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Sometimes, it’s best to just accept that you’ve been caught red-handed
Darrell Roberson came home one night to find a pickup truck in his driveway. In the truck, Darrell found his wife and another man getting frisky. The wife, Tracy, cried out that she was being raped and the man, Devin LaSalle, quickly tried to drive off. That’s when Darrell pulled out a gun he keeps on him and let off several shots, including one that hit Mr. LaSalle in the head, killing him.
A grand jury has now heard all the facts, and Darrell will not be put on trial for murder. His wife Tracy, however is now facing a manslaughter charge. For, you see, Tracy lied when she claimed she was being raped, because she didn’t want to fess up to the fact that she and Devin were having an affair.
So now, you assume her relationship with Darrell is over anyway, plus Tracy faces 2-20 years in the clink (and another six months for also lying to the cops for originally telling them she was raped). As for her Darrell, one figures he wasn’t charged with murder because at least some of the jurors thought, “well, if my wife cried ‘rape,’ I would’ve shot the guy too.” And under Texas law, “justification” is a valid defense as long as you reasonably believed your actions were necessary (even if things later turn out not to be as you originally thought).
What a crazy case.
(Daniel J. Solove, over at Concurring Opinions, offers some legal-type thoughts on the story.)
