Illegal Possession of a Weapon?

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Legendary_Jarl

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Feb 8, 2010
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I saw this article on twitter:

nypost.com

Wild video shows NYC bodega worker allegedly stabbing man to death

Surveillance video captures the moment a Manhattan bodega worker allegedly stabbed an angry customer to death after a dispute over a bag of chips inside the small store.
nypost.com nypost.com

Why would that be "illegal possession of a weapon"? That looks to me like a kitchen/utility knife. Maybe that was his work knife and it was a knife he had in private property. Maybe it wasn't even his knife and he just used it to try to defend himself.

Does he have a case for self-defense? If that happened in Europe he would be screwed but maybe in America it would be different.
 
F'ing New York.

If it were some crazy homeless person who went around hitting people in the head with a brick they'd release him without bail, and no charges filed. And only after he killed someone would they finally charge him with something. But only because the media ran with the story of a guy with a long history of violence repeatedly getting released back on the street.

But if it's a hard working guy, making an honest living, who defends himself after being assaulted by a guy 14 years younger than himself, they throw the book at him and stick him with a quarter mil bail.

F'ing New York.

Your guess is as good as mine what the DA is thinking and why they are charging him as they are. We don't know all the details, like what the guy might have said to the cops. For example, if he said that he kept the knife around for self-defense, that might be a "criminal admission" if possessing a knife for use as a weapon is illegal in New York. I don't know New York law.

Looks like clear self-defense to me. If I were Mr. Alba's lawyer, I would make the following case-

Mr. Simon became irate over a bag of chips. That indicates Mr. Simon was in an irrational state of mind. Mr. Simon became extremely aggressive and confronted and cornered my client, preventing him from fleeing. Mr. Simon verbally threatened my client with physical harm, then physically assaulted him without provocation. My client, who is 51 years old, and who has a long list of health problems, feared for his life at the hands of Mr. Simon, a younger, stronger, irrational, and violent man. In fear for his life, my client grabbed a kitchen knife, and only after Mr. Simon grabbed him did my client act in self-defense.

I certainly hope things work out for Mr. Alba.

As for Mr. Simon. Good riddance. Try to play "tough guy", assault someone over a bag of chips, get stabbed to death. In my opinion, he asked for it, and he got what was coming to him.
 
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Laws of equal force are often quoted. The bully didn't appear to be armed. If you kill an unarmed person with a weapon you better have a darn good reason.

Knife laws in NYC remain poorly defined,
 
First ANY item used as a weapon becomes a illegal weapon once used as such in NYS. A pen used to stab someone would be classified the same way. I am some what surprised the clerk was charged with murder, but the NYPD tends to charge as high as possible in any crime and the DA often lowers the chargers later. In NYS there are a few crimes that allow the use of deadly force and one is a to terminate a robbery ( armed or not NYS PL 35). The video seems to show a robbery to me. I am sure the clerk's lawyer will say the same at the grand jury hearing.

In public opinion control, he was charged with the highest crimes. I hate to say it, but there are many factors at play here including race and the perception by the public of what you can and can't do legally. To me, this is not a self defense review but rather a response to an on going robbery. The ADA reviewing it must have felt the moment the immediate use of force was stopped by the man jumping over the counter some how stopped the clerks right to the use of deadly force allowed by NYS law. I don't agree....
 
Legendary_Jarl said:
I saw this article on twitter:

nypost.com

Wild video shows NYC bodega worker allegedly stabbing man to death

Surveillance video captures the moment a Manhattan bodega worker allegedly stabbed an angry customer to death after a dispute over a bag of chips inside the small store.
nypost.com nypost.com

Why would that be "illegal possession of a weapon"? That looks to me like a kitchen/utility knife. Maybe that was his work knife and it was a knife he had in private property. Maybe it wasn't even his knife and he just used it to try to defend himself.

Does he have a case for self-defense? If that happened in Europe he would be screwed but maybe in America it would be different.
Click to expand...
This is New York City . . . where it almost seems that pretty much anything qualifies as an illegal weapon.

I worry now about some bizarre "crackdown" on pocket knives in the state, say, citing the UK as a model.
 
NYC is, and has been for quite some time, under complete Communist control. The entire system, top to bottom, is rigged. Here we have a clear-cut case of self-defense, and the man is being charged with murder. It's highly unlikely he will get a fair trial.

With that said, he was very quick and accurate with that first strike.
 
It could be that the clerk was not a US citizen. Seeing as he is charged with murder I don't think the misdemeanor weapon charge is of great concern.
 
Agree killgar! That New York has gone to shit like Chicago. 2 places an honest person needs a knife or gun to defend against the worst scum but no not allowed to defend yourself.
 
That looks like self-defense to me. The clerk is the one that gets attacked.

If this is what the local jerks call murder, then we should start building the prison wall around the entire city to keep the crazies from spreading. Oh, and no he didn’t die over a bag of chips; he died when he assaulted someone who managed to defend themselves.

n2s
 
George Magnum said:
Laws of equal force are often quoted. The bully didn't appear to be armed. If you kill an unarmed person with a weapon you better have a darn good reason.
Click to expand...
Lots of people have been killed by a single punch. That's the defense I would go with.

nypost.com

Chilling video shows knockout punch that killed man, 61, in Brooklyn

Victor Vega, 61, was walking on Lexington Avenue near Nostrand Avenue – alongside two men – around 8:30 p.m. May 25 when the deadly attack happened, authorities said.
nypost.com nypost.com
 
killgar said:
...Mr. Simon became irate over a bag of chips. That indicates Mr. Simon was in an irrational state of mind. Mr. Simon became extremely aggressive and confronted and cornered my client, preventing him from fleeing. Mr. Simon verbally threatened my client with physical harm, then physically assaulted him without provocation. My client, who is 51 years old, and who has a long list of health problems, feared for his life at the hands of Mr. Simon, a younger, stronger, irrational, and violent man. In fear for his life, my client grabbed a kitchen knife, and only after Mr. Simon grabbed him did my client act in self-defense.
Click to expand...
While I'm glad Alba won't be charged, I want to know if the woman who couldn't buy chips with her EBT card will face charges for siccing her boyfriend on Alba, thus contributing to Simon's death. Doubt it, because the DA is garbage and the "ex-cop, tough on crime" mayor is the biggest embarrassment NYC has had running it since Dinkins.

I also hope Alba and/or the store owner aren't sued for wrongful death, but there ought to be a statute automatically denying any such claim if the decedent was committing a malum in se crime when it happened.
 
not2sharp said:
That looks like self-defense to me. The clerk is the one that gets attacked.

If this is what the local jerks call murder, then we should start building the prison wall around the entire city to keep the crazies from spreading. Oh, and no he didn’t die over a bag of chips; he died when he assaulted someone who managed to defend themselves.

n2s
Click to expand...
But then when the president's plane crashes in NYC they'll need Kurt Russel for an Escape from New York.
 
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