patrick.net

SoftShell says

I am pointing out mitigating circumstances that come into play during sentencing

OK, so the guy using a cell phone during the previews is a mitigating circumstance. We'll give the cop a free pack of playing cards while he wants to be electrocuted. That's how much the mitigation is.

SoftShell says

In America, everybody is entitled to a defense.

This case requires investigation. The press reports say the defendant left briefly and then returned; did he leave to talk with cinema management, or did he go to his car to retrieve the gun? Was either party on medications or otherwise intoxicated? A witness says "somebody" threw popcorn; of the people involved, who had popcorn? Press reports say the gun jammed; was the shooter attempting to fire a second shot?

thunderlips11 says

All speculation of course. But we do have the alleged prrior incident of Reeves chasing a woman, mid-movie, out into the lobby over phone usage.

It is speculation. Is she telling the truth, under oath, or just trying to get famous? Did he really follow her into the lobby, and if so, why?

thunderlips11 says

If shooting somebody for throwing popcorn was acceptable behavior, there would be very few native born American males that survived to 21.

I guess the moral of the story is, in Florida, don't eat skittles or popcorn or Arizona Iced Tea.

I think the moral of the story is, too many people are behaving badly in public and not trying to get along with each other. In the Trayvon Martin case, police failed to investigate promptly; from the moment they saw someone had died, they should have been knocking on every door in the neighborhood and gathering as much information as possible. I hope in this case they will investigate how on earth a dispute over texting ended in someone getting shot to death.

SoftShell says

Somebody was shot for throwing shit in the dark while screaming at an elderly ex-cop who probably acted reflexively.

If you have a trigger happy reflex to shoot a gun... you shouldn't be allowed to carry one. This old man was a grouch and grump... I'm sure the father might have been acting a bit dickish too...

But i wouldn't be surprised in Reeves left to go get his gun.. not talk to theater management... if that's the case.. He should get first degree murder.

It would change the facts and the charges as are known at this moment....

BoomAndBustCycle says

But i wouldn't be surprised in Reeves left to go get his gun.. not talk to theater management... if that's the case.. He should get first degree murder

retired cops do get to carry guns anywhere basically, yet this will be used to make more defense free zones..

person A uses a phone during the previews (previews everyone complains about, people don't go just to see the previews)

old man complains (now he is talking loudly in a theater, which is also against the rules)

old man runs off to be a tadal tale.

yells more because he didn't get his way.

gets something throw at him ... now either its so dark he can't tell what it is (in which case its horrible judgement to fire a weapon into a theater which could contain kids, and obviously contains lots of innocent bystanders)

Or there's enough light that the ex cop can take a safe shot at his target with out putting others into harms way.. but if there's that much light , then he should be able to see that it was pop corn.

did the pop corn even hit him? if it did not hit him you couldn't even legally call it assault. (legally throwing stuff is assault but realistically its not on the same level as punching someone or even pushing them) so if the pop corn did not hit him , then how does he know it was meant for him?

if the pop corn did hit him, ... he should be able to figure out it was popcorn and that his life was not in danger.

either way the ex-cop / murderer was a huge asshole.
he killed someone over popcorn
he got mad over the preview disruption and responds by causing a bigger disruption
did not factor in new father texting baby sitter , during the PREVIEWS..

and yes texting during a movie makes you an asshole.. texting during previews ... just makes people think that you will be an asshole during the movie ...

i've texted a baby sitter (mother-in-law) during a preview. phone was turned off by the movie start. i did not hurt anyone's movie going experience.

maybe a good chunk of the posters on here would want me shot for ruining the previews...

really? wow

finehoe says

Can a 3-year-old read a text?

He was texting the DAYCARE where his 3-year old was kept. What's so unusual about that? I do this myself, I know the phone number of my DD's caregiver and text occasionally stuff like "I'll be there by 4:30" or "I'm running late, can you stay late or take DD home and babysit?" If you don't have small children in a daycare I suppose you just won't understand.

Our texting thug:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/PeMEr_vBzBk

Dan8267 says

There's no question the texter was an asshole, but that's no excuse for murder.

But...really...only just barely not an excuse...

In my opinion, a more elegant tack would have been slashing his Achilles tendons with a linoleum knife from under the seat.

Homeboy says

Hey, Mark - just when I think you couldn't POSSIBLY be any more of a jackass, you go and prove me wrong.

thanks. i always try to outdo myself.

I gots to know!

http://www.youtube.com/embed/ETN9eNOA6vw

What difference does it make now??
The guy's dead because of leftist popcorn popping techniques.
If the stoned lazy bastards had throughly popped the corn as directed, there would not have been any unpopped kernals that wound up pummeling the shootist, causing his violent reaction.

Vicente says

finehoe says

Can a 3-year-old read a text?

He was texting the DAYCARE where his 3-year old was kept.

Doesn't prove a thing.
Everyone has cute baby pictures...

Vicente says

Our texting thug:

He was probably amped on LDS gummy bears or maybe Angel Dust.

Vicente says

Our texting thug:

He was probably amped on LDS gummy bears or maybe Angel Dust.

Look at her arm!

You can't deny that arm!

Two more people who encountered Reeves in the theater in recent days.

The man she identified as Reeves was sitting in the same row and talked with the usher afterward and gesticulated at her and her group, she said. She said she was there with her husband, three of her children and a niece.

Jamira Dixon is sure the man was Reeves because, she said, she made it a point to remember his face in case she went to file a complaint about him with theater management.

CNN repeatedly tried Wednesday to get a comment about the Dixons' claims from Reeves' attorney Richard Escobar. He didn't respond to CNN's requests.

The Dixons spent part of Tuesday night giving their version of the events of the December 28 movie to authorities, they said. They were interviewed separately, each for an hour, they said. CNN was unable to confirm Wednesday night that those interviews took place.

In recounting the experience to reporters outside their home in Wesley Chapel, the Dixons said the man never used foul language toward them; he just angrily kept his eye on them from the end of the row.

"As the (day) went on he just glared and glared and was grumbling the whole (time)," Jamira Dixon said.

"I don't think he saw much of the movie," Michael Dixon said.

Another man's cell phone went off during the movie, Jamira Dixon said, and the man leaned over and snarled at the guy on the phone. "Can you please, please turn that off. It's really disturbing me," the man said, according to Dixon.

She said she heard about Monday's shooting through a Facebook post she noticed while driving that afternoon. Because the incident also involved someone texting at the same theater, she asked a friend to see if there was a picture of the suspect and send it.

When she saw it she said she had to pull the car over.

"It sent chills down my spine," she said. "I knew it was that person that I had an encounter with a few weeks prior."

Still sticking to my speculation that Reeves nominated himself Theater Crusader, and was steadily simmering into an explosion of Anti-Texting Righteousness. Deus Vult!

Your making a good case.
I would add that the guy is probably halfway senile.....
This could lead to ex-cops having to be annually tested for mental competency to allow them to carry guns anywhere...

thunderlips11 says

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/15/justice/florida-movie-theater-shooting/

Still sticking to my speculation that Reeves nominated himself Theater Crusader, and was steadily simmering into an explosion of Anti-Texting Righteousness. Deus Vult!

thunderlips11 says

She said she heard about Monday's shooting through a Facebook post she
noticed while driving that afternoon. Because the incident also involved someone
texting at the same theater, she asked a friend to see if there was a picture of
the suspect and send it.

When she saw it she said she had to pull the car over.

Wow, self-righteousness over cellphone shooter and self-incrimination regarding cellphone use while driving right in the same paragraph!

People feel strongly about issues that they read (or hear about) in the media. This is yet another example of such a case.

If a person is in the theater and is disturbed by another person, they can move to another seat, ask for their money back and/or attend another showing, or simply shut up and ignore whatever it is.

Certainly shooting that other person is not warranted unless he is threatened with bodily harm. Even if the victim threw popcorn (?) or made a comment the shooter didn't like, the reaction was well beyond what the reasonable person would do.

SoftShell says

However, nobody was shot for talking/texting on a cell phone.

Somebody was shot for throwing shit in the dark while screaming at an elderly ex-cop who probably acted reflexively.

Anyone - especially an ex-cop - who acts reflexively, pulls out a concealed weapon and shoots an alleged popcornetrator is a danger to society. This is not a reasonable reaction for this situation.

Thunderlips digging has shown that this was building up, a slow boil. The guy was obviously off his rocker.
annual testing for excops who carry, especially elderly ones, for mental competency should be a result from this altercation.
But we know that won't happen...

elliemae says

SoftShell says

However, nobody was shot for talking/texting on a cell phone.


Somebody was shot for throwing shit in the dark while screaming at an elderly ex-cop who probably acted reflexively.

Anyone - especially an ex-cop - who acts reflexively, pulls out a concealed weapon and shoots an alleged popcornetrator is a danger to society. This is not a reasonable reaction for this situation.

SoftShell says

Your making a good case.

I would add that the guy is probably halfway senile.....

Thanks 'shell.

Here is another possibility to add to the senility, made by Ceffer:
Ceffer says

His defense is "post anabolic steroid dementia" compounded by post traumatic stress disorder.

The old bird could be taking a wing stiffener.

"Senile Douche, crazed on Levitra and covered with testosterone patches, snuffs Wayward Texter".

Ah, the good ole days of the National Enquirer.

Lt. Frank Drebin, cleaning out his desk and leaving the force:

"Just think: Next time I shoot someone, I could be arrested."