SAN JOSE — A jury has discovered a person responsible of voluntary manslaughter for killing an aged stranger two years in the past in a blindside assault spurred by the sufferer shining a flashlight at him throughout an opportunity encounter on a quiet South San Jose avenue.
There was no dispute that 35-year-old Amiel Joey Mirador killed 81-year-old Allen Dournaee with a short flurry of punches from behind — two of them after Dournaee was already unconscious after falling face-down onto a sidewalk.
However a two-week trial that ended Friday with the decision revolved round whether or not Mirador was expressly seeking to kill Dournaee in a match of anger over the flashlight, with the prosecution pointing to the viciousness of the assault and the vulnerability of the octogenarian sufferer as grounds for a second-degree homicide conviction.
Mirador’s protection — together with his personal trial testimony — asserted that the flashlight shining was a extra severe provocation than the way it may need sounded, and that his punches have been by no means meant to kill. Mixed with the accidents Dournaee suffered from falling to the bottom, they argued the demise was a freak accident that warranted an involuntary manslaughter discovering.
The decision handed down Friday afternoon after three days of deliberation represented a center floor of types: The voluntary manslaughter discovering signifies that the jury noticed the assault as an act clouded by emotional misery, or a “heat of passion” psychological state.
“He committed a serious offense, but it wasn’t murder, and the jury saw that,” Supervising Deputy Public Defender Miguel Rodriguez mentioned Friday. “It was a just verdict.”
Monica Scott, Dournaee’s daughter, was distraught Friday alongside her household, who attended every day of the trial.
“It’s a travesty. The entire system victimizes victims over and over again,” Scott mentioned. “He beat an 81-year-old man on the street, and he deserves a murder charge. Anyone who saw the video would agree.”
In addition to discovering the defendant responsible of the manslaughter cost — and declaring him not responsible of homicide within the course of — jurors additionally discovered Mirador not responsible of an elder abuse cost. That implies they agreed with a protection argument that the nighttime hour, a hat and COVID masks worn by Dournaee, and the flashlight shining in Mirador’s eyes meant he didn’t know he was assaulting an aged individual till after the actual fact.
Mirador testified at trial, via a Tagalog interpreter, that he confronted Dournaee over the flashlight shining, which he mentioned made him scared for his security. He additionally admitted in court docket to mendacity to witnesses, emergency personnel and police about his position in Dournaee’s accidents, which he mentioned got here from being overwhelmed by worry within the quick aftermath.
The assault occurred March 27, 2022 close to Avenida Grande and By way of Romera, in a neighborhood nestled between Bernal Highway and Santa Teresa Boulevard. Dournaee was out on an evening stroll round 8 p.m. and had by no means met the defendant earlier than he was punched from behind whereas retreating from Mirador, as was proven in surveillance video offered at trial.
In accordance with usually agreed-upon details offered at trial, about an hour earlier than the assault, Mirador had gotten right into a struggle together with his older brother at a house, in the identical neighborhood, after arriving drunk following a shift as a line prepare dinner. The brother punched Mirador, prompting a police name that ended with no arrests.
One other older brother additionally ended up preventing with Mirador whereas driving the defendant away from the house; the scuffle ended with Mirador punching and breaking the windshield and getting out of the car, heading to an eventual path towards Dournaee.
Mirador was on the other facet of the road when Dournaee shined his flashlight at Mirador. Dwelling-security footage from a close-by residence exhibits Dournaee flip and stroll away from Mirador, who crossed the road to shut the gap and punched Dournaee at the back of the pinnacle, knocking him to the bottom.
Mirador punched a inclined Dournaee within the head once more, then, just a few seconds later, after trying round, wound up and punched him a 3rd time.
Dournaee by no means regained consciousness, and he died 12 days later from extreme head accidents. Mirador referred to as 911 and later claimed that he discovered Dournaee on the bottom after tripping on him, a narrative that the video footage rapidly debunked.
Mirador’s potential sentence for the conviction is unclear, as a result of he nonetheless faces a separate court docket trial scheduled for Jan. 6 to handle his prior legal convictions. Within the meantime, he’ll stay within the Santa Clara County jail the place he’s being held with out bail.
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