Murder a sleeping man? 67 days in prison.
Smoke some pot because you’re sick? 1.5-4 years in prison.
Cato has the details.
Read up on the Winkler case here here and here. It seems to me that the defense’s story changed quite bit until they finally latched onto the battered wife defense — apparently verbal criticism and pressure for kinky sex now qualifies for homicide.
The jury convicted on voluntary manslaughter, which means it bought the “I was just pointing the gun at him to make a point and it went off!” defense, never mind the technical impossibility or the fact that Winkler was asleep at the time. But the foreman’s comments make it clear the jury wanted to completely acquit her – because of the alleged abuse.
The articles do not make it clear how much evidence was presented of spousal abuse but it seems entirely anecdotal. And it seems to me you need some pretty convincing evidence of pretty significant abuse because — let’s not mince words — Minister Winkler was effectively tried, convicted and executed for spousal abuse.
Funny me, I think there should be some evidence to back that up. I’m OK with the battered wife defense – a man who abuses his wife deserves what he gets. But there has to be some, you know, evidence before we allow someone to kite checks and shoot her sleeping husband. And I’m sorry – criticism and demands for kinky sex are not the same thing as beating the shit out of someone.
Cue angry screaming from feminists.
One other note. When I was in college, I would get into vociferous arguments on this subject. Women, particularly feminist women, would go on about how many men abuse women; how many men rape or sexually assault women; how many men oppress women — as though this were relevant. The unstated implication was that a woman murdering her husband was a “blow for the sisterhood” that was justified by the behaviour of men. (The particular case this logic was applied to was the Lorena Bobbit case — another assault on a sleeping man.)
But Winkler was not “men”, he was a man, an individual whose life was abruptly and brutally ended. He shouldn’t suffer for the crimes of his gender and more than I should punish my wife because so many women broke my heart or hurt my feelings.
No one is responsible for the crimes of his ancestors, his gender or his race. He is only responsible for the crimes he has comitted. If Winkler beat his wife, then — possibly — his killing was justified.