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The saga continues...
Seems that a lot of background on each man was left out of the trial.
Seems that a lot of background on each man was left out of the trial.
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That is the first time I have seen anything about these guy's background. The media would have you believe that they were two upstanding guys who just had a fight and one went too far. Junta was apparently not the aggressor, he was hit first. He defended himself, he lost his temper, and did more than was absolutely necessary. Costen picked on the wrong guy and he paid a heavy price, but he started the fight. Junta should not go to prison for defending himself. The fight was forced on Junta according to the witnesses.Comment
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I agree, BUT...
It looks to me like Costin basically started it (twice) and I agree with you, someone should not go to prison for defending themselves.
BUT, when Junta had Costin in a position that he could no longer defend himself (sometimes you will see this referred to as having the opponent "in chancery", meaning an inescapable position) then Junta could have and should have let off. I think the fact that he had Costin mounted, struck him repeatedly and took two hands and smashed Costin's head into the ground led to the charges. Plus, when someone dies -- you are going to jail.
Here's a weird case for you -- a cop is in a bar (off duty) and three punks recognize him from an earlier arrest. They trade verbal barbs back and forth.
A fistfight breaks out and the cop finds himself on the floor getting the boots from all three punks. He draws his firearm from his ankle holster and -- from the floor -- shoots all three of the attackers.
Cop was guilty of one count of manslaughter. Because of the disparity of force (3 on 1) the cop was justified in using deadly force UNTIL there was only one attacker left. The court felt that then it was 1 on 1 and therefore a "fair" fight. When the cop shot the last guy, it was manslaughter.Comment
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You never know what a jury will do. One strong personality can influence the other members of the jury. It is scarey that people are losing the right to defend themselves. I don't know anything about Junta, but I doubt that 6-10 years in prison will improve him, or make him safer to be around when he gets out. He'll probably be much more dangerous after his prison stint. I'm not very sympathetic to Costen, he obviously intiated the fight. Its a bad thing that he got killed, but if he hadn't attacked Junta it probably wouldn't have happened.Comment
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this has been said a few times, both familes lose out. Costin's family lost a guy for good. Junta's family loses him for 6-10 years.
Junta was a big dude and has anger problems.
I think if the sizes were reversed, it MIGHT have been different. With Junta a huge guy, but was being portrayed by the defense as a gentle giant might have been good, had he not had a restraining order put on him years prior.
Lots of twists and turns came out during the trial and the media really twisted it in the brief new reporting to sway public opinion
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I think this case is a tragedy of the traditional attitude of Americans and athletics, what it more often than not teaches kids - I have to win, I have to be right, otherwise I'm nothing.
Little Costin lost his dad, forever, think about that -FOREVER . Junta got off easy - both of them could have avoided the argument, been the bigger man, but because of the traditional American attitude, they had to be the bigger man by being right, by winning, which in this case led to tragedys for both families and for both sons, one which will remain fatherless for the rest of his life, and the other who will remain fatherless for at least six years - he'll be an adult by the time his dad gets out of the slammer.
This whole incident was fueled by the philosophy of sports - kill or be killed, win or lose - there is a better way, a middle ground.
I'm not saying sports are bad, we just need to rethink the way we go at them, as a society. You give your all, and if it doesn't work out, that's okay - it's not the end of the world, its not worth dying, and its certainly isn't worth killing over - our society has got stuff way out of proportion...Comment
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Sports are not bad, nor is the American attitude of always winning. Both have led to where America is today. Even with all it's issues, it's still the best place on Earth to be.
Sports don't teach violence. The most contact based sports such as football, hockey, wrestling, etc all have very strict rules on what you can and cannot do. You see a lot of stories about athletes "setting a bad example" by their actions. Throwing punches and escalating violence during sporting competitions. Then you have fans that go nuts and fight or throw things onto the field.
All this politically correct sensitivity crap is making everyone into a victim and has all the intelligenstia searching for root causes. People have always, and will always be f**ked up. They have been killing each other for over 2 million years. Do you seriously think that we are "evolved" past the point of doing harm to each other? Do you think that all the kind wishes and sensitivity training we see can erase 2 million years of genetic programming?
In life you either survive or you do not. We seriously have too much time on our hands if all we can worry about is trying to make everyone happy and fulfilled.
It all boils down to one thing: Self-Interest. That's why each and every person on this forum trains in martial arts of one form or another... to preserve their own interests. Be it your life, your family's lives, your property... whatever you want to protect, you do so because it is in your own self interest.
No matter what action you are taking, it is motivated by self interest. Don't believe me? Give me a scenario and I will help you trace it back to you....
So, with that said, you and only you are responsible for the actions you perform. No one is in control except you. Blame heavy metal lyrics written by Satan, or the lack of love you didn't recieve as a child, or guns, or knives, or drugs, or those big meanies who pick on you at the internet forum, or what you saw on TV or what you read on the internet... blame it on anything you like. It still all comes back down to the lowest common denominator.....
SZComment
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LOL...calc doesn't start until 8 SZ!
always wanting to win is okay, but when winning becomes the only thing in the world, that's way out of proportion, unless we're in a war - a real one, not a sporting event. Of course I go out of my way to win, within the confines of the game - I do shed a few rules, but I don't resort to violence...
think about this. In the past three years of playing basketball, which seems to be not that rough of a sport, I have been swung at at least 4 times! Luckily the sons of bitches never connected. I was playing basketball, they were losing, by a lot, and they resorted to violence at a last ditch attempt at winning... I just laughed...and made all the technicals.
No, sports don't teach violence, but they make people think winning is eveything, and that's not right - you can't win all the time, and winning isn't everything, unless this is war, and its not, is sports, which are supposed to be fun.
Junta and Costin are responsible for their own actions, I agree with that, but would this have happened different if they had realized, "Hey, its just a game! Wanna have a beer?"
Self interest, yeah sure. That's what every living thing is about, surviving, but we're talking about a game...Hockey...get a little black disc, about an inch tall into a net...not war - so why fight over it? Both men could have, and should have avoided this - look what it lead to - two fatherless families - over what??????????who was right in a game....I'm sure this is what is going through Junta's head as he picks up his soap, which unfortunatly isn't on a rope...Comment
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You're right, and it does come down to the parents and teaching kids what they need to know to survive. One of those is picking which battles are worth fighting for and which aren't. I heard again that there was another altercation at a hockey game. I don't know all the details, but of course Hockey will get the blame for "causing" such violence....
SZComment
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Yeah hockey didn't cause the violence it was the parents attitudes, every person is responsible for their own actions, and if you let something like an argument over a hockey game cause something like this, you've got mental problems - get checked outComment
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