Prosecutor Drops Charges Against Yakima Man in Shooting

This is One Crackima's synopsis and response to an article published by Newstalk KIT 1280 on August 22, 2023. The original article was "Charges Dropped Against Yakima Man After Two Shot." It was written by Lance Tormey.

What KIT's Shooting Article Said

On August 4th, Yakima police received a 911 call from someone transporting two individuals to Memorial Hospital. The two individuals were 16 and 30 years old. When the police arrived at Memorial, both were being treated for multiple gunshot wounds.

Using FLOCK technology (a license plate recognition tool), the police identified and arrested a 29 year old man. He was held on possible 1st degree assault and was presumed to be responsible for the shooting.

According to KIT's article, the 29 year old and one of the hospitalized men were allegedly in an alteration just prior to the shooting. After the altercation, both parties got in their cars, and made it to the 600 block of Maple Street where shots were exchanged.

Because of this initial altercation, Joe Brusic and the Prosecutor's Office have decided it's possible the 29 year old was acting in self-defense and could claim such. For this reason, he was released from jail.

What We Think of KIT's Shooting Article

Please note, this is One Crackima's section for commentary. We can't guarantee accuracy because the original article itself may not have been accurate. These are just visceral thoughts based on the information provided.

We Commend the Yakima Police Department

First, One Crackima salutes our police department for using FLOCK technology. This is a great example of the use of technology in policing, which our tax dollars pay for. We don't hear stories about that enough locally.

Yakima's Court System is Inconsistent

Second, we would like to p0int out a massive inconsistency in the Yakima court system's idea of "due process."

For example, One Crackima is personally aware of an individual who was held in jail for almost two years on allegations (NOT convictions) of child abuse. That individual eventually pled guilty to a lower charge – whether they were guilty or not – because the court had taken two years of their life away, and they had to rely on a very slow court-appointed attorney.

This is one of many examples we've heard of.

Contrast this with shooting situation.

The 29 year old man was identified by police for the shooting. He was held for about two weeks in jail. He was released on the possibility, not even an actuality, that he acted in self-defense.

The Argument of Self-Defense Looks Muddy

Lastly, according to KIT's article, the sequence of events appeared to be as follows:

1. There was an initial assault between the 29 year old and one of the hospitalized men.
2. The two parties got into their vehicles - the 16 and 30 year olds in one car, the 29 year old in another.
3. The 29 year old (aka, the arrested man) was the pursuer.
4. The cars made it to the 600 block of Maple Street where shots were exchanged between the 29 and 30 year olds.
5. The 16 and 30 year olds went to Memorial Hospital.
6. The 29 year old fled and was later arrested.

If the sequence of events was correctly reported by KIT (and maybe it wasn't, again we're just discussing news), then the argument of self-defense should be questioned; the 29 year old man arrested was the pursuer.

For citizens, pursuing a threat after it leaves your area doesn't usually qualify as self-defense. At that point, you're continuing the fight. This likely wouldn't stack up in your favor in court when a judge asks, "They were leaving the area, why did you continue follow? Why did this escalate into shots being fired?"

The original article from KIT can be found here.
If KIT has moved it, One Crackima's hard copy is here.