A man accused of fatally shooting a 15-year-old last year was beaten by members of the teen’s family during a courtroom melee in San Antonio, authorities said.

Victor Rivas, 18, who is charged with murder in the May 2022 death of Ethan Soto, was in a Bexar County courtroom Friday awaiting a preliminary hearing when he was attacked.

Rivas’ attorney, Adam LaHood, said his client was “going to be bruised and swollen” but was not otherwise injured.

Four people — two men and two juveniles — were arrested and will be charged with assault and disrupting court proceedings, the Bexar County sheriff’s office said. Their names haven’t been released.

    • @AllonzeeLV
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      11 months ago

      They’re lucky they didn’t kill him.

      His life was already over, with a quick death by beating possibly even an unintentional mercy on the part of the victims.

      If their assault killed him, one of the adults might have claimed his future cell.

      • deweydecibel
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        1611 months ago

        This was a preliminary hearing, too. They can’t even use the excuse that the justice system has failed them and they need to take matters into their own hands, because the justice system had not had an actual chance to do anything yet.

        Like, for fucks sake, he’s there, in the court room, about to face justice and you idiots can’t even wait to see how it plays out first? Would the world end if he didn’t take a beating right that second?

    • deweydecibel
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      2311 months ago

      Why?

      The trial hadn’t even taken place yet.

      Are we seriously so bloodthirsty and shortsighted we can’t even pretend to give a shit about due process anymore?

    • prole
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      911 months ago

      In what civilized society is this good

    • @Potatos_are_not_friends
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      11 months ago

      Nah.

      I can’t explain how stupid it is to cause trouble when inside the courtroom. It’s not deserving or “good riddance”, it’s shortsighted and fucking stupid.

      If they had half a brain, they would have schemed. Get the guy in prison. Or bribe a certain accident. Or do some other sneaky shit.

      Instead, their master plan was to “hit him a bit” while surrounded by police officers and the courts? And now they get to also get charged? Fucking amateur hour.

  • uphillbothways
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    -1211 months ago

    This is an excellent opportunity for potential jurors in the area to learn about valid situations to exercise the right of jury nullification. A smart DA would plead this way down to some misdemeanor resulting in community service.

    • sik0fewl
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      1311 months ago

      Why? He’s already pleaded guilty. And he should go to prison for murder. And his attackers should go to prison for assault.

      • uphillbothways
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        -111 months ago

        Sorry. That could be confusing. Yeah. The murderer should go to jail for murder. Absolutely.

        I’d have a really hard time sentencing the victim’s family for attacking the murderer.

        That was my point. Apologies for leaving that ambiguous in my initial comment.

        • sik0fewl
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          911 months ago

          While I understand the feeling, mob justice like this only undermines the justice system and should really be prosecuted.

          On the other hand, it probably would not be too difficult to find a sympathetic jury and he does not appear to be seriously injured, so assuming the charges aren’t just dropped, I would expect a plea deal for something like community service, as well.

          • uphillbothways
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            11 months ago

            mob justice like this only undermines the justice system…

            This is far from the worst thing undermining the justice system. It’s not even an egregious example of mob justice. But I suspect we mostly agree. I’ve said all I’ve got to say about it.

        • @SheeEttin
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          211 months ago

          I’d have a really hard time sentencing the victim’s family for attacking the murderer.

          Why? Violence should not beget more violence. We’re supposed to be better than that.

    • @PM_Your_Nudes_Please
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      3011 months ago

      Homeslice is 8 comments in, and already at -300 karma lmao. If you’re gonna troll, at least put some effort into it. Brand new account too.

      • Zeppo
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        11 months ago

        I evaluated these and most were confusing comments about happening and not happening. -120 on a Lemmy comment is pretty severe though, so maybe I should evaluate the context.

        • sebinspace
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          911 months ago

          Account is also only a day old. Stop feeding the trolls.

          • Zeppo
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            11 months ago

            “feeding a troll” is taking them seriously or getting upset. I haven’t done that.

              • Zeppo
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                111 months ago

                I was seriously wondering ‘wtf is this person trying to say?’

        • @[email protected]
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          -3611 months ago

          I beg of you stop spreading dangerous misinformation. It’s NOT happening and it’s good (that it is happening).

              • @glimse
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                811 months ago

                Damn dude did you find your krokodil stash today or something?

                • @ghostdoggtv
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                  111 months ago

                  You can’t feel your typing fingys on krok, clearly he’s on amphetamines based on the lack of typos and length of his roll

    • @glimse
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      911 months ago

      What a weird and racist commenta

    • Zeppo
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      11 months ago

      Oh, the United States? Yeah, it mostly sucks. (this is denying the ethnicity-oriented slur of the above comment btw)