The Strange Case Of Renato Hughes Jr
THREE blake men break into a house of a white man in California. And:
LAKEPORT, Calif. (AP) — Three young black men break into a white man’s home in rural Northern California. The homeowner shoots two of them to death - but it’s the surviving black man who is charged with murder.
In a case that has brought cries of racism from civil rights groups, Renato Hughes Jr., 22, was charged by prosecutors in this overwhelmingly white county under a rarely invoked legal doctrine that could make him responsible for the bloodshed.
“It was pandemonium” inside the house that night, District Attorney Jon Hopkins said. Hughes was responsible for “setting the whole thing in motion by his actions and the actions of his accomplices.”
Prosecutors said homeowner Shannon Edmonds opened fire Dec. 7 after three young men rampaged through the Clearlake house demanding marijuana and brutally beat his stepson. Rashad Williams, 21, and Christian Foster, 22, were shot in the back. Hughes fled.
Hughes was charged with first-degree murder under California’s Provocative Act doctrine, versions of which have been on the books in many states for generations but are rarely used
As Carmen writes in the Anorak Forums: “I’m trying to get my head round this and why we are morally superior to Saudia Arabia. Explanations from moral philosophers welcome”
December 30th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
This event could not have happen with out the three Blacks who broke into the shooter Home. Future thugs should check the law before they try to rob people
February 17th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
This is racism at its finest. Edmonds, a well-known drug dealer and meth addict lies by claiming he was robbed, shoots two men in the back, and walks away free while Renato gets the blame. That is not playing the so-called race card; those are the facts! These three young gentlemen were educated African American men. They were NOT thugs, but because of racial stereotypes and ignorance, some people automatically assume that white Edmonds’ accusations are justified. How can the young men rob when they did not have any weapons? Why would they choose to pass San Francisco, Napa, Sonoma, Santa Rosa, and other cities just to rob this sick man? The facts are that Renato was not identified in a line up, Renato did not kill anyone, and Renato did not rob Edmonds! If Edmonds was supposedly being attacked in his home, how did he have time enough to get a gun and run after the men to shoot them? Also, it is not defense if you are pursuing someone else! Additionally, why didn’t the Lake County police take the buckets of marijuana and scale that was found in Edmonds’ home? No medical license allows an individual to have five or more pounds of weed for medical treatment. Edmonds is GUILTY! Edmonds needs to be prosecuted for HIS ACTIONS OF MULTIPLE MURDERS!!! This is why this case needs to be further examined. Renato Hughes is innocent and it is sad that he has to endure false accusations for something he did not do! There is no card that is being played, just another example of how a white man is trying to get away with murder and not being held accountable for his actions!
August 28th, 2008 at 4:58 am
Those three men knew what they were going to do. Why would three black men go to a noted”violent, racism drug dealers’” house at 4:00 in the am with only $10.00 in their pocket? My grandson was beaten in the head so severely that he has irrevesilbe brain damage. Rashad Williams should have been in prison for bank robbery. So while he waits his mother sends him to his grandmothers’ in Clearlake. My grandson was in his bed . What did he do to deserve this???? He will do life and I feel Renato should too.