THE MAN WHO SHOT AND
KILLED FORMER NFL PLAYER JOE MCKNIGHT HAS BEEN ARRESTED AND
CHARGED WITH MANSLAUGHTER.
RONALD GASSER IS THE PERSON WHO
SHOT AND KILLED MCKNIGHT AND APPARENTLY, IT ALL OCCURRED
DURING A ROAD RAGE ACCIDENT.
THIS STORY WAS MUCH MORE
CONTROVERSY LAST WEEK WHEN AUTHORITIES DECIDED TO LET HIM
GO WITHOUT CHARGING HIM.
THEY SAID THAT THEY WANTED TO DO A
PROPER INVESTIGATION BEFORE DETAINING AND CHARGING HIM WITH
ANYTHING.
AUTHORITIES SAY GASSER FATALLY SHOT MCKNIGHT,
27, FROM INSIDE HIS VEHICLE DURING A ROAD RAGE INCIDENT
DURING THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1 THAT WE NOW HAVE MORE INFORMATION
ABOUT WHAT ACTUALLY OCCURRED AND AGAIN THIS IS NOT ALL OF THE
INFORMATION.
THIS IS A VERY DETAILED BUT AT LEAST WE KNOW
MORE.
ALLEGEDLY WHAT HAPPENED WAS THE TWO WERE DRIVING
ERRATICALLY, CUTTING ONE ANOTHER OFF AND THEN THEY BOTH STOPPED
AT A RED LIGHT.
THE COPS ALLEGE THAT MCKNIGHT GOT OUT OF HIS
VEHICLE, APPROACHED GASSER AND AT THAT POINT GASSER GOT A GUN
HE HAD IN HIS CAR AND SHOT AND KILLED MCKNIGHT.
GASSER IS
CLAIMING THAT HE FELT THREATENED BUT ANOTHER THING TO KEEP IN
MIND IS THAT LOUISIANA, THE STATE WERE THIS HAPPENED, HAS
VERY SPECIFIC LAWS PERTAINING TO STAND YOUR GROUND WHICH COULD
VERY EASILY USE BE USED AS A DEFENSE FOR GASSER.
THE NAACP
AND OTHERS HAVE POINTED TO THE CASE OF CARDELL HAYES WHO WAS
ARRESTED BY NEW ORLEANS POLICE AND CHARGED WITH SECOND-DEGREE
MURDER AFTER FATALLY SHOOTING FORMER STATE STAR WILL SMITH
UNDER SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES IN APRIL.
THE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE
SOMEWHAT SIMILAR BUT THERE'S ACTUALLY A LOT OF DIFFERENCES
THERE.
THE SHOOTER THERE NOT ONLY SHOT WILL SMITH AND KILLED
HIM, HE ALSO SHOT HIS SIGNIFICANT OTHER.
I FEEL LIKE
IT'S A LITTLE UNFAIR TO COMPARE THE TWO CASES, BUT THE IMPORTANT
THING TO KEEP IN MIND RIGHT NOW IS THAT WE HAVE RONALD
GASSER BEHIND BARS.
HE HAS BEEN CHARGED AND HE WILL BE FACING TRIAL.
I WAS WATCHING A LOCAL LOUISIANA NEWS REPORT ABOUT THIS
AND EVEN ANCHOR KEPT ASKING THE EXPERT THAT THEY HAD BROUGHT IN,
HE WAS LIKE, CARDELL HAYES COULD USE THIS IN HIS DEFENSE.
I AM A
BLACK EYE, THERE'S A ROAD RAGE INCIDENT, I GET CHARGED.
I'M
NOT BASING THESE MAXIMUM PENALTIES.
WHITE GUY UNDER
SIMILAR SITUATIONS, I MEAN, THEY BOTH SHOP FORMER PROFESSIONAL
FOOTBALL PLAYERS.
IT'S AMAZING HOW SIMILAR IT IS, IN THE SAME
STATE, IN ROAD RAGE INCIDENCES.
HE MIGHT BE ABLE TO USE IN HIS
OWN DEFENSE AND ANCHOR KEPT SAYING, IT IS HARD TO
EXPLAIN WHY THEY WERE TREATED SO DIFFERENTLY.
I AGREE WITH ANNA, THERE ARE BIG DIFFERENCES IN WHAT BOTHERS
ME IS I DON'T WANT CARDELL HAYES TO GET OFF.
EXACTLY DIE DOESN'T MATTER IF THE SHOOTER WAS BLACK OR WHITE.
I WANT TO REALLY EMPHASIZE THAT.
WHAT MATTERS IS SOMEONE USED A
LETHAL WEAPON LIKE A GUN TO SHOOT AND KILL ANOTHER PERSON.
REGARDLESS OF THEY ARE IF THEY ARE BLACK-AND-WHITE, I WANT
THEM TO BE PROPERLY CHARGED AND I WANTED TO BE INVESTIGATED.
I DON'T WANT THEM TO BE RIGHT ON THE STREETS AFTER THEY
KILLED SOMEONE.
SO CARDELL HAYES GETTING OFF, IT WOULD APPEAR TO BE A GIANT IN
DOES JUSTICE.
HE HAS AN.
THAT TRIAL IS JUST BEGINNING.
NOT
ONLY DID HE KILL WILL SMITH COMING KILLED HIS IN ANOTHER.
IT DOESN'T MATTER, IF YOU GET INTO A ROAD RAGE INCIDENT, YOU
HAVE NO RIGHT TO KILL ANYONE.
CONSERVATIVE CENK UGER, WHEN I
WAS IN LAW SCHOOL AND I WAS JUDICIALLY CONSERVATIVE AND OF
REPUBLICAN VOTER BACK THEN I WOULD GET ANNOYED EVEN
MANSLAUGHTER CHARGES BECAUSE MANSLAUGHTER IMPLIES I WAS ANGRY
SO THAT'S WHY I SHOT HIM.
AND?
I DON'T FIND THAT TO BE A LESSER
CRIME AT ALL.
BUT THEY CALCULATED THAT MURDER AND THEN
THEY KILLED HIM.
I DON'T CARE IF YOU CALCULATED OR YOU JUST
GOT ANGRY AND YOU ARE A JACKASS AND KILLED HIM.
I THINK IT
SHOULD BE THE SAME CHARGE.
IT'S MURDER.
I HOPE CARDELL HAYES
WAS BROUGHT TO JUSTICE AT THE END OF THAT CHILD I ALSO GASSER
IS BROUGHT TO JUSTICE.
ONE OF THE THINGS I'M ACTUALLY WORRIED
ABOUT.
WE WERE WORRIED INITIALLY THAT HE WAS NOT GOING
TO BE BECAUSE HE WAS RELEASED.
THAT IS RESOLVED NOW, FANTASTIC.
THE SECOND THING IS THE DEFENSE OFIF I'M IN MY CAR, I CAN SHOOT
YOU ACCORDING TO STANDARD GROUND.
YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND
SOMETHING NORMALLY, YOU HAVE TO WORRY THAT YOUR LIFE IS IN
IMMINENT DANGER AND THEN YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO DO SELF-DEFENSE
BUT IF YOU ARE IN YOUR HOUSE, YOUR PLACE OF BUSINESS OR YOUR
CAR YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE WORRIED ABOUT IMMINENT THREAT TO
YOUR LIFE, IF SOMEONE STEPS INTO THOSE PLACES ACCORDING TO
THIS LAW YOU CAN JUST SHOOT THEM AND KILL THEM.
THAT IS INSANE AND IT WOULD BE A LOOPHOLE THAT WOULD ALLOW
HIM TO GET OFF.
LET ME GIVE YOU THE WORDING OF THE LAW AND AGAIN THIS IS IN
LOUISIANA.
ACCORDING TO LOUISIANA'S LAW, WHEN COMMITTED
BY A PERSON LAWFULLY INSIDE A DWELLING, A PLACE OF BUSINESS,
OR A MOTOR VEHICLE AS DEFINED BY RS 32 ONE AGAINST A PERSON WHO
IS ATTEMPTING TO MAKE AN ALL UNLAWFUL ENTRY INTO THE
DWELLING, PLACE OF BUSINESS, OR MOTOR VEHICLE AND THE PERSON
COMMITTING THE HOMICIDE REASONABLY BELIEVES THAT THE USE
OF DEADLY FORCE IS NECESSARY TO PREVENT INJURY OR TO COMPEL THE
INTRUDER TO LEAVE THE PREMISES OR MOTOR VEHICLE.
YOU JUST HAVE
TO PROVE THAT YOU WERE TRYING TO PREVENT THAT PERSON FROM
ENTERING THE VEHICLE.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO PROVE THAT THERE WAS AN
IMMINENT THREAT THERE.
AGAIN, I THINK GASSER CAN VERY
SUCCESSFULLY USE THIS AS A DEFENSE ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING
THE FACT THAT POLICE NOW SAY THAT THEY HAVE INTERVIEWED
HUNDRED AND 60 PEOPLE AND THEY HAVE DONE 12 HOURS OF
INTERVIEWS WITH GASSER AND THEY BELIEVE THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED.
MCKNIGHT APPROACHES VEHICLE AND THAT WAS WHEN GASSER FIRED
HIS WEAPON.
BIG NIGHT HAD NO WEAPONS AT ALL.
WHALE NONSTOP.
THERE'S AN UPDATE TO THAT AS WELL.
ORIGINALLY, LAST WEEK WHEN WE REPORTED THE STORY POLICE
OFFICIAL SAID THEY WERE STILL SEARCHING FOR A GUN.
AT THIS
POINT, THEY ARE SAYING THAT THEY DID FIND A GUN HOWEVER IT WAS IN
MCKNIGHT'S, THE VEHICLE THAT MCKNIGHT WAS DRIVING WAS
HIS STEPFATHER'S VEHICLE AND THERE'S NO INDICATION HE
WAS GOING FOR THE GUN.
[BUFFERING]
Someone enters your conference second, I KNOW CONSERVATIVES ARE
SO DEATHLY AFRAID OF EVERYTHING, I AM GOING TO GET CARJACKED,
THEY'RE GOING TO COME AT MY PLACE OF BUSINESS.
MAYBE THEY
ARE JUST TRYING, SOLICITATION, I WAS GOING TO SAY SELLING A
CYCLOPEDIA'S.
DECIMAL SCHOOL STUFF RIGHT THERE.
IN A PLACE
OF BUSINESS, THEY WOULD COME AROUND AND TRY TO SELL YOU
STUFF.
THESE GUYS ARE SO JITTERY.
THERE LIKE I'M GOING
TO ISSUE HIM.
DON'T SHOOT HIM AND DON'T HAVE INSANE LAWS LIKE THIS ON
THE BOOK THAT ENCOURAGES IT.
YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.
FINALLY
ONE OTHER THING I WANTED TO ADD.
I JUST WANT TO GIVE YOU DETAILS
ON GASSER'S HISTORY.
IN FEBRUARY 2006 AS REPORTED BY THE
NEW YORK TIMES, HE WAS CHARGED WITH SIMPLE BATTERY AFTER A
CONFRONTATION WITH ANOTHER DRIVER THAT BEGAN AT THE SAME
INTERSECTION IN LOUISIANA WHERE MISTER MCKNIGHT WAS SHOT.
A 51 YEAR OLD
MAN HAD CALLED 911 TO REPORT THAT A MAN BEHIND THE WHEEL OF A
RED PICKUP WAS DRIVING UNSAFELY.
THE MAN TURNED OUT TO BE MR.
GASSER ANY VERBAL ALTERCATION ENSUED.
MR.GASSER FOLLOWED
THE MAN TO A SERVICE STATION WERE MR.
GASSER CONFRONTED HIM AND
BEGAN TO STRIKE HIM WITH A CLOSED FIST SEVERAL TIMES.
THE CHARGE WAS LATER DISMISSED.
THIS GUY IS SO UNHINGED.
THAT 51-YEAR-OLD THAT HAD THE ENCOUNTER WITH THEM LAST
TIME, MUST BE THINKING THANK GOD HE DIDN'T HAVE HIS GUN AND
HE JUST PUNCH ME INSTEAD OF MURDERING ME THAT DAY.