In the last couple of years, there has been a court case that has been interseting to me. It was even on "Dateline," on NBC.
It all started like this one farmer names Lions, had been renting a pasture to run his cattle on in the winter, In Iowa if you are a land lord and you sell the land the new buyer has to honor the lease until it has expired.
Farmer Hemstra, who was Lion's neighbor, bought the pasture that Lion's had been renting.
The first thing Hemistra does is shut off water to the pasture land citing that it was dangerously wired and might cause a fire.
That of course upsets farmer Lions as to now he has to haul water to his cattle, and that the wiring on the well had been in such shape for years.
Lions confronts Hemstra, on a gravel road pulling his pickup in front of Hemstra's Lions gets out of his truck and starts walking toward Hemstra, Lions is calling Hemstra names and asking why he shut off the water? Hemstra pulls a 22 caliber rifle out of the back of his truck loads it and shoots Lions in the head. Killing Lions dead.
In his first trial Hemstra states on the witness stand that he was scared of Lions, and that he knew he had just shot an unarmed man.
Now a little more on the background of Hemstra's logic, after he shoots Lion, he takes a rope and ties it around lions legs, pulls his lifeless body down the road out on to the pasture land and takes Lions body and stuffs it down into a systern to hide the body, He then gets back to were Lions truck is and drives it out into a section of timber in the other direction.
First trail goes normal and they convict Hemstra of First Degree Murder, which in Iowa carries a life sentence without parole.
Hemstra's lawyers go to the state supreme court and wins Hemstra a new trial because Lions health records were not admissible in court for the first trial.
So trial number 2 for this murder is on they have to have a change of venue and this time Hemstra, does go back on the witness stand, but before that they had lions health records to be testified over by experts.
Hemstra's expert painted Lions as a man with an explosive personality, and that he often beat his children and wife. All of Lions children (adults now)and his wife testified that their father, and husband had never raised a hand in anger to them but was the exact oppsit.
The proscution had the family testify to that effect. Now here is where it gets good. Hemstra had an expert psychologist testify that Hemstra, was in like a (dream state) due to the amount of fear he was experiencing.
When it was all said and done Hemstra had testified that he was scared of Lions, and that the jury deliberated for about a day when they came back Hemstra had a new verdict of Intended Manslaughter, which gets him a maxmun sentence of 15 years, but with good time he will be out of jail by October of 08.
Now explane to me how Hemstra can testify in one trial that he shot an unarmed man and in the next he was scared of him..... He still had to pull out the weapon, point it at the man, aim and fire!! what part of pre- meditated did I miss out on?
Plus, when you look at Hemstra's actions after he killed Lions what was he trying to do but no other then hide the body and get away with his crime....
Let me know what you think? TJ
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Originally Posted by Texas Jim
