Suspect released on bond in shooting death of man who pulled into wrong driveway

[onehandle]

Source: NBC Latino

Phillip Sailors, 69, a veteran accused of shooting and killing Rodrigo Abad Diaz, 22, in Georgia after he pulled into his driveway was set to have a bond hearing on February 7 but was released on $10,000 bond today, according to his lawyer Mike Puglise.

“Mr. Sailors is not a flight risk,” Puglise says. “A 70-year-old man is not a flight risk. He has lived at the same property for 33 years. He has medical issues and rest assured Mr. Sailors is going to continue to cooperate with the district attorney’s investigation.” Puglise previously told NBC Latino that his client believes his home was about to be burglarized when he shot Diaz.

The victim’s brother, David E. Diaz-Valencia, 23, said, “The guy came outside and my brother’s girlfriend said he was screaming, ‘Get off my property!’ and he shot into the air,” Diaz-Valencia said. “My brother was backing out fast because he was scared and he rolled down the window to say he was sorry and he was not doing anything wrong. Then the guy shot him in his head.”

The bond decision was signed off on by Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter, who defended the bond and said he did not put any consideration into whether Sailors’ release could inflame tensions after Diaz’s death.

Read more: http://nbclatino.com/2013/01/30/suspect-released-on-bond-after-killing-young-man-for-pulling-into-wrong-driveway

---

Further reading on this 'law abiding' gun owner:

22 Year Old Man Shot Dead After GPS Error Leads Him to Wrong House

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022283652

[Xipe Totec]

1. I see two victims here

one is a victim of circumstance, the other a victim of his own stupidity.

[eagleman]

11. two victims?

which is which?

[MotherPetrie]

22. I only see one.

[kiranon]

53. Agree. This is an unjustified killing if the facts are as stated.

[awoke_in_2003]

33. Victim of stupidity...

or sanity?

[wordpix]

2. before I read the article, I guessed this happened in a southern state

Leave it to a southern DA to let a white murderer go free after murdering a Hispanic. I hope this DA loses his job and career over this.

And to say a 69 y.o. guy is not a flight risk so we'll just let him go---there are plenty of 69 y.o.'s who hop planes to Mexico and S. America every day so how does this DA know this?

[Deep13]

5. Same exact thought. nt

[Ed Suspicious]

6. yeah. 10k bond is a pretty low hurdle for murder/manslaughter.

[DBoon]

8. Like John MacAfee?

nt

[mike_c]

13. + 1

[Scairp]

16. I agree

His bond should be much higher. I imagine if the 22 year old Hispanic male had been the one to shoot and the dead person a 70 year old white male who made a mistake, that person would be held WITHOUT bond.

[SunSeeker]

20. You got that right!

I am so sick of these fox news watching gun nutbags being coddled. They're fucking terrorists and should be treated that way. The blind sheik is pretty old too. And blind. And never getting out.

[jberryhill]

17. Yeah - a guy who doesn't like Hispanics will flee to Mexico

Aside from which, Mexico would send him right back.

It's a safe bet the DA knows a lot about this guy's financial condition, medical conditions, whether he has a passport, etc.

It's also pretty likely the DA has a lot of experience in this area.

[Scairp]

21. You're giving that D.A. a great deal of credit.

I don't know if he earned it but it will be interesting to see how this case is adjudicated.

[Android3.14]

43. Consider also

The cost to the local government of caring for this guy in a secure facility. If he represents a low flight risk, I'd bet the DA knows exactly what he or she is doing.
It sounds like a set of circumstances that led to a horrifying outcome - voluntary manslaughter. This is probably not a murder.

[jberryhill]

49. I don't know GA law...

...but in some states, the reckless and wanton character of his action would bump it up to a higher degree of homicide.

[ROBROX]

57. THIS HISPANIC THINKS THE BOND SHOULD HAVE BEEN TWO MILLION

This guy murdered a unarmed person. No matter what the gun nuts says it is first degree murder since he got his gun and he shot a man.

I hope they hang the white old gun nut to teach the other gun nuts a lesson.

I hope the family sues the gun nut and gets everything he owes and MORE.

Gun nuts should be made to suffer for being a GUN NUT.......

[wordpix]

67. you've got a point - he might flee to Canada, then, or Europe

Point is, he can hop a plane to Elsewhere and flee. I still disagree with this DA, I don't care how much experience he has or what he knows, I think letting this murderer off on a relatively low bail amt is WRONG.

[FuzzyRabbit]

32. I am old enough to remember when murdering people of color was not illegal.

I am 66 years old, and I can remember throughout the 1950s and early 1960s when southern newspapers would print photos of lynched colored people. Usually there were a couple dozen or so smiling townspeople, including children, proudly showing off their castrated, burned and hung trophy.

If I, growing up in Seattle, saw these photos every couple of weeks, Sailors, 69 years old, surely remembers them also. He may even have been one of the children shown in those news photos.

Few of these people, easily identified from the photos, were ever charged with murder or brought to trial for any other reason. Is it any wonder that Sailors thought nothing of shooting a person of color?

[Scairp]

36. I don't think he knew what race the kid was

He could have been anybody. His skin was not especially dark and he had European features. I think the shooter saw young people in a car in his driveway and being old and paranoid shot at them.

[mountain grammy]

58. As a child, I lived on the Marine base at Cherry Point, NC.

The base was integrated, Truman had fixed that, but the community definitely wasn't. On base, everyone was friendly, off base they were careful.

[zabet]

70. Sadly....

it is still that way in many of the smaller towns in NC. If you are hispanic and driving an old car in my podunkville.....you will be automatically stopped because most cops around here seem to think ALL Hispanics are undocumented and that being undocumented prevents them from buying a nice new ride (stupid I know). Racial profiling is rampant in podunkville......a white person driving through the African American part of town is automatically stopped if it is after dark because we all know the only reason white people would be there at night is to buy crack cocaine. Nevermind that this road is a shortcut for those of us who live out of the city limits on that side of town. Podunkville is run by good ol boy cops.....basically rednecks with guns......a woman suffering domestic abuse gets laughed at by our fine Law officers. Sadly, every case I have mentioned.......I have witnessed first hand or have personally experienced. I lost faith in our local Law Enforcement years ago.

[gopiscrap]

55. I agree

fuck that DA

[Ed Suspicious]

3. Pre-crime. Just like Bush-co's preemption doctrine. Sick sick world.

"Puglise previously told NBC Latino that his client believes his home was about to be burglarized when he shot Diaz."

[Deep13]

7. Well of course. The guy was Mexican, wasn't he?

Not to self, never turn around in someones driveway.

[RebelOne]

64. That seems to be vague.

First reports said that he was Cuban and then a later news report said he was Columbian. Maybe someday the press was get its facts straight.

[Deep13]

65. It only matters that he LOOKED Mexican...

...or non-white anyway.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

4. If I shot everyone who peed in my yard I would be Nuremberg material

I just don't understand this mentality when the mere presence of a person on your hallowed private property immediately triggers this violent reflex in people. It is as though these people have fantasized for years about getting away with murder and don't want to miss an opportunity.

[JeffHead]

9. My question is....

Does Georgia have a stand your ground type law that this paranoid lunatic will use to get off on?

[Hoyt]

30. I've about decided it's not necessary to have those callous laws.

All this elderly fellow - who shouldn't have a gun - needs to do is convince one juror he felt threatened he was scared. It's easier to walk in a state with a SYG law, but even without, the argument affects jury decision.

[Tunkamerica]

45. Maybe if he gets scared by trick or treaters or girl scouts he can test his mettle

[go west young man]

34. They incorporate whats known as

"the good ole boy system".

[Snarkoleptic]

10. These gun nuts can't help themselves and their frenzy is making a strong case for gun control.

irony abounds

[Chorophyll]

12. You have got to be kidding me.

If we're not even going to treat the shooting of innocent people as a serious crime, then we might as well just not have laws.

I don't care how old this guy is; he should not have been released.

[Comrade Grumpy]

14. We generally have the right to bail in this country...

...although his seems pretty low.

I wonder what the bail is for a black guy caught with some crack rocks.

[jberryhill]

15. It depends on one's financial circumstances

But drug dealers are often back out on bail in hours.

[Zoeisright]

29. Oh really.

You'd grant bail to someone who shot an unarmed person who was no threat? That prick is a danger to society. And if it was my relative who was shot, that prick would not be on this earth much longer.

[Comrade Grumpy]

37. It's not up to me. It's the law. It's in the Bill of Rights.

Although we have carved out some exceptions in recent years, which the civil libertarian in me finds a bit disturbing.

[BlueCaliDem]

52. ^^^This!^^^

Yours is the most sane and clear post among the lot. Too many are defending that good ol' boy asswipe (doing it as subtly as they can, of course) who shot and murdered an unarmed Latino. The lives of those with skin color doesn't appear to be as worthy as that of people with little skin color.

[Dreamer Tatum]

56. So the roles of judge, jury, and executioner have been outsourced to you.

Sorry you don't like it, but the law is being followed. It appears as though you want a justice system dependent upon the configuration of skin colors, which is why the lady in courthouse murals wears a blindfold. Because people like YOU were anticipated.

[Chorophyll]

46. Not saying we don't have a right to bail!

But if the shoe had been on the other foot (Latino kid blowing away an old white man for no reason) I'll bet the bail would have been set a lot higher.

If we don't treat cold-blooded murder as a serious crime, then I just don't know.

[Mnemosyne]

25. Shooter is lucky he didn't have a joint, then they'd keep his terrified cowardly ass in jail. nt

[renate]

42. I think you are precisely correct

To use a gun as a first option and not as a last resort is absolutely unforgivable. The guy was LEAVING. I cannot imagine what the justification was for releasing his murderer, however old or veterany he was.

[Angry Dragon]

18. The threat was gone, Diaz was leaving .............

murder

[ManiacJoe]

39. The threat never existed.

There is no way Sailor can reasonably explain his thoughts for "ability, opportunity, jeopardy".

[Hoyt]

50. In that Georgia county, the guy will get support for using a gun on a minority.

Guns and bigotry are big there.

[kxs]

19. I'm sure...

...it is clear to everyone that the ONLY reason the 69 year old shot the 22 year old - was because the 69 year old simply played too many violent video games. Otherwise all would have been OK. Same with the 66 year old Alabama bus driver killer, too, I'm sure...

[ZombieHorde]

23. Exactly. 69 year olds are Grand Theft Auto junkies. nt

[crim son]

60. If he has any sense at all, he has never

played any of that garbage, where entertainment lies in make-believe blood and violence. Even if they incite only the insane to action they are disgusting and have never been allowed in my home.

[brett_jv]

24. When I was a kid, this would've been greeted with ...

"Hey, you kids get out of my driveway before I call the cops!"

It is a FACT that this young man is DEAD because Mr. Sailor owned a gun. If he did NOT own a gun, nobody would be dead, nothing bad would've happened, and we'd not be reading about and commenting on the story.

ITS THE FUCKING GUN ... that allowed this to happen.

Mr. Sailor may be a perfectly nice, responsible member of the community ... in fact all available evidence suggests that he was.

But ... because HE HAD A GUN ... an apparently innocent young man is DEAD. For no other reason ...

I don't know what more evidence the 'gun-humpers' need apart from this EXACT situation to illustrate the point that, in fact, it is GUNS THAT KILL PEOPLE (or, bullets shot from a gun, to be more precise).

Even 'good guys' kill people that have no business dying, simply because the GUN IS AVAILABLE.

But of course, they'll work up some kind of justification that protects their 'right' to own the penis-extenders known as firearms despite this glaring evidence ... they'll simply say 'well, you can't be TOO careful nowadays', and jump to his (and their extenders) defense reflexively ... because in their minds, the 'wetbacks' had had it coming ... probably illegals, or, at the least, the hated 'anchor babies'. And after all, the 2nd Amendment gives all Real 'Muricans the 'right' ... to shoot whoever the fuck they want, provided they 'feel threatened'. People shouldn't be in THEIR DRIVEWAY, right? Anyone who is ... is clearly asking to be murdered.

Tiny, tiny penises. The lot of them.

[alp227]

27. Bob Costas warned us...

Quoting Jason Whitlock: "Handguns do not enhance our safety. They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it."

NO ONE LISTENED...and look what happened.

[bluestateguy]

26. They just had to mention that he is a veteran in the first paragraph

That is of no relevance to anything.

Although some teabaggers and gun nuts seem to believe that veterans should be above the law.

[go west young man]

35. Too true.

Manufacturing consent.

[atreides1]

47. I'm a Veteran

And I don't believe that veterans should be above the law!

But it plays well if this should ever come to trial, though I have serious doubts that it will...but let's see how the DA handles this.

[wordpix]

69. so far the DA has handled it badly

The murdered man is a Hispanic so let the murderer out on $10K bail, like the Hispanic's life isn't worth much. Very bad.

[Zoeisright]

28. The point is not that that jackass is a flight risk.

The point is that he shot an unarmed person who was leaving. That makes him a danger to society.

Christ on a crutch.

[ManiacJoe]

40. That is why they supposedly took away his guns.

[MrModerate]

31. Hence the term "gun nut."

You can be one without owning an arsenal.

I'd also pose the question, When the effects of stupidity are indistinguishable from those of evil, does the distinction even matter?

[JI7]

38. Something Similar happened to an Asian Student some years back

someone posted about it during the Zimmerman and stand your ground threads. it might have been the 80s but i think it was an asian student , he was an immigrant and he was going to a party and went to the wrong house and the guy just shot him.

i think there was a trial and the killer got off free.

[ManiacJoe]

41. wikipedia link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshihiro_Hattori

[Kolesar]

44. After the jurors deliberated for three and a quarter hours, Peairs was acquitted

I don't recall that story. My impression of gun owners is that I have seen a huge number of them use guns stupidly or aggressively.

[ManiacJoe]

61. Is this personal experience or just media reports?

I don't recall too many folks thinking that the jury got that one right, but we were limited to the medial reports instead of the actually trial evidence and testimony.

[Kolesar]

62. All I know is from Wikipedia or a brief look at the other headlines...eom

[mainer]

63. I followed it closely. Wikipedia has it right.

The boy went to the wrong house, dressed as John Travolta, and was shot on the doorstep. The homeowner, riled up by his hysterical and stupidly terrified wife, shot the poor kid dead. Homeowner was acquitted because he was just stupid, not "criminal". People in Japan were in disbelief -- and so was anyone who knew the story.

[alcibiades_mystery]

48. Don't Worry, Everybody! The Sailors family is "lifting the family of Diaz up in prayer!"

Everything is OK!

They're lifting them up in prayer!



"Puglise said the Sailors family is grief-stricken and is lifting the family of Diaz up in prayer." at the end of this article:

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/man-69-accused-of-killing-man-who-went-to-wrong-ho/nT8xp/

[appleannie1]

51. I blame FOX, Limpballs, Beck and the like for creating a culture of fear, paranoia, and hate. They

should all be prosecuted with the terrified old man because the are accomplices.

[kiranon]

54. Agree. So much for Southern hospitality.

[truthisfreedom]

59. If only Rodrigo had had a gun.

He could have returned the favor. Oh, wait, he was DEAD.

My bad.

[markpkessinger]

66. There are two reasons to deny a suspect release on bond . . .

. . . One is that the suspect is a flight risk. The other is that the suspect poses a risk to the community. A man who shoots someone who accidentally pulls into his driving merely because he thinks (based on what? the subjects ethnicity?) he is about to be burglarized is, I would argue, a substantial risk to the community!

[wordpix]

68. that's what I think, too - the murderer is a risk to community---I would certainly not like this guy

as my neighbor. Too trigger happy and unstable for close proximity.