A sentence of death was recently imposed by a Wharton County jury against defendant James Garrett Freeman for the capital murder of Texas Game Warden Justin Hurst.
Jury selection began on September 8, testimony on October 20, and Freeman was sentenced on November 7, 2008. The most compelling and gripping evidence included the in-car video footage of the defendant getting out of his pick-up immediately after an hour and a half chase down the back roads of Wharton County.
The video showed him emptying 11 rounds of his Glock semi-automatic weapon and then retrieving his AK-47 and firing both at six different police cars. The clip ends when Freeman shoots out the camera in a deputy's car.
Because so many law enforcement officers were involved in the chase and gunfight, there were seven separate in-car videos from different vantage points offered before the jury. One of those videos is the one described above. Another video depicts the tragic death of Warden Hurst when he was shot by the defendant with his AK-47.
The point of discussion has to do with the fact that the video depicting James Garrett Freeman (pictured right) firing his weapons was posted on YouTube within a week or so after the trial concluded. I learned of this when I got a phone call from Freeman's lead defense attorney, a well-respected attorney from here in Texas, Stanley Schneider. I do not know how the posting of the video on YouTube came to Stanley's attention. I do know that we made a point of notifying Justin's family and his fellow Texas Parks and Wildlife "family" of its posting immediately.
They were upset. They were angry. Do you blame them?
But were they surprised? For the most part, not really.
Because so many law enforcement officers were involved in the chase and gunfight, there were seven separate in-car videos from different vantage points offered before the jury. One of those videos is the one described above. Another video depicts the tragic death of Warden Hurst when he was shot by the defendant with his AK-47.
The point of discussion has to do with the fact that the video depicting James Garrett Freeman (pictured right) firing his weapons was posted on YouTube within a week or so after the trial concluded. I learned of this when I got a phone call from Freeman's lead defense attorney, a well-respected attorney from here in Texas, Stanley Schneider. I do not know how the posting of the video on YouTube came to Stanley's attention. I do know that we made a point of notifying Justin's family and his fellow Texas Parks and Wildlife "family" of its posting immediately.
They were upset. They were angry. Do you blame them?
But were they surprised? For the most part, not really.
And THAT surprised me. Maybe because I'm still proud of myself for being able to e-mail in this tech-savvy day and age. Maybe because I have looked at something on YouTube a grand total of two times with this being one of them. Admittedly, I am way "behind the times."
All of that is beside the point. As is asking ourselves the question regarding how a piece of evidence in a public trial could get posted on YouTube so quickly. The link is http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7f4_1226297782. Doesn't really matter and we'll never know for sure.
The question that SHOULD be asked is . . . How will it make Justin's loved ones and friends feel when they see such a clip on the World Wide Web?
To you the "post-er": Did you think about that? Did it ever cross your mind? Did you contemplate the idea that Justin's wife and mother and father would have to deal with seeing that clip for years? That his now infant son would also be faced with the same tragic situation years from now?
From Stanley Schneider's point of view and that of Freeman and his family: Did you appreciate the effect of the posting from an appellate perspective?
In this media-hungry world, in this day of non-stop 24-hour "breaking" news, should we be surprised? Probably not.
Might we still hope that there exists some remnant of integrity and sense of decency when it comes to writing or posting whatever piques our interest? We can only wish.
I wouldn't hold my breath.
