Sheriff Dupnik gave Loughner several passes on death threats

[paramedic70002]

http://www.barking-moonbat.com/index..._he_know_that/

Jared Loughner has been making death threats by phone to many people in Pima County including staff of Pima Community College, radio personalities and local bloggers. When Pima County Sheriff’s Office was informed, his deputies assured the victims that he was being well managed by the mental health system. It was also suggested that further pressing of charges would be unnecessary and probably cause more problems than it solved as Jared Loughner has a family member that works for Pima County.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0824904120110109

Jan 8 (Reuters) - The suspect in Saturday's shooting rampage in which a U.S. congresswoman was critically wounded was unstable and had been known to make death threats in the past, the local sheriff said.

I read that making death threats is a Felony in AZ, which would have DQed him from his lawful firearm purchase, and possibly would have him in prison instead of at the Safeway.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[canav844]

Yup, this is a case where the pattern of behavior (mental instability, threats and drug use) before the purchase should have showed up during the background check and "the system" should have stopped this before it ever began with the laws that were already in place.

[blastissimo]

Sheriff should resign..

[ksholder]

Resign and report to jail as an accessory. Total disregard for the law by LEOs (we are not talking about letting someone go for unbroken light or other minor traffic offense) is/should be a criminal act. I understand using discretion, but ignoring the commission of multiple felonies is not an appropriate use of discretion.

ETA - I agree, the above applies IFF (if and only if) the OPs report is proven true. Of course, truth should be the standard for any criminal conviction (sadly it is not always the case).

[MattInFla]

If this is true - and I submit that we do not know for certain yet whether it is or not - then the Sheriff really dropped the ball.

I'm sure the agencies investigating the shootings are looking into it, so we'll find out one way or the other in short order.

[Moga]

No wonder he's crying so much about the attack of Tuscon being directly attributable to the the lax laws of AZ. He's deflecting responsibility. He miserably failed at the duties of his post.

Why isn't this aspect of the tragic events being plastered all over the airwaves with the attention being shown to the capacity of the killer's weapon?

[goldshellback]

Not looking good for the sheriff.....IF these accusations are true.

I do believe our good-sheriff is not the only 'link' that dropped the ball on that killer.

[babarock]

If, as Matt said, this is true, I see lawyers in a feeding frenzy. Actually they will be there regardless.

[BikerRN]

I wouldn't be suprised if the Sheriff "dropped the ball".

He has my respect and gratitude for what he did in Miracle Valley, but the time has come to move on and let someone else have the reins. In Miracle Valley he answered the 10-99 put out by Sheriff Judd. The AZ DPS refused to respond, and they were just a few miles up the road. It's sad to see Dupnik become like those that are so despised, but I guess that just goes to show how out of touch he really is.

Biker

[Hopyard]

If this is true [/B]- and I submit that we do not know for certain yet whether it is or not

Unsubstantiated allegations from a blogger at this point. Anyone can say anything.

It could also be true that the sheriff knew him and knew his family and genuinely did not believe the guy was serious. Threats sometimes rise to the level of a felony, but not always. Sometimes they are just meaningless momentary spouting off of the mouth. The precise wording may have made any such alleged threats (if any were made) difficult to prosecute.

For Biker, I have a question: What is this Miracle Valley story about. Not living in AZ, I've not heard of it, or I've heard of it but not with that name.

[Chaplain Scott]

Well--if one of my family members had been shot by the suspect and it was proven that the LE system had not followed up on prosecution for repeated death threats--I would find a very good attorney and say: "sic 'em"!

[azchevy]

Unsubstantiated allegations from a blogger at this point. Anyone can say anything.

It could also be true that the sheriff knew him and knew his family and genuinely did not believe the guy was serious. Threats sometimes rise to the level of a felony, but not always. Sometimes they are just meaningless momentary spouting off of the mouth. The precise wording may have made any such alleged threats (if any were made) difficult to prosecute.

For Biker, I have a question: What is this Miracle Valley story about. Not living in AZ, I've not heard of it, or I've heard of it but not with that name.

here is the story http://books.google.com/books?id=pz2...valley&f=false

More:

http://www.miraclevalley.net/subpage39.html

Google Shootout at Miracle valley

[azchevy]

You can buy the book as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Shootout-Mirac.../dp/1604941529

also found a blog about it: http://miraclevalleydoc.blogspot.com...s-footage.html

[Hopyard]

You can buy the book as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Shootout-Mirac.../dp/1604941529

also found a blog about it: http://miraclevalleydoc.blogspot.com...s-footage.html

Interesting. I'm surprised I had not heard of this event before. You'd think it would have garnered lots of national attention, and maybe it did and I just missed it at the time.

OK, now lets get back to thread topic. AZ--thanks for the info. Biker, thanks for helping me learn something today.

[Bark'n]

Unsubstantiated allegations from a blogger at this point. Anyone can say anything.

It could also be true that the sheriff knew him and knew his family and genuinely did not believe the guy was serious. Threats sometimes rise to the level of a felony, but not always. Sometimes they are just meaningless momentary spouting off of the mouth. The precise wording may have made any such alleged threats (if any were made) difficult to prosecute.

It is not up to the Sheriff or LEO's to make that determination. It is the job of Sheriff and LEO, to reach out and apprehend persons suspected of committing a crime when a complaint is made, and to bring them before the magistrate.

It is the job of the prosecutor and the magistrate to determine appropriate charges and adjudication. In cases of mandated psych evaluations, again, it is not the Sheriff or LEO's who determine if a person is remanded to a mental facility. It is a magistrate who orders said commitment.

The Sheriff and LEO's, as well as any other witnesses, may sign an affidavit which will assist the magistrate in determining whether confinement is necessary, but it is the magistrate who has the job of ordering the commitment.

Now I understand that a lot of things are done as a matter of course, and are routine. I understand that many times a prosecutor or magistrate will issue a kind of SOP outlining which types of cases they want to see, which may give LEO's some discretion in determining who are brought before them. However, If the Sheriff abuses his office by selectively determining who he is going to bring before the magistrate and who he isn't, based on favoritism, cronyism, or other such determinations outside of his authority, then we have problems. And from such problems, flows a break down from the rule of law and the proper chain of authority.

There is a lot of light being shown on the Sheriff because of his political activism at press conferences surrounding this tragic event. Because of that, I believe in time, the truth will be revealed, and the Sheriff, will have to account for his actions.

Until then, I'm just going to sit back and wait to see what gets revealed as this plays out.