Thread: Widow of slain HPD officer sues gun store

Widow of slain HPD officer sues gun store

05:39 PM CST on Friday, November 14, 2008

KHOU.com staff report

HOUSTON—The widow of a murdered Houston police officer has filed a lawsuit against a Pasadena gun store.

Officer Rodney Johnson was shot and killed by Juan Quintero two years ago.

Johnson had just arrested Quintero when he was shot.

Quintero was handcuffed in the back of the patrol car, but he still managed to pull grab his gun and open fire.

Johnson’s widow, Joslyn, said the gun store should have prevented the sale of the weapon to Quintero, who was a convicted felon and illegal immigrant.

Quintero was sentenced to life in prison for the crime.

http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/ ... 321e0.html

I must admit when I saw the subject I was prepared to come on here and defend the second amendment. However, I don't believe we should be selling guns to violent felons or illegal immigrants. I just hope this suit does not lead to a further erosion of the 2nd amendment.

How could he still be armed if he was handcuffed? Shouldn't the officer disarm him before, after or during

Originally Posted by agrneydgrl

How could he still be armed if he was handcuffed? Shouldn't the officer disarm him before, after or during

Maybe the creep had the gun well hidden or shifted it when he was frisked.

Slain officer's widow sues city, gun store
Woman wants department to alter patrol policy
By SUSAN CARROLL
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Nov. 14, 2008, 11:32PMShare
Print Email Del.icio.usDiggTechnoratiYahoo! BuzzThe widow of Houston police officer Rodney Johnson has filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Houston, claiming its policy of having one officer per patrol car contributed to her husband's death.

Houston police Sgt. Joslyn Johnson says in the wrongful death lawsuit, filed in Harris County Civil Court on Sept. 22, that she would give up monetary damages if the city would change its policy and put two officers in each police car as a safety measure.

"She wants that policy changed," said Ben Dominguez, Joslyn Johnson's attorney "There are police officers out there today driving the midnight shift in areas of the city where crime is prevalent, and they're by themselves."

Jaqueline Leguizamon, a city attorney, declined comment on the lawsuit on Friday. The city denies liability.

Johnson was killed on Sept. 21, 2006, by Juan Leonardo Quintero, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who is serving a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Johnson stopped Quintero for speeding and patted him down but missed the gun that Quintero used to shoot him in the back of the head from the rear seat of the patrol car.

Joslyn Johnson has filed two other lawsuits in reaction to her husband's murder. She also is suing Carter's Country in Pasadena, a gun store that sold the weapon used to kill Johnson, according to the lawsuit filed Sept. 22.

Johnson charges that gun store employees improperly sold a 9 mm Smith & Wesson handgun to Quintero's wife, Theresa Lynn Quintero.

The lawsuit says that Juan Quintero picked out the gun, but store employees allowed his wife to fill out the required paperwork for its purchase. Quintero pleaded guilty to indecency with a child in Harris County in 1999 and was deported to Mexico, making him ineligible to buy a gun, according to the lawsuit.


The actual buyer
The lawsuit says that Carter's Country employees "knew or reasonably should have known that Juan Quintero was the actual purchaser of the handgun." Selling the gun to his wife amounted to a "straw sale," Dominguez said, adding: "There are federal regulations that say it's illegal to do that."

William Book, an attorney for Carter's Country, did not return a phone call on Friday.

In response to Johnson's court filing, attorneys for the gun store argued in court paperwork that Juan Quintero and his former employer, Robert Lane Camp, were responsible for the murder.

In May, Johnson also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Camp, who was arrested by federal agents in May on charges of allegedly harboring Quintero and helping him return to Houston after he was deported. Camp pled not guilty to the charges.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 13486.html

I can certainly understand this woman's anger and grief but I think it could be better directed. She should be pushing for stronger deportation laws. A gun did not kill her husband, a man with a gun who should not have even been in this country did.
The article doesn't state what Officer Johnson arrested Quintero for but I am going to assume he was being kind and cuffed Quintero with his hands in front and failed to do a proper search.
Several things could have been done differently but selling a gun to a person who is legally intitled to one doesn't fall in here unless they want to pass new laws saying the spouse of a felon cannot purchase a hand gun.

A little backgroud on the Officer Rodney Johnson murder

Widow of Murdered HPD Cop to Go to Washington to Address Immigration


http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-130721-0.html