Utah Soccer referee punched by player dies
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/51778089/
MURRAY, Utah (AP) - Police say a Utah soccer referee who was in a coma after being punched by a teenage player has died.
They say 46-year-old Ricardo Portillo of Salt Lake City died late Saturday night.
Unified police spokesman Justin Hoyal says Portillo passed away at the hospital, where he was being treated following an assault during a soccer game last weekend.
Re: Utah Soccer referee punched by player dies
This is incredibly sad, and a little scary too. Players need to respect the authority of game officials, and it needs to be taught to them from their parents and coaches. That kid needs to pay for what he did, and I hope they make an example out of him.
Re: Utah Soccer referee punched by player dies
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Captain13
This is incredibly sad, and a little scary too. Players need to respect the authority of game officials, and it needs to be taught to them from their parents and coaches. That kid needs to pay for what he did, and I hope they make an example out of him.
That's a horrendous thing to say. Lets just ruin a person's existence to set an example.
I feel for everyone involved in this. I *really* doubt that kid intended to kill a person. He still needs to be punished for his actions, be let's be real here. There's no reason to throw away a young person's life over a grave mistake. Treat his anger issues, do whatever. He's already going to have to live with this for the rest of his life.
Re: Utah Soccer referee punched by player dies
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Wonderful Monds
That's a horrendous thing to say. Lets just ruin a person's existence to set an example.
I feel for everyone involved in this. I *really* doubt that kid intended to kill a person. He still needs to be punished for his actions, be let's be real here. There's no reason to throw away a young person's life over a grave mistake. Treat his anger issues, do whatever. He's already going to have to live with this for the rest of his life.
And so is that mans family. If you assault someone and they die from your assault, I don't care if you're a minor you should be in prison till your hair is grey
Re: Utah Soccer referee punched by player dies
I'm not surprised by this. Unfortunately in the society we live in, it's acceptable for kids to be openly disrespectful towards officials. Parents and coaches are, why would the kids be any different? It was only a matter of time before this happened.
Re: Utah Soccer referee punched by player dies
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Wonderful Monds
Contrary to popular belief, our justice is not a tool meant for exacting revenge. So, no.
Deterrence certainly IS part of the goal of the justice system, so he should be held out to show that you will be given a nice, long time in jail to think about your actions if you punch someone and kill them. I think a dozen years seems about right. He'd still be under 30 when he gets out. Not a bad deal for killing someone, really.
Re: Utah Soccer referee punched by player dies
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Wonderful Monds
Contrary to popular belief, our justice is not a tool meant for exacting revenge. So, no.
No, its used for justice. Not slapping people on the wrist for what is one small step from murder.
I actually just now read the article and I'm even more disgusted than I was before. If you hit someone with a large amount of force in the side of the head it can be fatal. I don't care if he didn't mean to kill him, he certainly was trying to physically harm and in doing so ended his life. The article said he couldn't speak english, which means he is most likely an immigrant. I'm sure he, like most the immigrants before him, came here and busted his hump to make a life for his future children and grand children. In an instant all of that was taken from him by some punk ass wuss who sucker punched him in the temple.
I may have over reacted a little when i said till his hair turns grey, but if a person can receive, on average, 15 years for DUI vehicular manslaughter then this guy should receive a penalty even more stiff. He went out his way to intentionally harm another person and in doing so killed them.
Prison: 20 years. Maybe he can learn a trade.
Re: Utah Soccer referee punched by player dies
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Wonderful Monds
There's no reason to throw away a young person's life over a grave mistake.
Don't do this. It wasn't society or the legal system that threw that punch. It was him. HE threw HIS life away.
Re: Utah Soccer referee punched by player dies
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Captain13
This is incredibly sad, and a little scary too. Players need to respect the authority of game officials, and it needs to be taught to them from their parents and coaches. That kid needs to pay for what he did, and I hope they make an example out of him.
If parents taught their kids to respect authority when they're playing rec soccer this doesn't happen. The problem is parents are the biggest culpurate in why stuff like this happens a lot of the time and they're usually the instigator in crap that I have seen.
I'm not saying whether he should rot in jail for the next 30 years or not, because this is one of those 1 in a 1000 type situations. He hit the guy once, it's not like he waited for the ref after the game and beat him unmercifully until someone tackled him. I always am told to keep my head on a swivel but you can't keep your head up 100% of the time.
Re: Utah Soccer referee punched by player dies
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Boston Red
Deterrence certainly IS part of the goal of the justice system, so he should be held out to show that you will be given a nice, long time in jail to think about your actions if you punch someone and kill them. I think a dozen years seems about right. He'd still be under 30 when he gets out. Not a bad deal for killing someone, really.
Deterrance relies upon the idea that a person is making rational decisions.
When a person is acting in a way that we as a society have deemed criminal, he's often NOT acting rationally. He's not thinking "Wow, player x got life in prison for punching a ref so I'm not going to punch this one."
I mean, is the ONLY reason anyone here doesn't go out on a murdering spree because you might face life in prison or even the death penalty? Or are there many other overriding factors that help you understand that taking a life is a very bad thing to do?
Re: Utah Soccer referee punched by player dies
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Wonderful Monds
Agreed. And he likely will receive a manslaughter charge that will result in just that, which seems pretty fair to me.
I agree. That does seem fair for what he DID actually do.
Re: Utah Soccer referee punched by player dies
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Wonderful Monds
Contrary to popular belief, our justice is not a tool meant for exacting revenge. So, no.
He killed someone. Lets start with justice.
Re: Utah Soccer referee punched by player dies
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Wonderful Monds
That's a horrendous thing to say. Lets just ruin a person's existence to set an example.
I feel for everyone involved in this. I *really* doubt that kid intended to kill a person. He still needs to be punished for his actions, be let's be real here. There's no reason to throw away a young person's life over a grave mistake. Treat his anger issues, do whatever. He's already going to have to live with this for the rest of his life.
This kid willfully and intentionally hit the referee in the head with the intent to cause physical harm. He did that to the fullest extreme. He killed a man. A husband, father, brother and friend. For that he needs to pay a debt to society. People need to know it is not OK to lash out at others in a physical manner. I am not advocating the death penalty or anything crazy, but this youngster committed a crime and took a man from his family and I don't think asking him to do hard time is "a horrendous thing to say."
He may not be a murderer, but he is a killer and should be treated as such.