Current Events > Should this man be charged with murder?

(+) Yeah! (+)

If the officer stroked out or had a heart attack or something, that's clearly not murder.

So long as the man isn't stuck with a public defender any murder charges should fail.

Wait is this the implication here. Fuck that nonsense. Charging someone with murder because a cop keels over in your vicinity is bullshit

I ask that you please respect the family and members of the St. Johns County Sheriffs Office as we mourn the loss of Sergeant Kunovich,

Im not seeing any information and how/why the officer died? The mention about a knife had me thinking maybe he was stabbed at first, but this sounds more like the sarge just keeled over and died after reading more. In which case, there should be no charges of any kind related to that and I hope a judge throws the case out before even going to trial.

Don't see evidence of intent to kill.

Don't see evidence that he could have reasonably expected his actions to cause a death.

This is exactly why felony murder is bs. It's almost calculated to produce law school style hypotheticals about absurd results. Except instead of recognizing that the results are absurd, reduce respect for the justice system, might actually increase danger since you might as well kill witnesses/people that'll get you charged with murder either way, and are fundamentally unjust, we actually convict these people as murderers.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/05/22/cause-of-st-johns-county-deputys-death-becomes-key-question-in-felony-murder-case/

an update on the case

The sheriffs office said Mendez violently resisted deputies, tried to grab the sergeants taser while fighting with him on the ground and armed himself with a pocketknife. Deputies said the struggle lasted more than six minutes.

After Mendez was handcuffed, Kunovich collapsed and died shortly after being taken to the hospital. Thats where the felony murder charge comes in.
During the commission of a felony if someone dies, the suspect can be charged with felony murder. The suspect, in this case, was committing a felony by resisting with violence and committing battery on a law enforcement officer, News4JAX Crime and Safety Analyst Lakesha Burton said.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/05/22/cause-of-st-johns-county-deputys-death-becomes-key-question-in-felony-murder-case/

an update on the case

The sheriffs office said Mendez violently resisted deputies, tried to grab the sergeants taser while fighting with him on the ground and armed himself with a pocketknife. Deputies said the struggle lasted more than six minutes.

After Mendez was handcuffed, Kunovich collapsed and died shortly after being taken to the hospital. Thats where the felony murder charge comes in.
During the commission of a felony if someone dies, the suspect can be charged with felony murder. The suspect, in this case, was committing a felony by resisting with violence and committing battery on a law enforcement officer, News4JAX Crime and Safety Analyst Lakesha Burton said.

Its not murder, but the suspect did try to grab a taser and did pull a pocketknife, so you could claim assault. But he has no liability to the death if it was natural causes (heart attack, stroke, aneurysm are likely culprits here.

Why were they arresting the guy?

Its not murder, but the suspect did try to grab a taser and did pull a pocketknife, so you could claim assault. But he has no liability to the death if it was natural causes (heart attack, stroke, aneurysm are likely culprits here.

Why were they arresting the guy?

another update

tinyurl.com/2p8eb82y

St. Johns County Sheriff Rob Hardwick on Wednesday revealed new details surrounding the death of Sergeant Michael Kunovich.
Kunovich collapsed after a struggle with Vergilio Aguilar Mendez and later died.
Mendez has been charged with capital homicide and resisting arrest. Investigators said hes homeless and living in the country illegally.
Some of the new information that came out Wednesday explains why there was an interaction between Kunovich and Aguila Mendez.

At a news conference to discuss the recent rash of violence against law enforcement officers in Northeast Florida, Hardwick broke his silence about the death of Kunovich.

Sgt. Deputy Michael Kunovich was legally out with a person that was a permanently closed business in the area of [Highway] 16 and [Interstate] 95. He checked out with him to simply say Hey, why are you on this property trespassing? That was a simple thing, simple task. As the body camera footage will come out and show you, it was by the book, textbook, legal aspect doing his job to the best of his abilities and duties, Hardwick said.
According to this arrest report, Kunovich attempted to conduct a patdown of Mendez, 18.
And all the suspect had to do was comply. Instead, the suspect chose to try and remove a knife from the lefthand pocket of his pants. A struggle was on with Sgt. Michael Kunovich until the next deputy showed up 37 seconds later, Hardwick said.

According to the report, the struggle involved Mendez grabbing Kunovichs taser after it had been deployed against the suspect. But at some point, after Mendez was placed in handcuffs, Kunovich later collapsed and died, the sheriffs office said.
Sgt. Kunovich succumbed to some medical issues that were actually induced by the struggle with our subject, Hardwick said.
Following the new conference, Sheriff Hardwick said that Sgt. Kunovich and other deputies had been patrolling the area of Hwy 16 and I-95 where they encountered the suspect because the area needed more attention from law enforcement.

Prostitution, people committing other crimes coming off Interstate 95, illegal drug activity in the area, so its a high crime area where we have a lot of deputies responding to calls for service, he said.
Mendez remains in jail without bond.

Prostitution, people committing other crimes coming off Interstate 95, illegal drug activity in the area, so its a high crime area where we have a lot of deputies responding to calls for service, he said.

hmm, wonder what would happen if they were decriminalized...

Signed up to serve and protect*

In the 1981 case Warren v. District of Columbia, the D.C. Court of Appeals held that police have a general "public duty," but that "no specific legal duty exists" unless there is a special relationship between an officer and an individual, such as a person in custody.

No they didn't.

If the officer stroked out or had a heart attack or something, that's clearly not murder. By any stretch.

Every day that a police officer puts on that uniform and goes to work, they are at risk."

As the body camera footage will come out and show you, it was by the book, textbook, legal aspect doing his job to the best of his abilities and duties,