www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Looks like the court system moved very quickly. Condolences to the family. I cannot see this as a bad light on CR. Could happen and does happen more often elsewhere.



http://fox4kc.com/2012/09/06/costa-rica ... nsas-teen/

MCLOUTH, Kan. — A three-judge panel in Costa Rica has convicted a hotel security guard of manslaughter in the June, 2011, shooting death of McLouth High School student Justin Johnson.

Johnson, 15, was on a student field trip to Costa Rica when he was shot and killed by security guard Jorge Guevara, who claimed that he thought Johnson and a friend were thieves. The three-judge panel sentenced Guevara to 15 years in prison and ruled that the hotel that employed him was negligent and ordered it to pay Johnson’s parents $646,000.

Johnson’s parents say their son and another boy were walking from a friend’s room back to their own when Guevara shot him once in the heart from about 15 feet away.

“There was a curfew, and so they just wanted to avoid being seen,” said father John Johnson. “Guevara’s account was a warning shot, so they did an exhaustive search of the hotel grounds for a second shell casing and none was found.”

“He repeatedly said he thought they were thieves,” said Johnson.

The Johnson family says that the hotel should have never hired Guevara — an illegal immigrant in Costa Rica from Nicaragua.

“No security guard training, no license for firearms nor guns, and they asked him to perform a duty that he was clearly unqualified for,” said Johnson.

The Johnsons, who flew to Costa Rica for the trial and hired their own attorney to assist the prosecution, says that they are happy with the verdict and the sentence — but they add that they haven’t seen any of the $646,000 judgment against the hotel and because of appeals they might never it at all.

Thanks for posting - I do remember the case; sad all ways round - tragic that a young man had to loose his life over an insident so not meriting it - but hindsight is always 20/20. And yes, justice did move swiftly.

2 small howevers:

While sad, the young man put himself in the situation - I hate blaming the victim, but he was doing something wrong - - paid way too high a price for it, but he is not 100% blameless - still so sad, but the "reaction" from the guard was excessive regardless; normally at hotels in the USA guards are not armed, nor would they fire on someone, even if they suspected robbery - but we should realize when we go to a foreign country we are not in "Kansas" anymore - and govern our actions acordingly

I think the Johnson's have a better chance of seeing Jesus than the 646k

Not sure if he did anything wrong at all. He paid for accommodation there. Thus he had the right to walk around pretty much where he wanted. I did not read that he was in a restricted area at all. The hotel should have been understanding that these were K*ds that had never left the USA before and unexpected things should be expected with teenagers.

Hate to throw this in and not going to debate whether warranted or not. But, wasn't the guard Nica? I thought I remembered reading this when the story happened. If so, that would explain the swift justice. Merited or not, I would not see them convicting a Tico over this. If my facts are wrong, then I'm really surprised he was convicted.

The guard was a Nicaraguan. My thoughts as well.

There ya go. He probably wouldn't have been convicted if he was Tico and if he was it would have taken a LONG time. I don't know the facts of the case, so the guard could have been guilty, just wanted to point out the very weighted justice here.

who fires a gun at a suspected thief? this guy played judge jury and executioner. cut off his balls and let him bleed out along with the hotel owner that gave an imbecile a gun.

_________________
im way deep into nothing special
riding the crest of a wave breaking just west of hollywood

Can't disagree there that they put guns in the hands of some real simpletons and idiots down here.

All good points

Again - read my post - the reaction did not warrant the "crime" - the K*ds had a curfew and were told not to leave their rooms - so again, if you want to be strict, the K*D in question broke the rules and assuming the guard was so informed of the curfew, it may be reasonable to assume that he did not expect the young guests to be out and about, especially - as was reported - sneaking about - - and paid the ultimate price for it; way too high - probably a 100 things could have been done differently in retrospect - and then a young life would have been spared - these things have a life of their own:

A) The K*D should not have broken curfew - he should have been in his room (however, should not have been killed for so doing )

B) Should never have fired on the K*D in the first place

C) Should not have been armed perhaps

D) Should have had some training vs <likely> just being issued a lethal weapon

You know, its one of those things that could be debated endlessly - not just this tragic insident, but the takeaway for me is is the reinforcing that once we leave the USA, we are not "home" anymore - and even in a beautiful, mostly safe, country like CR, populated by layed back, mellow people for the most part - stuff can happen.

And yes, I could believe the fact that the guard was a Nica payed a role in the swiftness and the sentenance.

As my Chinese Doctor once said to me after my mom went into Code Blue in the Emergency Room "Scary Stuff"!