A teacher and football coach was in jail in Clark County for murder after hitting a man with one punch and the one punch killed a visitor from Utah.
From the Las Vegas Sun: The wife of a Florida high school football coach being held on a murder charge said Friday her husband was defending himself when he threw a single punch that authorities say killed a Utah man in a Las Vegas Strip casino.
Benjamin Hawkins, 37, pleaded not guilty Friday during a brief appearance before a Las Vegas judge. The judge scheduled a Tuesday bail hearing and set a July 21 date to hear evidence in the early Wednesday slaying of John Massie, 46, of Roy, Utah.
"It just looked like he wouldn't leave my husband alone," Leticia Hawkins, 35, a banker from Gainesville, Fla., told The Associated Press outside the courtroom. "My husband was defending himself."
Defense attorney Jack Buchanan told the AP he wanted to review security videotapes that police say clearly show the confrontation between Benjamin Hawkins and Massey after the two exited a men's restroom at O'Sheas, along with the single punch that felled Massie.
Benjamin Hawkins told police that Massie made a comment about a "black man in a yellow shirt" in the restroom. He also said he told Massie to shut up before the two men squared off in the food court area of O'Sheas.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jul/08/wife-calls-fatal-punch-osheas-self-defense/
Hawkins is married and has 3 kids and was on a trip from Florida to Las Vegas and they had just started their vacation.
My thoughts: Black man in a yellow in a yellow shirt. Huh? I've never heard anything bad about blacks being in yellow shirts. Red and or blue- yes, those are gang troubles. Same with green. So, this doesn't make any sense.
Hawkins also felt threatened by the victim' actions, but other than mouthing off, the article doesn't mention anything about Massie throwing any punches or pushing Hawkins. Since Massie was smaller than Hawkins, I doubt that Hawkins would have intimidated.
In Las Vegas, we have some rude and ignorant people who come to Las Vegas and think they can do anything they want. It's almost like Mardi Gras every weekend here in Las Vegas and some people insist on acting like jerks.
But does that mean that it is necessary to throw punches at everyone who acts like a jerk? No, of course not.
Mr. Hawkins is a football coach and the one thing they teach at football school is to maintain composure, no matter what the opposition says and does.
If Massie did not die, nothing would have come of this case. If there were no injuries, there probably have been no arrests or maybe a ticket or two. But because Massie died, Hawkins is sitting in CCDC awaiting to find out about his future.
I feel sorry for Mr. Hawkins and the victim in the case, Mr. Massie. If Massie have kept his mouth shut then Hawkins would not have punched out Massie. Throw the yellow flag at Hawkis and Massie for stupidity.
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This is an unfortunate case. There was a fatal brawl outside a bar in Wisconsin a year or two ago in which a punch to the face also resulted in homicide.
ReplyDelete"I feel sorry for Mr. Hawkins and the victim in the case, Mr. Massie. If Massie have kept his mouth shut then Hawkins would not have punched out Massie."
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the "they were asking for it" mentality. I'm sure you'd have the same sentiment to a female who was raped because she dressed like a slut. After all, like you said, "it probably wouldn't have happened otherwise."
There is a difference between doing nothing except dressing a certain and the other, which is being provocative using your mouth.
ReplyDeleteDid he deserve to die? No, of course not. Did he deserve a pop in the mouth- depends on what was said.
In 99% of the cases, the guy would not have been hurt or maybe had a bloody nose or black eye. But something bad happened and he ended up dying. It's a shame, but if the guy kept his mouth shut, he would be still alive now and that cannot be denied.
You just restated the author's original point, basically "if he didn't want to die, he should have kept his mouth shut."
ReplyDeleteIt can also not be denied that if he hadn't been hit, by a murderer, he would still be alive right now.
If,if,if,if,if. It works both ways. "If" this guy didn't want to go to jail, he should have kept his hands to himself.
how do you feel threatened by a smaller white man (with his hands in his pockets) and with 1000 cameras above you and 40 security guards in a throws distance?
ReplyDeletealso you have 100's of witnesses all around you.
people have insult wars all the time, NEVER gives you the right to sucker punch them. but here you have Benjamin (a militant black man) with a massive ego to boot. you also call this type of individual scum of the earth.