ipl-logo

Ricky Swaffford Murder Case

555 Words3 Pages

An east Tennessee factory employee murdered 2 of his coworkers Thursday afternoon after a heated argument took place. The three Thomas &Betts Corp employees were involved in an angry altercation when 45 year old Ricky Swafford left the factory, only to return brandishing a semi-automatic pistol. He then shot James Zotter, 44 and Sandra Cooley, 68 before turning the gun on himself. The shooting was reported at approximately 4:15, prompting police to surround the building as people “streamed” through all exits. Eye witness reports described an attempted shooting in front of the office building and actual shooting inside the factory. Thomas & Betts Corp, an electrical design and manufacturing company, does not have its own security on site.
In …show more content…

The legality of this case is obvious. Ricky Swafford showed pre meditation by leaving the warehouse to go home and get his gun. In the most apparent sense murder is illegal. Actus Reus states that laws are aimed at human acts. This means that Swafford cannot be charged because of a ‘status’, but because he tangibly and sensibly carried out a human act (shooting and murdering 3 people), he can be charged under criminal code. The cause between a human act and the harm suffered has to be the direct intention of the defendant. The circumstance here shows that Swaffords action were intent on the murder of his 2 coworkers. This falls under harm as well. Harm must be caused to a legally protected value, in this case the lives of Zotter, and Cooley. In order for an act to become a crime, there must be intent present at the time of the act being carried out. The intent here is showed by the fact that the would be defendant was in a heated argument, left the argument, and returned back to the scene of the argument with a deadly weapon determined to kill his coworkers. The amount of time that passed gave Swafford a chance to consider his actions and deem them irrational and dangerous. This guilty state of mind defines his motives, making him guilty in the eyes of the

Show More
Related

  • What Is The Court Case Of Illinois V. Wardlow

    577 Words  | 3 Pages

    Assignment 2 Illinois v. Wardlow Sam Wardlow was a 44-year-old man who was standing on the side walk in Chicago. When he saw the police cars he decided to flee the scene. Even though Sam was not doing anything suspicious (that the police could see). The police thought that it was suspicious for him to turn back around and run away.

    Read More

  • Isaac Harris And Max Blanck: Guilty Of Manslaughter

    114 Words  | 1 Pages

    Isaac Harris and Max Blanck are guilty of manslaughter. I think this becuase there is lots of evidence that proves that they are guilty. One piece of evidence that proves this is that there was a lack of fire safety in the factory, no sprinkler system, and no escape route. Another piece of evidence that proves that Blanck and Harris are guilty of manslaughter is that there were fire hazards everywhere, causing the fire to spread very quickly. The final piece of evidence that proves that Blanck and Harris are guilty of manslaughter is that Harris KNEW that the doors were locked becuase he wanted to make sure that the employees didn’t steal anything.

    Read More

  • Trayvon Martin Zimmerman's Murder Case

    281 Words  | 2 Pages

    The law review article I chose was written by a Law Professor regarding police claims on self-defense. The author talks about Zimmerman’s murder trial and how the judge refused to allow prosecution to argue that the neighborhood watch volunteer racially profiled Martin. Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder for shooting a 17-year-old, Trayvon Martin. The state of Florida filed an affidavit of probable cause stating that Zimmerman profiled and confronted Martin and shot him to death when Martin didn’t commit any crimes. Zimmerman claims he shot Martin in self-defense.

    Read More

  • Cedric Anderson Case Report

    626 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cedric Anderson, a 53 year old man, opened fire on his wife’s special needs classroom, killing his wife and wounding 2 children, one of the wounded died. Some believe that Cedric did not plan on killing himself. Before the shooting, Cedric left a note saying how he had felt “disrespected” and needed closure. However, nothing was said about suicide or a shooting.

    Read More

  • Daniel James White V. San Francisco County

    619 Words  | 3 Pages

    It was questioned if the killings of the supervisor and Mayor were premeditated. Also if the defendant had a mental condition, that prevented him from knowing right from wrong. In particular if he could he be diagnosed with a mental condition. That could possibly keep him from standing trial, and sent to a mental institution. The defendant was found to be depressed but not clinically depressed.

    Read More

  • When Was Larry Charged With Two Counts Of Murder

    723 Words  | 3 Pages

    Larry will be charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the shooting of his girlfriend and his classmate Moe, one count of manslaughter for the cause of the UH Hilo security guards death, and the illegal use of firearm. The fact that Larry had these grudges against Moe for making him fail his AJ101 class and for going out with his girlfriend behind his back, he planned to kill both of them using the 9mm handgun he bought from a guy named Curly for $500. Based on these facts, Larry had committed a willful and premeditated two counts of murder in the first-degree and these will be considered probable cause for his arrest. Also Larry hit the UH Hilo security guard with the butt end of the handgun and because of his pre-existing heart condition, he dies from a heart attack because of that scuffle, he will be charged with Manslaughter for recklessly causing the death of the security. Larry didn’t know about the security’s heart condition and didn’t intend on killing him, but probably just to hurt him so that he can run away from the crime scene before he even calls the Police.

    Read More

  • David Provencio Shooting Effects

    171 Words  | 1 Pages

    On October 18th, a teen in Meridian, Idaho shot and killed a 15-year-old, but police say the the shooting was an accident. 18-year-old David Provencio was smoking marijuana and consuming alchohol with many others in a home close to East Franklin Road. Provencio said that he pointed the gun and shot the victim, not knowing that the gun was loaded. And the kid who was shot was pronounced dead at the hospital. When the authorities arrived at the scene they were told that the kid shot himself while there were several children and a few adults there at the time of the shooting.

    Read More

  • Opening Statement To Kill Vivian Villanueva

    582 Words  | 3 Pages

    Opening Statement Manslaughter: “the taking of human life without premeditation” or while having no intent to kill another person, you did kill them and should be charged thuswise. The family of the person you killed as one less member because of you. And they would agree with me that if someone killed somebody, they should be charged for their actions. It may not have been on purpose, but beyond a reasonable doubt, Dannie DeLuca did kill Vivian Villanueva. When Dannie DeLuca crashed into Vivian Villanueva, he was committing manslaughter.

    Read More

  • Why Is X Is Guilty Of Burglary In Virginia

    1745 Words  | 7 Pages

    Question 1: X is guilty of burglary in Virginia according to the Virginia burglary statute because he committed the crime with intent when he entered the building in the first place and by also using force by breaking in the window, both are felonies that constitute a guilty verdict, according to page 393. X is also guilty of common law larceny according to the law because his intent is to steal the computer with no intent on returning it, he is taking personal property of another person. According to common law, he would be guilty because he is showing intent to take an item without the knowledge of the other person, showing intent to steal, leading to the guilty conviction according to the common law larceny. According to the Rockmore case,

    Read More

  • R. V. Schoenborn Case Study

    1344 Words  | 6 Pages

    There is also an inclination to believe that if he had not suffered from this state, then the offence would not have been committed, specially not in the barbaric way it was done. Thus, it cannot be concluded that the accused willfully preformed the act, nor that the mens rea and the actus reus coincided while he was not in a psychotic state. (Roach, 113) Related to this finding is another element that supports the verdict of the Honorable Judge, which is the Principle of Fundamental Justice that states that no one should be “punished for morally involuntary actions.” (Roach, 82) A person who successfully raises the mental disorder defence is considered to be morally innocent of the act because they were not acting freely, in this case, free from psychotic ideations.

    Read More

  • Lee Harvey Oswald's Big Conspiracy

    342 Words  | 2 Pages

    The shots that were fired were too fast to just be one person because the bolt action rifle that was supposedly used couldn’t fire that fast even professional shooters that we tested couldn't do that and the shots that were fired came out in less than 10 seconds. The text says that there was also a police killing the same day too but the two eyewitness descriptions were

    Read More

  • Bob Sheldon Murder Case

    379 Words  | 2 Pages

    On Friday evening, the body of teenager Robert "Bob" Sheldon was found at a park in eastern Tulsa, laying next to a fountain with a knife wound in his abdomen. Further evidence suggests that the Sheldon had been intoxicated. No arrests have been made yet, but police suspect that it was a gang-related crime. Investigators believe that more than one person of each party had been involved as well. One of Sheldon’s companions, who was questioned, Randy Adderson, did not prove to be much help for the investigators.

    Read More

  • R V. Francis: The Attempted Murder Of Timothy Udris

    1586 Words  | 7 Pages

    The issue of law that is being argued is whether Francis ‘attempted to murder’ Udris. This report will look at the definition of attempted murder and attempts to commit offences through s306 and s4 Criminal Code Act 1899 (Qld). S 306 and s 4 sets out the principles of law on these two areas and how they relate to the matter of R v Francis. Legal Issue:

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Mass Shootings

    838 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sunday, November 5th, of this year, 26 people were killed and 20 more were injured when a man opened fire inside a Texas church. The reason this case is intriguing is because of how the gunman was stopped. Stephen Willeford, living nearby, heard the shots, and rushed outside with his rifle, exchanging fire with the gunman. He then got into a car with another stranger, and the two raced after the gunman in a high-speed chase.

    Read More

  • 12 Angry Men Murder Scene Analysis

    851 Words  | 4 Pages

    The judge declares the “Murder in the first degree—premeditated homicide—is the most serious charge tried in our criminal courts. One man is dead. The life of another is at stake. If there is a reasonable doubt in your minds as to the guilt of the accused … then you must declare him not guilty. If, however, there is no reasonable doubt, then he must be found guilty.

    Read More

More about Ricky Swaffford Murder Case

Open Document