Justice Served?

NorthEscambia.com reports that the charges against this man will be dismissed if he keeps his nose clean for a year or so. This is the father of a young man that was killed in a car wreck and came upon the wreck shortly after it happened.

Quote :

His father, John David Edmonson, Jr. arrived on the scene a short time after the accident. Florida Highway Patrol troopers alleged he refused to follow orders of firefighters to clear the scene, pushed a trooper away, and punched another trooper in the chest before he was tased. He was arrested and charged with battery on an officer, firefighter or EMT, felony aggravated assault on officer, firefighter or EMT, felony resisting an officer with violence and a misdemeanor count of failure to obey police or fire department.

Edmonson entered no plea to the charges against him and accepted a deferred prosecution agreement. If he follows the agreement and is not arrested again, charges against him will be dismissed when he returns to court in 2015. He paid a $100 assessment for costs in the case.

While this man is no angel, perhaps the judge did the right thing. I wasn't there and didn't see the extent of the man's actions. Yeah, he shouldn't have gotten in the way of medical and law enforcement, but seeing his son die right there in front of him could surely cause him to lose proper judgement.

Hopefully, the judge did the right thing after weighing all the facts.

I can see where they had to do something, people can't go around punching Officers regardless of the situation. I would say the judge got it right. Has to be a tough lick for a parent to see something like that - it would be natural to want be right there with your kid.

nochain wrote:

I can see where they had to do something, people can't go around punching Officers regardless of the situation. I would say the judge got it right. Has to be a tough lick for a parent to see something like that - it would be natural to want be right there with your kid.

Not a good situation no matter what....What has to be the top factor is that when medical personnel are stopped or delayed in treating someone with injuries because of this type situation it does the injured party no good. Be surprised how often this happens when a relative(s) show up on the scene...Most time they are compliant with the instructions but remember law enforcement are on those calls: (1) To assist/protect the medical/firefighters on scene (2) To control the scene. To give the benefit of the doubt a little...the officer(s) on scene may not have even been aware of this man's relationship to the victim...may have been told only that there was an out of control individual...

Mr Edmonson got a break in the deal which indicates that the officer and S/A really didn't want the charges/penalty to be increased. Battery on an LEO...Firefighter...EMT is an upgraded battery charge and hopefully the suspect will take full advantage of the conditions imposed. That being said the biggest condition will be that of what he witnessed and that's a life sentence...Justice was most definitely passed along with a common sense approach...

Yes, I agree. This case had extenuating circumstances.

I agree with the judge and other posters..