Joe Mcknight Shot

[jerrym]

Joe McKnight was shot to death in New Orleans. He impressed me with his running capability in his short time with the Riders. While the investigation is not complete, the early evidence suggests the killing was not one of self defence.



New information about the man identified as the shooter in the death of football player Joe McKnight was released Friday night, indicating the man — Ronald Gasser — was involved in an altercation 10 years ago that centred on an argument about driving. ...
The additional information came after officials noted, earlier in the day, that McKnight had been shot three times — in the hand, shoulder and chest — by Gasser on Thursday afternoon. ...
While he is not currently facing charges, they said the case was still under investigation. ...
Authorities said Gasser shot McKnight three times from inside his car with a semi-automatic handgun while McKnight was standing outside. Witnesses reported the two had been in a heated argument, the sheriff said.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/joe-mcknight-shooting-1.3879209

[Argocister]

It will be interesting to see the follow up in this case, especially in comparison to the situation in Calgary with
Hicks.
Apparently, Gasser has been released ..... No charges yet .....

[Gill The Thrill]

It will be interesting to see the follow up in this case, especially in comparison to the situation in Calgary with
Hicks.
Apparently, Gasser has been released ..... No charges yet .....He's been charged. We did see McKnight pretty much shred a porous Argo D less than 2 months ago at BMO field in the last Argo home game. Although he ran well, I wasn't totally sold on just that performance as a lot of team's have run at will on the Argos D quite easily over the last 3 years. Nonetheless, this is a tragic way to have your life ended as it sounded totally random.

That game at BMO may have been his best performance as a pro. I don't even remember if he played in the Riders final 2 games but being where they were in the standings, I didn't follow all their games, especially late season games. I know they closed out Taylor Field vs BC and may have played them back to back.

[jerrym]

Although the killer of Joe McKnight has been arrested for manslaughter, racial controversy concerning the case continues. The sheriff in charge of the case started the news conference announcing the manslaughter charges with quotes from a series of derogatory, curse-filled emails that attacked the police for not laying charges earlier, rather than starting the meeting by outlining the charges. The local NAACP is demanding that the manslaughter charges be raised to murder, according to MSNBC.



The authorities in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana initially did not arrest Ronald Gasser, the 54-year-old man who shot and killed former NFL running back Joe McKnight last week. Gasser has since been arrested for manslaughter.
Sheriff Newell Normand, whose press conference from Friday seemed unreasonably defensive and unnecessarily combative, took it to the next level on Tuesday, complaining about the criticism his department has absorbed by pounding on the podium on multiple occasions and quoting from profanity-laden messages directed to elected officials who supported law enforcement’s desire to take a deliberate approach to the investigation of the shooting. MSNBC quickly cut away from the press conference once Normand began reading the comments, which contained a variety of words not appropriate for broadcast. Later in the press conference, when Normand finally stepped down from his soapbox and addressed the case, he said that Gasser became irritated when McKnight cut Gasser off in traffic. Gasser then pursued McKnight. McKnight eventually parked and went to Gasser’s car. At that point, Gasser fired three shots.


http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/12/06/sheriff-explains-joe-mcknight-shooting-with-another-bizarre-press-conference/

[ArgoRavi]

He's been charged. We did see McKnight pretty much shred a porous Argo D less than 2 months ago at BMO field in the last Argo home game. Although he ran well, I wasn't totally sold on just that performance as a lot of team's have run at will on the Argos D quite easily over the last 3 years. Nonetheless, this is a tragic way to have your life ended as it sounded totally random.

That game at BMO may have been his best performance as a pro. I don't even remember if he played in the Riders final 2 games but being where they were in the standings, I didn't follow all their games, especially late season games. I know they closed out Taylor Field vs BC and may have played them back to back.

McKnight played against Montreal but was the recipient of a devastating hit to end that game which, I believe, knocked him out of the lineup for the final game at Taylor Field the following week. I believe that he did return to play B.C. in the final regular season game in Vancouver.

[PullTogether73]

So, I'm left wondering how firing three shots at a man who walks to one's car is manslaughter and not murder.

[KCargosfan]

So, I'm left wondering how firing three shots at a man who walks to one's car is manslaughter and not murder.

Building a case. They had to compile evidence, so that's why he initially wasn't charged. Now they have enough evidence for manslaughter, and my guess is they'll eventually have enough for murder.

The police have to go through a process so cases don't get thrown out in court. Despite the media demanding otherwise, they have to be thorough with their process, otherwise technicalities can screw up a case.

[jerrym]

Nice gesture by West.



Exactly a week after Joe McKnight, 28, was shot and killed in a road rage incident, (http://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/usc-standout-ex-nfl-rb-joe-mcknight-28-shot-and-killed-in-new-orleans-suburb/)Chiefs (http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/teams/page/KC/kansas-city-chiefs) running back Charcandrick West (http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/players/playerpage/2130200/charcandrick-west) honored the former USC standout and NFL (http://www.cbssports.com/nfl)running back, who played for Kansas City in 2014.
After scoring a touchdown against the Raiders (http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/teams/page/OAK/oakland-raiders) in the second quarter, West made his way to the sideline. There, he pulled up his jersey to reveal a white undershirt that had a message written on it.
The message: "LONG LIVE JOE." ...

As a high schooler in New Orleans, McKnight was the nation's top-ranked recruit in 2007. He ended up committing to USC, where he racked up 2,755 yards and 15 touchdowns from scrimmage in three seasons.


http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/raiders-vs-chiefs-highlights-charcandrick-west-honors-joe-mcknight-after-scoring-td/

[jerrym]

McKnight's killer, Ronald Gasser, continues to be held in jail pending a bail hearing.



An attorney for the family of slain former NFL running back Joe McKnight says the player's family has met with prosecutors to discuss next steps in the legal case against his accused shooter. ...
Gasser is currently being held on $500,000 bail and has a hearing on Dec. 21 to try to reduce the bail. Tucker called the meeting with the district attorney "informative and very encouraging."

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18275720/family-slain-former-player-joe-mcknight-meets-da

[jerrym]

USC's Trojan football team will dedicate their upcoming Rose Bowl game to Joe McKnight.



Joe McKnight will be on the Trojans' minds when USC takes the field against Penn State on Monday ... with team captain Zach Banner (http://www.tmz.com/person/zach-banner/) telling TMZ Sports they're dedicating the game to the late alum.
The USC football team was at The Improv comedy club in West Hollywood Tuesday night when we spoke with the NFL-bound right tackle about McKnight, who was killed on Dec. 1st (http://www.tmz.com/2016/12/01/joe-mcknight-murdered-road-rage-shooting/).
McKnight played for the Trojans from 2007 to 2009 ... and clearly meant a lot to the program.


http://www.tmz.com/2016/12/29/zach-banner-usc-rose-bowl-joe-mcknight/

[jerrym]

It's a little late but here's an update as of February 6th on the Joe Mcknight murder case.



The man accused of a road-rage shooting that killed former NFL running back Joe McKnight pleaded not guilty to a second-degree murder charge on Monday, reports (http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/crime_police/article_b9b1b68a-ec7e-11e6-9d19-e7393da2a23a.html?sr_source=lift_amplify) The Advocate.
Gasser, 55, made the plea during his arraignment.
Gasser, who faces life in jail if convicted on the charge, has been in custody since Dec. 5, four days after McKnight was shot in on New Orleans area highway. His bail is set at $750,000.


http://www.si.com/nfl/2017/02/06/joe-mcknight-alleged-killer-not-guilty-murder-plea

[jerrym]

Ronald Gasser's trial date for the murder of Joe McKnight has been set for August 7th.

[jerrym]

Good to see the Riders honour the McKnight family before the start of the game against the Argos today. His alleged killer goes on trial August 7th.

[jerrym]

The long delayed Joe McKnight murder trial is finally underway with the selection of jurors starting today.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jan/16/joe-mcknight-murder-trial-ronald-gasser

[jerrym]

McKnight's trial is raising the race question once again because of the history of Jefferson County Louisiana where the trial is occurring.



Then-Sheriff Newell Normand claimed in a Dec. 6, 2016, news conference that race wasn’t a factor in the case, then proceeded to read from messages full of expletives and racial slurs that he said had been directed at him and other officials as a result of their handling of the case. ...
This is the same Jefferson Parish where former Sheriff Harry Lee said in 2006 (https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6549329): “We know the crime is in the black community. Why should I waste time in the white community?”
Jefferson Parish is a county where blacks make up more than 25 percent of the population, but only one black woman is on the Gasser jury. ...

From In Justice Today:
"Jefferson Parish has a habit of keeping black residents off juries. A 2003 report by the Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center, a capital defense nonprofit, found that Jefferson Parish prosecutors removed black prospective jurors in felony trials at more than three times the rate they removed white ones. Though racial discrimination in juries is unconstitutional, the Louisiana Supreme Court has studiously ignored (https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3058&context=lalrev) most challenges. The high rate of exclusion means that 80 percent of criminal trials (https://eji.org/sites/default/files/illegal-racial-discrimination-in-jury-selection.pdf) in Jefferson Parish have no black representation on the jury, according to the civil rights nonprofit Equal Justice Initiative."

We know that this is by design. Louisiana as a whole has one of the worst track records when it comes to its criminal-justice system (https://injusticetoday.com/search?q=louisiana criminal justice). It is one of just two states in the country that allow nonunanimous jury verdicts—a system that was put in place to nullify black influence on juries.

As In Justice Today notes, white men who kill black men in the U.S. are eight times more likely to have that killing ruled as justified.
So, with just one black woman on a jury full of white people—what does that mean when it comes to justice for Joe McKnight?


https://www.theroot.com/can-1-black-juror-help-get-justice-for-former-nfl-playe-1822339718

[jerrym]

Forensic evidence at the trial strongly suggests that McKnight's killer's story about the shooting is not true.



Ronald Gasser was allowed to go home the night he confessed to fatally shooting former NFL player Joe McKnight following a road rage confrontation (http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2018/01/my_life_was_about_to_be_snuffe.html)at a Terrytown intersection because investigators had very little information to contradict Gasser's statements of self-defense, Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office homicide commander Lt. Donald Meunier told jurors Wednesday (Jan. 24.)
Meunier said the following day's autopsy results, which indicated a lack of "stippling," or gunpowder residue, on McKnight's body, cast doubt on Gasser's version of what had transpired at the intersection of Behrman Highway and Holmes Boulevard.
"It was a red flag," Meunier said under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Shannon Swain.


http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2018/01/it_was_a_red_flag_homicide_det.html

[jerrym]

At the trial, the first person on the scene after the shooting initially thought Gasser was going to shoot him as well when pointed his gun after shooting McKnight. Another witness described how Gasser attacked him in another road rage incident at the same intersection in 2006.



One witness who took the stand, a retired member of the U.S. Navy, described how he was first to encounter McKnight’s killer, Ronald Gasser, after the three shots were fired at the former professional football player on Dec. 1, 2016.
The man spoke of how he, too, thought he’d be shot when Gasser stiffly spun and pointed the gun at him when he stopped to investigate the situation. He explained how Gasser quickly put the gun down when told he was just going to help the injured McKnight. The man and another two people then tried giving McKnight CPR while Gasser attempted to clarify what had happened.

http://www.cjme.com/2018/01/23/witnesses-testify-at-joe-mcknight-murder-trial/





John Shilling, the motorist who accused Ronald Gasser of attacking him at the very same intersection where Gasser fatally shot former NFL player Joe McKnight (http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2018/01/its_going_to_end_up_bad_witnes.html), took the witness stand Wednesday to tell Jefferson Parish jurors about his 2006 encounter with the defendant.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2018/01/ronald_gasser_mcknight_trial.html

[jerrym]

Closing arguments at the trial have been made. A summary of the evidence can be found below.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2018/01/joe_mcknight_ronald_gasser_tri_2.html

[jerrym]

After seven hours of deliberations, the jury found Ron Gasser guilty of the manslaughter of Joe McKnight tonight. He now faces up to 40 years in prison. The judge will determine the length of the sentence.

http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/courts/article_a0e828c4-02c0-11e8-a560-e35dc9b59076.html

[jerrym]

Ronald Gasser, who shot Joe McKnight, has been sentenced to 30 years for manslaughter.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/mar/15/joe-mcknight-shooting-death-ronald-gasser-prison-sentence-nfl