(Brian Rogers, Houston Chronicle)
When Raul Rodriguez took his video recorder, cellphone and gun to break up a neighbor’s loud party, he knew exactly what he needed to say to get away with murder.
“I am in fear for my life,” Rodriguez told police on the phone as Kelly Danaher and his friends tried to figure out why a neighbor they seldom talked to was luring them out to the street in their rural northeast Harris County neighborhood in 2010.
Danaher’s mother sobbed on the witness stand Wednesday as she threw those words back at Rodriguez after he was sentenced to 40 years in prison for fatally shooting her 36-year-old son.
“Eternal fire and damnation is not enough for what you took from us,” Connie Danaher said during a victim impact statement. “Every single day that you are incarcerated, I pray that you come to know the true meaning of, ‘I fear for my life.'”
The jury earlier this month rejected Rodriguez’s claim of “self-defense” under Texas’ “stand-your-ground” laws and deliberated about five hours before deciding Wednesday how much time Rodriguez, 47, would spend in prison. He will have to serve at least half of that sentence before being eligible for parole.
(Read the full story at the Houston Chronicle)
ADDITIONAL COVERAGE:
• Ex-Baytown Firefighter Gets 40 Yrs in ‘Stand Your Ground’ Case (KRIV 26 News)
• Sentence May Impact Future ‘Stand Your Ground’ Cases(KUHF Public Radio)
• Five ‘Stand Your Ground’ Cases You Should Know About (ProPublica)
OTHER HEADLINES:
- City Charges Strip Clubs For Rape Kits (KUHF Public Radio)
- Area Records Worst Smog Level in 8 Years (Houston Chronicle)
- Woman Accused of Endangering Infant While Panhandling Says She was Fundraising (KHOU 11 News)
- Galveston Cooling Centers Open as Temps Soar (Galveston Daily News)
- Rolling Blackouts: a Black Eye For Texas? (State Impact Texas)
- Houston Healthcare Community Braces For Supreme Court Decision (KUHF Public Radio)
- Poll Finds Nearly Half Texas Small Businesses Back Healthcare Law (KUHF Public Radio)
NATION & BEYOND - Supreme Court Health Care Decision has Washington Awaiting History (Washington Post)
- ‘Epic Dryness’ Feeding Western Wildfires (USA Today)
- Debby Floods Neighborhoods in Northern Florida (AP)
- Exxon’s CEO: Admits Climate Impacts, But Energy Fears “Overblown” (Fuel Fix)
- Syrian Arrests Are Said to Have Snared Tens of Thousands (New York Times)