To read the tribute to SFC Marcus Muralles, please click here
Monday, January 09, 2006
She's Just Lucky They Were Bad Shots
Let's look at this story and see if she has a snowball's chance in Hades of winning her lawsuit.
She claimed that there were "40 or 50" police officers at her brother's house, and that she was "scared half to death" when her car crashed. She supposedly shot "into the air and wide" and stopped when she realized "it was doing no good." At what point is shooting a gun anywhere in the same time zone as a cop (unless you're at a range or hunting with him or her) ever "doing good"????
She's claiming violations of her constitutional right to due process, equal protection, and to enjoy life and liberty. She lost all of those when she shot at a cop. After a high speed car chase. After brandishing a weapon and threatening her brother. No, I'm not going to give her a break because she's mentally ill. The police can't take the time to ask for a complete medical history before determining whether or not that weapon you're aiming at him is loaded and if you really mean to use it. You point it. You get shot. They can't take that chance. Good men and women die that way.
Like I said... she's lucky that Officer Schnur is a bad shot.
A woman who was left a paraplegic after being shot several times by Warren police in the moments following a high-speed car chase has accused officers of using excessive force in a lawsuit filed in Macomb County Circuit Court.OK... if she had stopped and surrendered peacefully after the chase, then she's got a case. Right? But, wait! There's more!
Mattera, 45, a Warren native who had been living in Roseville, was charged with two counts of attempted murder, fleeing police and assault with a dangerous weapon, among other offenses. She was found "not guilty by reason of insanity" about 10 months later following a 1-day bench trial in front of Macomb County Circuit Judge Donald Miller.Hmmm... two counts of attempted murder, eh? Let's dig a little deeper and see what happened, shall we?
The incident began as a family dispute regarding her parents that went from her to her brother's residence on Martin Road in Roseville. Her brother, nine years older than her, called police, saying that his sister had pointed a gun at him and had fled in a Chevy Malibu. Mattera refused to stop for police on Gratiot Avenue, speeding away at speeds up to 110 mph first on westbound I-696 then on eastbound I-696, where Madison Heights police used "stop sticks" to puncture the tires of her car and caused it to crash into a freeway wall."She raised the gun directly at me"??? Why is she still breathing?Officers Houtos and Marsee said they fired their guns in response to seeing smoke or a fire flash coming from the end of the barrel of the .38-caliber handgun being held by Mattera in the car. Schnur testified in a 37th District Court hearing that he approached the vehicle to find a bleeding Mattera lying across the front seat with a revolver in her hand. "She turned her head in my direction and raised the gun directly at me," Schnur testified. He yelled to fellow officers that she had a gun, and he fired "three or four" rounds in her direction as he retreated.
She claimed that there were "40 or 50" police officers at her brother's house, and that she was "scared half to death" when her car crashed. She supposedly shot "into the air and wide" and stopped when she realized "it was doing no good." At what point is shooting a gun anywhere in the same time zone as a cop (unless you're at a range or hunting with him or her) ever "doing good"????
She's claiming violations of her constitutional right to due process, equal protection, and to enjoy life and liberty. She lost all of those when she shot at a cop. After a high speed car chase. After brandishing a weapon and threatening her brother. No, I'm not going to give her a break because she's mentally ill. The police can't take the time to ask for a complete medical history before determining whether or not that weapon you're aiming at him is loaded and if you really mean to use it. You point it. You get shot. They can't take that chance. Good men and women die that way.
Like I said... she's lucky that Officer Schnur is a bad shot.
