U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- Madison Lammert of the Republic Times has reported Kyle Roider spent two and a half years in Monroe County jail before a jury found him not guilty of all charges. Lammert has reported extensively on the case.
The jury was out for only three and a half hours before they returned the verdict at about 6 pm on 20 August 2021. Roider had been held without bail since January of 2019. The trial was delayed, in part, due to COVID19 fears.
The case involved drug use, a possible love interest, a failure to notify the police of the shooting, and digital recovery of data from phones.
Roider and the person killed, Steven Becker, were in Kyle’s home at the time, on Church Street in Waterloo, Illinois.
Kyle Roider had numerous misdemeanors before the incident. None of them were violent. He had not lost his right to bear arms. He has had mental issues but was found fit to stand trial. He had medication for schizophrenia.
Steven Becker’s toxicology report showed he had meth, cocaine, and marijuana in his blood when he was killed. From stltoday.com:
Becker was found dead in Roider’s basement with gunshot wounds to his head and his right leg two days after the shooting.
Roider’s attorney, T.J. Matthes, argued that his client acted in self-defense after Becker attacked Roider with a knife.
The jury deliberated for three hours before returning its verdict.
“There were a lot of rumors going around about what happened,” Matthes said. “Kyle wanted all along to get a chance to tell his story. He told his story at the trial — he told the truth, the entire truth.”
After two and a half years in jail, Roider told his story to the jury. He was cross-examined. The answers he gave seemed plausible. When asked why he did not leave the house, if he felt threatened, he said: “Because it was my house.”
Both prosecutors and the defense created scenarios for what happened that day. The prosecutor claimed the evidence to clinch the deal was Roider failed to contact the police and report the shooting.
Roider said he was not capable of processing what had happened. After the body was found, Roider surrendered to the police. He always claimed the shooting was in self-defense.
In the end, the jury found enough reasonable doubt to find Roider not guilty.
The case is similar to one recently reported from Madison, Illinois, where Corion Mosely was found not guilty by reason of self-defense. It was a jury trial that ended on 13 August 2021. Mosley had spent two years in the county lockup, without bond. There are differences.
Waterloo Illinois, where the Becker killing took place, is only 28 miles south of Madison, Illinois, where Corion Mosely killed Omarion Coleman. Madison, Illinois is in the heart of the St. Louis metropolitan area. Waterloo is a town of 11 thousand in a rural county.
There were eyewitnesses in the Mosely trial. There were none in the trial of Roider.
No weapons were found in the hands of either person killed; there was reasonable doubt if they had access to weapons.
In both cases, in a jury trial, after years in county jail, the men were found not guilty.
Jury trials are one of the significant protections against government power in the United States.
Juries have the power to override prosecutors, judges, and to nullify the law in particular cases if they believe the application of the law is unjust.
It does not appear the law was nullified in the above cases; there simply was a reasonable doubt about the interpretation of the events.
Important lessons:
- Reporting a shooting to the authorities helps your credibility.
- Do not alter evidence.
- Avoid confrontations when possible.
Surviving the encounter, and the trial, may result in two years in jail, even when found not guilty.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
Again, the Constitution and the rights of the people take a back seat to a government-funded bullshit safety narrative. A fair and speedy trial isn’t a guideline; it is a right. If it can’t be given, then the prosecutor has no power to charge anyone of a crime. “But muh Covid” is no reason to kidnap and hold captive an innocent man for more than two years. He should be allowed to sue the prosecutor in civil court for compensation of the amount of life he lost due to the unlawful behavior of that prosecutor. If you didn’t see anything… Read more »
Absolutely!! He should definitely be able to sue the prosecutor civilly. Two and a half years of unlawful incarceration.
Jimmy, see my reply to TEEBONE above.
This needs to be addressed for sure , not an easy fix tons of variables involved. Common sense and the law are odd bedfellows when looking at it from the other side of the bench. The character of the character would be my starting point.
This kind of unfortunate circumstance is baked into the system. Apparently the “speedy” in “speedy and public trial” is entirely arbitrary and subjective.
Unless Kyle waved his right to a quick and speedy trial in order to utilize his right to a jury trial, which in this circumstance was a smart move to have 12 people decide his fate rather than one judge that could have been legislating from the bench. Next, his counter-suit should be a worthy 3-4 year battle and produce the results such as the Innocence Project. These are the kinds of cases that mold the corruption and/or over-reach of the courts.
Come on now; if you want a speedy trial in the American judicial system YOU MUST REQUEST IT OR IT WILL BE DENIED! S.O.P.
A DuckDuckGo search for “Jury Nullification”:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Jury+Nullification&atb=v77-1&ia=web
Jury nullification (US), jury equity (UK), or a perverse verdict (UK) generally occurs when members of a criminal trial jury believe that a defendant is guilty, but choose to acquit the defendant anyway, because the jurors consider that the law itself is unjust, that the prosecutor has misapplied the law in the defendant’s case, or that the potential punishment for breaking the law is too harsh.
Jury nullification. It’s just part of what good people do when tyranny becomes law.
I worked as a volunteer back in the 80s to pass a Montana statute that would require Judges to inform the jury of this right in the jury instructions. The State used taxpayers money to run ads against it, and many of us were harassed by police and judges while passing out information. That is just one example of the State misusing its power in an attempt to maintain their power. That is tyranny by any definition. I said so (loudly) back then, but only now that it has gotten so much worse are people starting to pay attention. It… Read more »
Every person who carries a gun should have concealed carry insurance.
It is available from numerous companies, and relatively inexpensive at about $340 a year.
Just displaying your gun can be charged as brandishing and be subject to a 10 year prison sentence.
The retainer to defend against that charge will be at least $15,000 and if you actually shot someone a lawyer’s retainer would be at a minimum $30-$50,000
An even halfway decent defense will cost $300,000
The plan I chose will also defend against a red flag gun confiscation order.
They need to sue the pigs that arrested them!!!
This article reminds me of Kyle Rittenhouse who HAD to fire his weapon in SELF DEFENSE!
YET!
The POLITICAL COMMUNISTIC CONTROLLERS are PERSECUTING him!!!!
#freekyle
Two and a half years locked in a cage for a non crime. I hope someone was paying your mortgage and other bills, attending/holding your job, caring for your family. You would be hard pressed to compensate me for this sort of treatment!
Is there anything DumbSchart won’t spray in bold print?
Yes. He didn’t bold this little gem:
“There is a muzzle on both ends and both ends are dangerous”
Or this one either:
“Scopes should come with the firearm and sighted in for 500 yard shots.”
It appears that the stupider the comment, the less schartsniffer wants to draw attention to it! I guess he’s not quite as dumb as he sounds. 🙂
I wonder if the dumbschart’s still ramming clams and other mussels into his mussel loader (and rifles). What he hates most is the blowback stench of his own scharts quoted at him. Gets unhinged-bold-underlined, calls everyone a liar like 12-year-old senior citizen.