Quote:
Originally Posted by Sistine Chapel
Being a trained fighter and a pro are probably two different things. Besides the precedent has been set.
Mixed Martial Artist’s Hands Deemed “Deadly Weapons” in Texas Assault Case
https://combatsportslaw.com/2015/11/...-assault-case/
Had he given them a warning and registered his hands he might not have caught this case.  |
That's a convoluted case from jump. He plead guilty then got an appeal.
The "victim" was a cop who suffered a burst bursa and subsequent staph infection. The charges were elevated apparently after the infection. Dude was a MMA fighter. There is some confusion as to what he was told if he plead out of a trial. He plead on another charge from the same incident, Aggravated assault/machete, which he used on the dude he beat up. So they used the machete to elevate the first charge. Piling on like they do they heaped that stupid hands thing on the Assaulting a police officer charge. The appeal document makes it sound like the machete was just a convenient tool to drop the "aggravated" charge. He beat the guy up with his hands more than using a machete. If the hands were so deadly why not use them as the weapon instead?
At any rate, based on the appeal documents, it doesn't appear he was the sharpest knife in the drawer and probably thought(my opinion) it would boost his cred if he had an assault charge elevated to aggravated and his hands listed as the weapon then figured he's get probation or something. Dumb ass if you ask me. Probably hit too many times in the head.
Because he plead guilty it doesn't hold up very well to judicial scrutiny.
On it's own it's a weak precedent.
What you left out was the last three paragraphs of the article.
Update – A quick shout out to Michael Martin, JD, Content Manager at DTLA’s
Strong Sports Gym, who brought
Turner v. State, 664 SW 2d 86 (90) to my attention in which the Texas judiciary had the following to say about whether fists or hands are a deadly weapon under Texas’ penal code –
In Ray v. State, 160 Tex.Crim. R., 266 S.W.2d 124 (1954), a murder case, the court held that hands and feet, which defendant, according to the indictment, used in killing the deceased, were not “deadly weapons” per se and they could become such only in the manner used.
Likewise in the instant case, and under the 1974 Penal Code, we conclude that a fist or hand are not “deadly weapons” per se but can become such only in the manner used depending upon the evidence shown.
This dissertation should clear things up nicely.
https://digitalcommons.law.villanova...3&context=mslj
Toward the end it explains the Guam law. The intent of registration is to put the fighter on notice that he could be held to a higher standard. It gives prosecutors more leeway in arguing that the pro martial artist/boxer should better know the damage he can do than a lay person. It's kind of like holding a professional truck driver to a higher standard over someone who only holds a class C license. It's their job to know.
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