Ebens, Peairs, and now Zimmerman

[Generic Other]

Last edited Sat Jul 20, 2013, 02:35 PM - Edit history (2)

Like Zimmerman, Ebens and Peairs were acquitted.
Both went on to lose in civil court. Neither has yet to make full restitution.

The man who killed Vincent Chin apologizes 30 years later:

On the phone, Ebens, a retired auto worker, said killing Chin was "the only wrong thing I ever done in my life." Though he received probation and a fine, and never served any time for the murder, Ebens says he's prayed many times for forgiveness over the years. His contrition sounded genuine over the phone.

"It's absolutely true, I'm sorry it happened and if there's any way to undo it, I'd do it," said Ebens, 72. "Nobody feels good about somebody's life being taken, okay? You just never get over it. . .Anybody who hurts somebody else, if you're a human being, you're sorry, you know."

Ebens said he'd take back that night if he could "a thousand times," and that after all these years, he can't put the memory out of his mind. "Are you kidding? It changed my whole life," said Ebens. "It's something you never get rid of. When something like that happens, if you're any kind of a person at all, you never get over it. Never."

Ebens' life has indeed changed. As a consequence of the Chin murder, Ebens said he lost his job, his family, and has scraped by from one low-wage job to the next to make ends meet. Ultimately, he remarried and sought refuge in Nevada, where he's been retired eight years, owns a home and lives paycheck to paycheck on Social Security. His current living situation makes recovery of any part of the millions of dollars awarded to Chin's heirs in civil proceedings highly unlikely.

The civil award, with interest, has grown to around $8 million.

http://aaldef.org/blog/ronald-ebens-the-man-who-killed-vincent-chin-apologizes-30-years-later.html

The man who killed Yoshihiro Hattori:

The 12-member jury took just over three hours to acquit the defendant, Rodney Peairs, 31, of manslaughter in the killing of 16-year-old Yoshihiro Hattori last October.

<snip>

Mr. Hattori was looking for a Halloween party in the Baton Rouge suburb of Central on Oct. 17 when he and a companion mistakenly rang Mr. Peairs's doorbell, frightening his wife. The case became the focus of intense interest in Japan because it seemed to confirm the Japanese view of America as a place rife with guns. News of the verdict led newscasts in Japan on Monday.

<snip>

Three days of testimony made it clear that the teen-ager had been killed almost by reflex. Little more than a minute passed between the time Mr. Hattori rang the Peairses' doorbell and the time Mr. Peairs shot him.

During those moments, the suburban household was in turmoil and terror, according to testimony. Without exchanging any words with his wife, Mr. Peairs responded to her frightened demand that he get his gun. He pulled a loaded .44-caliber Magnum revolver from his suitcase, went to the door of his carport, opened it, and fired at Mr. Hattori after the boy failed to heed his warning to "freeze."

"There was no thinking involved," Mr. Peairs's wife, Bonnie, said on Saturday during an hour of testimony in which she broke down in tears several times. "I wish I could have thought. If I could have just thought."

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/24/us/acquittal-in-doorstep-killing-of-japanese-student.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

A judge today awarded more than $650,000 in damages and funeral costs to the parents of a Japanese exchange student, saying there was "no justification whatsoever" for the killing of the 16-year-old boy who approached a suburban homeowner's door in a Halloween costume almost two years ago.

The judge's ruling in a case that crystallized major cultural differences between Japan and America contrasted with a criminal court jury's verdict last year, when the homeowner, Rodney Peairs, was acquitted of manslaughter. Judge Bill Brown, who heard the civil case without a jury, condemned the shooting, which had provoked outrage in Japan, where gun ownership is rare.

Speaking in a quiet but firm voice, Judge Brown said that he was not making any "social comment" about gun control, but he made clear that he believed Mr. Peairs was wrong to use his gun.

"There was absolutely no need to the resort of a dangerous weapon," the judge told a crowded and silent courtroom.

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/16/us/judge-awards-damages-in-japanese-youth-s-death.html

On edit: Revised to make clear the connection between the three cases. Profiling crimes. Maybe Zimmerman will lose his civil court trial too.

[dem in texas]

1. Check the Mentality of these gun nuts

They think they are tough because they own a gun. They do not have enough smarts to think through what can happen if they fire the gun and kill an innocent person. All they think about is how big and bad they are. Then when confronted with a situation where they are scared, they pull out the gun, shoot first and ask questions later. The stand your ground law is designed to help these stupid people who should be going to jail. It is so sad that what is happening in the US, we are awash in guns. You see the stories where the person owns 20 or 30 guns and hundreds of rounds of ammo. How can we ever get back on the right track on gun control?

[Generic Other]

2. I guess I am glad the guy who killed Chin feels he has suffered

that his life was ruined, that he's haunted. That seems like justice served.

I am predicting based on these cases that Zimmerman will be held liable in civil court of depriving Martin of his life. He will be liable for monetary damages, but he will never pay. 30 years form now, he too will wish he could take it back.

[Generic Other]

3. I guess people have forgotten about Chin

Struck with a baseball bat multiple times because he was mistaken for a Japanese person taking the jobs of Detroit autoworkers. Chin was Chinese American.