No felony charges for Black Friday pepper spray suspect

[alp227]

Source: CNN

A southern California woman accused of pepper-spraying video-game shoppers in a Walmart on Black Friday will not face felony charges, prosecutors said.

"We have reviewed the evidence, and made the determination that it did not rise to the level of a felony filing. We referred the case to the City Attorney's office for consideration of misdemeanor charges," said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office Thursday.

The incident at a Walmart in the neighborhood of Porter Ranch made national headlines.

Elizabeth Macias, 32, is accused of dousing fellow shoppers with the irritant as people were grabbing for Xbox video game consoles, police said.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/09/justice/california-pepper-spray-suspect/index.html

[Demeter]

1. Thank GOD I got Out of California

[Iggo]

3. Yeah, we suck.

Others are way better than we are.

[alp227]

10. Odd, I moved TO CA from Ann Arbor when I was very young

and haven't stepped back in Michigan since I finished kindergarten in the summer of 1997.

[ThoughtCriminal]

2. They don't want to admit that pepper spraying

is a violent assault.

[Iggo]

4. Interesting interpretation.

I like it.

[appleannie1]

5. That is exactly it. If they did they would have to admit that cops the the ones doing the assaultin

[freefall]

Yup!

I think you nailed that one.

[freefall]

6. Yup!

I think you nailed that one.

[JoeyT]

9. +1

Charging her with a felony would go against years of propaganda. All that money spent convincing people pepper spray is perfectly harmless would be wasted.

[alp227]

13. Maybe this woman should become a police officer!

[Fantastic Anarchist]

14. I thought the same thing.

[Xithras]

15. Under California law, even violent assault is charged as a misdemeanor.

You don't know me from Adam, but if we're walking down a sidewalk toward each other, and I haul off and punch you in the jaw without provocation or warning, that would qualify as either midemeanor Assault or Simple Battery under California law (both of which carry sentences of up to 6 months in prison).

In order to rise to a felony, the assault would need to meet additional legal requirements such as "great bodily injury", or the use of a "deadly weapon", or a combination with another crime (assault during robbery or rape), or a history of past assault convictions. Simply assaulting and injuring someone isn't enough to qualify as a felony on it's own, unless the injuries are serious enough to pass the "great bodily injury" threshold.

Pepper spray is nasty, but it's not lethal and wouldn't qualify as a deadly weapon. Pepper spray hurts, but it doesn't leave permanent injury, break bones, or require surgical intervention to correct. Assuming that she hasn't done this before, they legally couldn't charge her with a felony. It would be stupid to even try, because no prosecutor could ever prove that her actions rose to the legal requirements of that charge.

[Shoe Horn]

23. exactamundo!

[A Simple Game]

24. True, that and it is hard to just fine someone for a felony,

not so with a misdemeanor.

No jail space in California..

[Lance_Boyle]

7. Nonsense.

Had this been a man he would have been arrested on the spot.

[mikeytherat]

8. Police are not sure if she acted in self-defense, yet afterward she took her items to checkout,

bought them and left the store?

mikey_the_rat

[slackmaster]

11. The police probably determined that some man drove her to do it, so it's not her fault

:argh:

[nobodyspecial]

18. Wow, where the hell did that come from?

How does that even remotely apply in this case? Sorry for your past/current difficulties with women, but there's no reason to be so hostile.

[left coaster]

22. Get professional help. Seriously. nt

[liberalhistorian]

25. Holy shit!

Sexist much? Where in the fuck did that come from?

[Dreamer Tatum]

12. A shitty thing to do doesn't equal felony. I do hope she gets a misdemeanor. nt

[blackspade]

16. Cutting in line is a shitty thing to do.

Pepper spraying is no different from me punching someone in the gut.

In other words an assault.

[russspeakeasy]

17. Yup ! Good analogy.

[Dreamer Tatum]

19. Agreed: misdemeanor assault. nt

[blackspade]

20. How is an assault with intent to cause injury a "misdemeanor"

in your book?

[24601]

21. Is it to much to hope that the merchandise she bought on

Black Friday has been impounded as evidence? There should be some way to ensure the consequences don't reward her greed.

With Attorneys fees, court costs, etc, that bargain XBox should run her at least double MSRP.

[Downwinder]

26. Does this mean that protesters can use pepper spray?

[DotGone]

27. She was just feeding her fellow shoppers

All that pushing and shoving for the $2 waffle maker expends a lot of energy. She was just giving them a little food product to replenish their energy.