Cheney accidentally shoots fellow hunter

[Tippiechick]

Originally posted by hoosier
Are you so bitter that you have no sense of humor left?

I have a GREAT sense of humor! Zippy Zamboni REALLY makes me laugh!

ETA: WE WERE THINKING THE SAME THING! HA, HA, HA. I POSTED WITHOUT READING YOUR POST. THAT'S TOO FUNNY!

[HotDamnImAPhiMu]

So I went out for a cheese calzone yesterday and while I was waiting in line they had the press conference on.

Apparently the shot hunter's wife is the one that broke the news (it was a group decision) and she basically accepted fault for him: he'd gone around to startle the quail and not notified the other hunters.

[FeeFee]

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/us/bush_administration

[KatieKate1244]

If (God forbid) the shot man dies, will Cheney be charged with murder, or would it be something like manslaughter?

[gpb1874]

Originally posted by HotDamnImAPhiMu
Apparently the shot hunter's wife is the one that broke the news (it was a group decision) and she basically accepted fault for him: he'd gone around to startle the quail and not notified the other hunters.

the owner of the ranch called the local newspaper here in Corpus Christi and told them, then the national news found out. the wife's name has never been mentioned down here. Katherine Armstrong has been all over the news and her family owns the Armstrong ranch, where the shooting occured. I may be wrong, but it's been on the news every 5 seconds it seems....

and about the heart attack! Cheney could be in BIG trouble. I can see the headlines now.....US VP arrested for murder. I can't even imagine how crazy this could end up. Not that I'm a fan of the guy, it would just suck to have the VP in jail.

[mu_agd]

I heard they didn't have the required permits for hunting. Will he be fined in any sort of way?

[FeeFee]

Originally posted by KatieKate1244
If (God forbid) the shot man dies, will Cheney be charged with murder, or would it be something like manslaughter?

@ the possible outcomes.

[DeltAlum]

I wouldn't think he would be charged with murder for an accidental shooting like this one.

Cheney is not the first U.S. Vice President to shoot someone.

Aaron Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.

[KSigkid]

Originally posted by DeltAlum
Aaron Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.

Ok, I'm glad someone else thought of that; I felt like such a nerd, that was one of the first things I thought of when this story came out.

[DeltAlum]

I just thought of a very funny line from the radio as I was driving to work this morning.

Of course this was before the information on the heart attack came out.

The jocks were talking about the accident and all of the jokes about it on the late night TV shows, etc.

One guy kind of paused and said, "You know, no one has said whether he (Cheney) got the bird."

The other guy just dead panned, "I'll bet his friend gave it to him."

Everyone in the studio broke up because it wasn't a planned line, apparantely.

[Rudey]

When things like this happen I imagine the amount of awkwardness that must fill the room.

If W says something stupid, Karl Rove and his advisors are like "Shut the __ up. I cannot believe you said that on national TV!". And in this case Cheney probably is covering his head and drooping while W is yelling "What the heck is wrong with you?? You couldn't just buy a Perdue chicken? You had to kill your own?"

-Rudey
--Just thinking of that awkward moment makes me smile

[KSigkid]

Originally posted by Rudey
When things like this happen I imagine the amount of awkwardness that must fill the room.

If W says something stupid, Karl Rove and his advisors are like "Shut the __ up. I cannot believe you said that on national TV!". And in this case Cheney probably is covering his head and drooping while W is yelling "What the heck is wrong with you?? You couldn't just buy a Perdue chicken? You had to kill your own?"

-Rudey
--Just thinking of that awkward moment makes me smile

Or the VP telling W about it. "Well, the good news is my heart feels strong; the bad news is I shot someone."

[HotDamnImAPhiMu]

Originally posted by DeltAlum
I wouldn't think he would be charged with murder for an accidental shooting like this one.

Cheney is not the first U.S. Vice President to shoot someone.

Aaron Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.

Does this make anyone else think of that line in "The Chronic of Narnia" that goes, "Call me Aaron Burr for the way I'm droppin' Hamiltons"?

[AGDee]

Originally posted by mu_agd
I heard they didn't have the required permits for hunting. Will he be fined in any sort of way?

The need for that particular permit was a new law (4 or 5 months old) and it is a $7 add on to the standard hunting license, which he did have. He said he has written a check for $7.00 and sent it in already. The article I read (CNN I think) said that most people are getting off with just a warning since it's a new requirement.

[Kevin]

Originally posted by KatieKate1244
If (God forbid) the shot man dies, will Cheney be charged with murder, or would it be something like manslaughter?

We were discussing that in the office for a brief period today (a law office). The charge would probably be negligent homicide. I haven' t had class 1 on criminal law yet, so I don't know whether actual negligence is required in negligent homicide (but it seems likely).

If that is so, the victim expiring from a heart attack would have had to be a foreseeable consequence of Cheney's accidental shooting. I think that's a pretty solid defense here -- at least assuming that the defendant being the proximate cause is a necessary element of the crime. Besides, he's the V.P. They don't charge V.P.'s with crimes when there's a question of causation.

That's my guess.

Now, is Cheney liable in tort? He even has a good defense there if the victim had the 'last clear chance' to avoid the injury -- or at least he can mitigate his loss by the comparative negligence of the other party.