Pfc. Patrick Edward Myers, 27, was charged this week with manslaughter after he came up with a unique way to ridding his friend, Pfc. Isaac Lawrence Young, 22, of hiccups. He pulled a gun and shot Young in the face.
Shortly after 10 pm, Myers pulled the gun which accidentally discharged in the face of his friend. Presumably there were witnesses or some other way that the police ruled out an intentional act that would warrant a higher charge.
Manslaughter fits the alleged crime, if proven. It would not seem to leave much for a defense absent a denial of being the shooter. This is the type of case that is generally pleaded out with a request for leniency.
Source: CNN
Stupid is as stupid does.
Malisha, I bet before you got to your rest, the judge would have you for contempt! HAW HAW HAW HAW
I feel kind of bad for this guy. I’m sure he probably did it as a joke that went south!
I wonder why the police were called? They were both pfc’s so wouldn’t this be handled by the army? Somebody should sue the army, for not drilling it into their privates about how to treat their firearms, and how dangerous they can be.
Feemeister, NOTHING “will…actually work in court.”
But if anybody sues me for promoting a false hiccup cure, I will MEET them in court and I have my opening statement all prepared.
Ladies and G-uuchk-ng-entlemen of the jury,
The hic-uuchk-ng!! cups are very annoying, at beuuchk-ng!! — at best and can become act-uuchk-ng!! excuse me, actually painful, if th-uuchk-ng!! they go on too long. uuchk-ng!! And what, I-uuchk-ng!! mean 20 bu-uuchk-ng ngggg, excuse me, is not that MUCHuuchk-ng!!
I rest.
When my kid was still a baby he had these loud, alarming, squeak-type hiccups and I checked with the pediatrician who said, “Don’t worry; babies do not mind the hiccups at all!” And I observed him to be right!
Heard a few caveats, have you Malisha? LOL
Malisha, thanks! That was the best laugh I had all day. (Even more than reading this article!!! Will that caveat actually work in court?
Dung Ho no like gun.
Sounds like the “Powell Doctrine” at work: use “massive force” to overwhelm the enemy.
Malisha, Stone cold comment about curing the hiccups being a defense. I love it!
Cure for hiccups: [WARNING: WILL NOT WORK FOR CHILDREN; YOU WILL LOSE YOUR MONEY]
You go up to the person and seemingly from “nowhere” you pull out a $20 bill and hold it up in front of his or her face (no gun in either hand, please). Then make eye contact with the person and say, “If you hiccup three more times I will give you this $20 bill.” Nobody even makes it to twice more.
Caveat emptor. If it doesn’t work, you do not have a cause of action against me.
I have done this about a dozen times with adults, mostly strangers in public places. It works every time. You can only do it with a person ONCE. Again, never with children. THEY keep hiccuping and you lose.
NAL,
Oddly the sugar would make me sneeze. Snickers are particularly good at it! Had to give them up.
Seems the Army should also charge him for destroying government property. I guess the cream of the crap that doesn’t join a frat for the enemas must join the military for the hiccup cure?
Nal,
I’m a proponent of sugar…..cane not beet….. There is a difference…..
From The New England Journal of Medicine:
Granulated Sugar as Treatment for Hiccups in Conscious Patients
The story I heard is that he thought it only had training shots in it….. But it still does not excuse the old maximum….. Don’t point it at something unless you intend to use it…..
This kind of Texas story is right between Pendulum Swings and a Tennesee Enema. If he would have shot the guy in one ear and out the other it would have been more fitting.
I guess the old “I ws cleaning the gun and it went off” is finally no longer believed to be a valid defense in the mind of these fools. Now it’s the “I was trying to cure my buddy’s hiccups” excuse.
Bet he only had “two beers” also
Most of the body functions autonomously.
Only trigger fingers etc. are left under oonscious control. Nature screws up again.
I’m sure that part of his defense is that he did in fact cure the hiccups.
It happened in Texas, which has a “stand your ground” (AKA “Look at me cross-eyed and I’ll kill your sorry a$$”) laws, right? If Myers was smart, he shoulda said the victim’s hiccups were scaring HIM, and that’s why he shot. Because in SYG jurisdictions, “shoot anyone who’s scary” is the highest law of the land. Of course, if Myers was smart enough to think of that, he probably wouldn’t have been so stupid as to pull the trigger on a loaded gun that he put up to a friend’s face. It’s like owning a handgun subtracts 20 points from your IQ. Combine that with the IQ drop caused by living in Texas and the points that they shave when someone joins the military, and it’s a wonder that Myers had enough intellectual firepower to remember to breathe.
Deja vu. Sadly this is nothing new. A similar hiccups-scaring instance some years back, this one involving alcohol however, was a Darwin Award winner.