And true. My politics as you know skew pretty libertarian, but Jesus that thing’s awful)

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Sounds like he’s the one who said, “hold my beer.” Manslaughter seems appropriate. She should have known better, but she didn’t set out to kill him.

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Certainly won’t make them smarter.

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With any crime the sentencing should take into account the situation and how the crime will effect their life or the life of their dependents.
She has to live with the the fact that she killed her partner and father of her kids. I don’t see any reason for jail except as a warning for others to not be so stupid

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I agree. Saw this early-YT video of a drowsy baby slowly slipping out of her highchair then eventually falling to the floor. Oh… so cute. Irresponsible morons.

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180 days doesn’t seem like a lot for a homicide.

Not usually; but hopefully the permanent loss of her mate and father of her kids has diminished the woman in question’s taste for dumbass pranks.

Manslaughter.

Intent matters, ‘mind-blowing stupidity’ notwithstanding.

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I suppose it depends on whether you subscribe to the punitive or rehabilitative model for incarceration. (Of course the US reality is neither, but rather the plantation model, but I digress.) Is she likely to ever re-offend, and will anyone ever agree to be her target if she does? It seems that she’s most likely a danger to herself, not others.

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First, this was clearly a stupid video to try to film, and they were really bad at thinking through safety implications and what precautions they were taking or should be taking.

I think the sentence is potentially too harsh. In fact, given what I know of the case, I suspect I would support dropping all charges. At the very least it would be easy to get me behind a pardon or commuting her sentence.

Why? I partake in a number of extreme sports and other dangerous activities. Now, I am generally more safety conscious than these two, but there appears to be good consent here. How would you feel if this had been a rope bondage accident?

(Final note: again, what they were doing is dumb, and probably criminally negligent, but I don’t think this is something that needs jail time. I mean, it would probably be good to leave a gun felony on her record to make it harder to get guns, but this isn’t going to be good for her kids. Jail is a shitty solution to most problems.)

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