Counterpoint to Baltimore FGS
Yesterday Ed did a post about a young man who defended himself and was not charged. Here’s another case, also in Baltimore, which doesn’t yet have a happy ending of any type:
Medically retired U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Alejandro Gonzalez has spent more than 16 months behind bars, accused of first-degree murder. He and his legal team hope someone in the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office will reexamine his case, realize he acted in self-defense and drop the murder charges a second time.
Yep, a second time. Here’s a shortened version of what happened –
On Sept. 4, 2021, Gonzalez, then 38, and his family visited his mother in Southwest Baltimore. She lived in a ground-level apartment. Above her lived Travis Ben-Watkins, a 26-year-old member of Baltimore’s Crips street gang, according to Gonzalez’s lawyer, Stark. “Ben-Watkins was a Crip. He dressed in blue and there was a blue celebration of life held for him after his death. The light pole outside his home was adorned in blue. His social media clearly indicated he was all about the Crip life.”
After Gonzalez arrived at his mom’s, Ben-Watkins began yelling at him from his upstairs balcony. He said he was sick of Gonzalez’s mother, and he threatened their lives and warned them he was calling other gang members to come over.
“Death threats rained down,” Stark said. “Alejandro realized the place would soon be full of gang members, and he decided this was not where he and his family needed to be. He retrieved his mother’s legally registered handgun, which she kept in her home for security.”
At one point, Ben-Watkins broke a wooden chair, grabbed one of the chair legs, came downstairs and advanced on Gonzalez swinging the wooden bludgeon wildly while ordering his girlfriend to bring him his gun.
In fear for his life, Gonzalez fired nine rounds rapidly at Ben-Watkins. Six of the 9mm rounds went into his back, which his lawyer said were caused because Ben-Watkins was swinging the club wildly exposing his back like a baseball player.
Word to the wise here – while it is not always expedient to limit the side of the body ito which you shoot, it may be legally more defensible even if you are in the right.
Not wanting to face other members of Ben-Watkins’ gang, Gonzalez and his family fled. He was later arrested, charged with First-Degree murder and booked into the Baltimore City Jail.
On Nov. 7, 2022, after Gonzalez had spent more than 14 months behind bars, prosecutors abruptly dropped all charges against him citing a lack of evidence — a legal process known as a noll prosequi or “nolle pross.”
Shouldn’t have been charged in the first place, but as with the Army sergeant charged in Austin, there is a Soros-bought prosecutor involved. In this case, Marilyn Mosby (pictured above):
Mosby fired dozens of veteran prosecutors when she took over. But even worse, she unofficially ended a defendant’s ability to claim self-defense. If they used a gun — as Gonzalez did to defend himself and his family — they faced murder charges. Under Mosby, the State’s Attorney’s Office stood William Blackstone’s 1769 legal doctrine on its head. For them, it’s better that 10 innocent people are convicted and one guilty person goes free.
Mosby is facing her own legal problems. Last year she was indicted on federal charges of perjury and making a false statement on a loan application to purchase retirement homes in Kissimmee and Long Boat Key, Florida.
The prosecution has next to no case – their sole witness, the deceased’s girlfriend, was shot and killed at a gang funeral. But that didn’t stop Mosby from REFILING murder charges in December 2022. (Mosby herself failed to win re-election, losing to a former prosecutor, Ivan Bates. ) To date Bates has done nothing to help.
Shameless plug: Buckeye Firearms is an excellent advocacy site and a great place to keep up on gun law – while Ohio-centric they are very good at posting national issues as well.
Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", Guns, Liberals suck, Maryland, Police
“…their sole witness, the deceased’s girlfriend, was shot and killed at a gang funeral.”
Good riddance to both — hope Gonzalez wins his freedom and pursues this crooked DA for what she has done.
It’s a damn shame that Jeremy Dewitte and Metro State were not available to provide security at that high risk funeral.
Democrat marxists defend criminals and prosecute the law abiding….cause reasons.
Social Justice! (or something… )
Mosby is a corrupt crook and criminal herself.
I lived and worked in Bodymore, Murderland for several years. Nothing more depressing knowing that the city is run by some of the most awful and corrupt people on the face of the earth and the morons that live there just keep voting them right back in regardless.
With the exception of Camden Yards and Faidley’s (those crabcakes can’t be beat anywhere), what an awful hellhole. Most normal people like me are either trying like crazy to get out of there, or left long ago.
I also left Charm City a long, long time ago (When I was a kid, Nancy’s dad was the mayor). I never go back- order crabcakes by mail.
Any new developments on the Staff Sergeant in San Antonio?
The first problem was going to Baltimore. No lie, last time I was there,I felt more exposed and threatened than ever in any European city, a year in Jerusalem and the West Bank or even my third Iraq. I will never go to that city again, and will not miss out on anything by doing so.