re: Will Smith Murder Trial-Guilty of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter

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Fun Bunch (who apparently is a lawyer) way earlier in this thread said that in Louisiana, murder 2 and manslaughter are pretty much synonymous.. is this accurate?

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The act itself, I guess so. The classic manslaughter example is a husband coming home to find his wife in bed and shooting them both. However, if the husband blows up, allows the guy to start getting dressed, and then shoots him, it's a murder. The provocation has to be sufficient to basically make the defendant lose self-control, and the killing has to happen during that moment. If a reasonable person's blood would have cooled, it's a murder.

ETA: furthermore, it can't be something that the defendant starts.

I think Fuller/Hayes needed to do 3 things for him to get off in my eyes.

1. Show that Smith's party were the aggressors in the altercation (I think witness testimony did show this. Multiple accounts described Hayes as calm while Smith and more so Hernandez were the aggressors.)

2. Show that Smith had gotten the weapon out of the glove box or something to this extent (didn't do that)

3. Explain why Racquel was also shot (definitely didn't do that).

He shouldn't get off but I still think Smith's party were the aggressors and Hayes acted in defense (not justifiably) so I would go with manslaughter.

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Now I can see maybe being iffy on what extent to punish him,

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I didn't explain myself very well. That's more of where I'm at. WS and Hernandez didn't do anything to help themselves but that doesn't mean he should've died.

Shitty all around.

All of my black friends love saying "mayne he got fuller, fuller ah dog!" While I've been telling them fuller is nothing but self promotion.

I don't know if a level headed attorney would try to shoot for the manslaughter charge at this point but I know fuller won't. He wants sensationalism.... although if I was looking at 40 years I'd probably just say frick it and give me life.

This is the first time I've seen that video, but that is justin ross, the witness from Thursday


Yeah I know him well and just had lunch with him last week and got the scoop

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This is the first time I've seen that video, but that is justin ross, the witness from Thursday


Yeah I know him well and just had lunch with him last week and got the scoop

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weird because in the video he mentions both sides talking about a gun. I wonder why they didnt play back the video and ask him about it.


here is a synopsis of his testimony

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2:37 p.m. Justin Ross, a bystander at the crime scene who recorded cell phone video after the shooting that was later deleted, was cross examined by Hayes' defense attorney Jay Daniels. Daniels asked Ross if it was correct that he heard Richard Hernandez, who was a passenger Will Smith's Hernandez, in say at the scene, "I'm going to f------ kill you n-----." Ross testified that it was "correct." Ross clarified later that the statement was yelled by Hernandez to "both of them," referring to both Hayes and O'Neal. Daniels noted that a report from and FBI agent who took Ross's statement said that the threat was directed at "the driver" of the Hummer. Ross also answered it was "correct," when Daniels asked him if it was true that he heard an occupant of the Hummer "telling folks to call an ambulance" and to "get this man some help." Daniels asked Ross about a statement Ross made to police that there was a man crouched near the Hummer, "like he's upset." "I think you described it as him being emotional?" Daniels asked "Correct, sir," Ross said. 2:05 p.m. The trial resumed around 2 p.m. Prosecutor Jason Napoli called the state's next witness, Justin Ross, who was at Half Moon bar, near the crime scene, at the time of the traffic crash and shooting. Ross testified that he took cell phone video after he heard the shots, trying to capture the scene, but the video has been deleted. Ross said before the shooting, he thought the scene was "hilarious," because, "You have grown men fighting over a fender bender." Ross testified he saw a shirtless man he later learned was Richard Hernandez, a passenger in Smith's Mercedes, being especially aggressive. "I mean he was threatening them," Ross said of Hernandez. Ross said he also saw Hernandez push down a woman, who was later determined to be Hernandez' wife. Ross said Hernandez and a man he later learned was Kevin O'Neal, the passenger in Hayes' Hummer, were "arguing." Ross testified he saw men he later learned to be Hayes and Will Smith arguing on the driver's side. "I saw a woman between both of them. She had both her arms up, she was pushing Will Smith back." Ross continued: "And then I hear pop, pop, pop, pop pop. And drop down immediately behind a car," Ross testified. He said he then started recording on his phone and directed the camera toward the shooting. Ross testified he heard O'Neal say, "'Back down, back off. I have a gun. Back down.'" Napoli asked Ross if the statement from O'Neal that he had a gun was "loud enough" so someone of the driver's side could hear. Ross answered, "Possibly, I mean, it was pretty loud." Ross testified that after the shooting, he heard Hayes say, "I told him not to mess with me. I told him not to do it." Napoli asked, "Did you see Will Smith do anything to indicate he was posing a threat?" Ross answered, "No, sir."

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Well it's been close to 8 months. That's well over the time the justice system gives the DA to either indict or release. I think it was once 120 days in Louisiana but possibly moved to 60 or 90 days (felony and Miss is different). I just remember people referencing the "60 day murder" meaning people were released after committing murder because the DA hadn't indicted them yet.

Also the 6th amendment gives everyone a right to a speedy trial.

*dont quote me on any of this stuff please, I'm far from an attorney.

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weird because in the video he mentions both sides talking about a gun. I wonder why they didnt play back the video and ask him about it.

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Who put that into evidence? If it was defense and they didn't question more details about it, is that poor lawyering and grounds for an appeal if convicted?

No that was the first time he mentioned it. He tried to say that his talking to the police didn't qualify as an interrogation and that he only told the full story to his lawyers. The forensics dispute that Smith ever fired a gun.