[Previously, at WEJB/NSU:
“In Harris County, Texas, Over 100 Killers Convicted of Murder Have Received Only Probation; ‘Tough,’ Proposed Texas Law Will Have No Effect.”]
Note the gang-style tattoo on Robles’ neck. The poor quality suggests he got it inside. Note, too, what an old-looking 37 he is. Stupid-looking, too. This guy has been around the block a few times, as in cell block.
San Antonio Express-News reporter Michelle Mondo writes that the victim, Richard Rodriguez Jr., “began fighting with three men,” who “told police they beat him up and left him on the ground.” I believe the part about them beating him up, but the part about him “fighting with” them also sounds like their story. While there are some pretty crazy guys in the world, particularly Mexicans in San Antonio, usually when three guys beat the h-e-c-k out of one guy, it was a case of their attacking him, not of his “fighting with” them. This abuse of “fighting” is a standard media tack, designed to let off bad guys.
If Rodriguez survives, which looks unlikely, with 85 percent of his body burned to a crisp, and Robles is convicted, Robles’ll deserve 30. If Rodriguez dies, Robles ought to get the death penalty. Given the sorry state of increasingly Mexicanized Texas justice, however, I would not expect Robles to get anywhere near those punishments.
Man Charged with Setting Another on Fire
By Michelle Mondo
Updated 9:31 p.m., Monday, January 23, 2012
San Antonio Express-News
Man doused with gasoline set on fire
San Antonio police charged a man Monday with attempted capital murder after witnesses said they saw him pour gasoline on Richard Rodriguez Jr. then set him on fire.
Juan Jesus Robles, 37, was already in Bexar County jail on a different charge, officials said. Rodriguez, who turned 23 in the hospital, was burned over more than 85 percent of his body, and remains in critical condition, the arrest warrant affidavit said.
Rodriguez was carrying a gas can when he began fighting with three men he encountered at Guadalupe and South San Marcos streets the night of Jan. 7, an arrest warrant affidavit said. Those men told police they beat him up and left him on the ground, but then tried to stop Robles, who they saw rob Rodriguez, pour gas on him and set him on fire, the affidavit said.
Several people tried to help extinguish the fire with a garden hose, including those who fought with him, the affidavit said. A San Antonio police officer who spotted the flames rushed to the scene and used the fire extinguisher in his patrol car to put out the fire.
County records show Robles was jailed on Jan. 13 to serve a sentence on a theft charge.
mmondo@express-news.net
[Thanks to reader-researcher RC for this story.]
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