ok, so do we remember THIS guy, charles diez? he’s the asheville, NC firefighter who one day saw a guy riding his bike with his son in a child safety seat and decided that it was too dangerous so he shot the dad in the head. luckily, the bullet was a little off and only lodged in the cyclist’s helmet. and according to superior court judge james downs, that’s totally cool.

first the charge was bumped down from attempted first degree murder to felony assault. then the judge decided that the fact that diez had been a firefighter since 1992, in addition to his military service, along with testimony from former colleagues about his good character, were mitigating factors, and chose to sentence him to 15-27 months. then all but four months of that sentence were suspended unless diez breaks the law again in the next 30 months.

uhm.
REALLY?

so let me get this straight — put in some time in public service, get some good character witnesses, and at least in north carolina, you are then entitled to aim a deadly weapon at someone’s head and pull the trigger, as long as you miss.

that’s logical.

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