Kicking an unconscious guy in the head?

[WyoBrandX]

I still haven't heard the whole story. I'm sure we won't know what happened until the trial is over. Not saying its ok to kick an unconscious guy in the head but if the circumstances are right it could be justified.

We won't know for a while and its all assumptions and speculation at this time. Innocent until proven guilty

I agree innocent until proven guilty, but in the eyes of the law doing anything to anyone who is unconscious is never justified. The way the law works, the dude could have pulled a gun on him but once he's unconscious, the threat's been eliminated and any self-defense justification you had is now gone.

Look - I'm not defending him or saying he's the biggest **** in the world. Until all the facts are known, we shouldn't be passing judgement. I wasn't there and I'm not Nostradaumus. Maybe he was being a dick that night, maybe he was defending his life. Maybe someone grabbed his girls crotch. I don't know. Passing judgement before we know what happened is a big mistake. Let's hope the courts get it right and handle this correctly.

On a side note -- Go Pokes!

 

[Vapoke]

I have sat back on this topic for a long and tried to read some news articles and what the arrest report said. I grew up in Laramie and very rarely come back anymore. After reading the latest Boomerang article the other day it sounds like the "local" started the fight. I am going to write the following response as least biased as possible, and no I don't think the local deserved a kick to the head, and we need to let the justice system work this incident out. However, the local is not innocent in this matter.
From what I read is that Cooke knocked Parfait out only after Parfait tried to swing at Martinez and miss. Parfait consented to a fight by throwing a punch. Was the kick to the head what caused the fractures? Or the one punch. Had Parfait been totally innocent Cooke would have been arrested, but it looks like something happened in the bar and spilled into the streets. He took a swing, more than likely a sucker punch, missed and got knocked out, should not start a fight with a glass jaw. Cooke was not arrested for assault and battery, so if Parfait would have landed his punch, would he have been arrested?
The few times I have come home and gone to the bar I have almost always been in some sort of altercation. I love Laramie, but people don't leave and they feel like they have a sense of entitlement sometimes. The athletes come to town, and instantly attract most of the women in town, they are there to represent the town, the state, the university, and the alumni. Fights are going to happen at that age. But lets be realistic, Parfait is 26 or 27, at what point do you grow up. You are in the Buckhorn bar enjoying time with friends and you throw a wild punch instead of walking away. I am not saying that you should back down every time someone steps on your toes, but come on. I just Wyoming high school kids in general that played sports think they have a sense of entitlement to play for UW, but they aren't good enough, creating jealously.
I saw the facebook page on Luke Martinez, and with it being Christmas time I am sure people he went to high school with were there and will skew the story one sided. They said Parfait is a great guy, but I think that liquid courage snuck up on him.
I am not advocating for Luke Martinez or his actions at all, but we are missing some parts of the story. If he truly kicked him while unconscious then he deserves the consequences handed down. And you cannot suspend someone from school without a conviction or with a firm reason to with facts. The university could set themselves up for a lawsuit in that case. It sounds like Parfait deserved to be lying on the street, BUT IN NO WAY DID HE DESERVE A KICK TO THE HEAD. NOR WOULD ANYONE ELSE IN THAT SITUATION.
I know some people will try and rake me over the coals for this, but I have been to those bars and around the people I went to high school with, I am not surprise that this happened.

 

[bladerunnr]

VA poke, I want to respond to just a few points you made. First, the school can expell Martinez if they want to. They don't need a court of law to do that. For example, a student gets caught cheating, he/she can be kicked out. Their own internal investigation is all they need. Students get expelled all the time. I've never seen a lawsuit from a student trying to get back in. It doesn't happen.

I saw Martinez's mug shot from that night. There's not a mark on him. If he got hit, his pride was wounded more than anything.

Lastly, those buckhorn employees who have given statements: if they give sworn depositions to what they have seen, then I place a great deal of credibility on them. Who is going to risk perjury for this? Also, I wonder what Cooke and Sobey's statements were/are regarding this. If Martinez took a running start and kicked an unconscious guy in the head, he deserves a felony conviction, imo.

 

[Wyo2dal]

IMO Laramie is no different than Rock Springs, When I went back to visit when I was 30 the same people that I remember cruising the drag when I was 18 and they were mid twenties were still there doing the same shit. Starting fights in the dirt lot some people just don't grow up.

Sounds like this is one of those situations while I would never condone kicking someone in the head I can't help but think of those people that a swift kick to the head might help out.

 

[Vapoke]

Being expelled without reason or on hear say can be a bases for a liable lawsuit later. I am not saying Martinez doesn't deserve to be kicked out of school or spend time in jail.
Martinez doesn't have a mark on his face because parfait did not land the punch. He missed and Cooke connected.
Wyo2Dal Laramie is the same way you describe Rock Springs, exactly the same.
I wasn't there and from the looks of it no one else on the board was, I simply wrote my statement on stuff I had read. A lot of witness reports will have a hard time in court if they were drunk that night, but I would also like to read the statements myself.

 

[Wyo2dal]

Being expelled without reason or on hear say can be a bases for a liable lawsuit later. I am not saying Martinez doesn't deserve to be kicked out of school or spend time in jail.
Martinez doesn't have a mark on his face because parfait did not land the punch. He missed and Cooke connected.
Wyo2Dal Laramie is the same way you describe Rock Springs, exactly the same.
I wasn't there and from the looks of it no one else on the board was, I simply wrote my statement on stuff I had read. A lot of witness reports will have a hard time in court if they were drunk that night, but I would also like to read the statements myself.

I agree with completely with you, People that don't grow up will always start trouble for no reason other than just to do it.

 

[WyoBrandX]

I saw Martinez's mug shot from that night. There's not a mark on him. If he got hit, his pride was wounded more than anything.

I agree with most of what you said - except this line. He has a broken hand. What happened that caused him to break his hand? There has to be more to this story.

I'll put it this way - if he just kicked the guy in the head to kick him in the head, he needs to be in big trouble. If he has a legitimate reason - then we should hear it and hope for the best.

 

[Wyo2dal]

I saw Martinez's mug shot from that night. There's not a mark on him. If he got hit, his pride was wounded more than anything.

I agree with most of what you said - except this line. He has a broken hand. What happened that caused him to break his hand? There has to be more to this story.

I'll put it this way - if he just kicked the guy in the head to kick him in the head, he needs to be in big trouble. If he has a legitimate reason - then we should hear it and hope for the best.

See this is the exact thing that throws me off, He has a broken hand yet he never threw a punch? Just kicked someone that was already down? So the impact of his running soccer style kick broke his hand? There is way too much missing from what actually happened.

I personally think this was a fight that started early in the night and was sparked up again later. Martinez probably broke his hand in an earlier fight and this was something that sparked up later.

 

[laxwyo]

Sounds like there was a fight and Luke broke his hand fighting someone and "the victim" tried to pull a cheap shot and Cooke was having his back. Martinez sees the guy that tried to cock sucker him and gives him a boot. If this is how it went down, I say the charges are too high.

 

[Wyo2dal]

Sounds like there was a fight and Luke broke his hand fighting someone and "the victim" tried to pull a cheap shot and Cooke was having his back. Martinez sees the guy that tried to cock sucker him and gives him a boot. If this is how it went down, I say the charges are too high.

It will definitely depends there are a lot of missing details that until they are filled in completely we will just be guessing an making assumptions. i'm going to say I agree this was either someone getting involved and it's their own fault or Luke was out of control. Either way he has to lay in the bed he made and I'd like to know the full story.

 

[COS Cowboy]

Sounds like there was a fight and Luke broke his hand fighting someone and "the victim" tried to pull a cheap shot and Cooke was having his back. Martinez sees the guy that tried to cock sucker him and gives him a boot. If this is how it went down, I say the charges are too high.

This is how i see it. (Although, I think the charges are 100% justified.) My guess is Luke knew he had broken his hand and was frustrated that he had just done something stupid during the season that was going to keep him out for several weeks. Then this guy tries to sucker punch him and Cooke knocks him out. I can see the frustration being at the point where you would take it out on this guy, especially if he started the earlier incident that resulted in the broken hand. That's still no excuse for kicking an unconscious guy in the head. You have to control yourself better than that, no matter what.

 

[OrediggerPoke]

VA poke, I want to respond to just a few points you made. First, the school can expell Martinez if they want to. They don't need a court of law to do that. For example, a student gets caught cheating, he/she can be kicked out. Their own internal investigation is all they need. Students get expelled all the time. I've never seen a lawsuit from a student trying to get back in. It doesn't happen.

Actually, this is a completely FALSE statement. There have been NUMEROUS lawsuits from expelled students to get back in and for monetary damages against our University and many other Universities. Students of PUBLIC institutions are entitled to DUE PROCESS rights. Some administrators think they are above the law and fail to give students their due process rights. Want an example off the top of my head?

About 5-6 years ago the University of Wyoming expelled 4 Sigma Nu students because of a facebook video. The University did little to no investigation and completely failed to follow Due Process procedures. Long story short, the University was sued in federal court, all 4 students were reinstated AND the students received money damages from the University.

This has nothing to do with Luke and hopefully the University will abide by its DUE PROCESS obligations prior to expulsion or any other sanction. I was just correcting this erroneous statement.

 

[Vapoke]

Luke could have been frustrated and punched a wall and broke his hand. He could have broke his hand on the victim earlier, but judging by his glass jaw after the Cooke punch it is doubtful. Let Due Process work and see the outcome. I was involved in a hockey fight a couple of years ago that lead to aggravated assault charges due to someone with a glass jaw. If it wasn't for Due Process we would have been screwed. The guy lied and said we jumped him in the parking lot, just like a witness can lie in this situation.

 

[McPeachy]

:deadhorse1:

Those Sigmanerds shouldn't have handcuffed and blindfolded that ewe before they took turns violating it. They wouldn't have been booted. Once the dean of the College of Ag saw the footage, and then PITA and Sheep Unlimited got involved, all hell broke loose.

 

[OrediggerPoke]

:deadhorse1:

Those Sigmanerds shouldn't have handcuffed and blindfolded that ewe before they took turns violating it. They wouldn't have been booted. Once the dean of the College of Ag saw the footage, he involved PITA, and all hell broke loose.

Haha. Actually, kind of how it went down. The media got ahold of a facebook video. The media (Casper Star) took the video out of context and basically convicted and smeared the students' names prior to any facts being discovered. The University (once again in reactionary mode) quickly expelled 4 students. Worst part was one of the persons in charge of the dismissal (Assistant Dean) released an extremely convicting statement to the media prior to even meeting or interviewing any of the students involved. This was all FRONT PAGE stuff. When the students proved in a court of law that they the University was wrong, the findings and outcome were buried on the 4th page in about one paragraph. Thats how our great media works.

 

[McPeachy]

Haha. Actually, kind of how it went down. The media got ahold of a facebook video. The media (Casper Star) took the video out of context and basically convicted and smeared the students' names prior to any facts being discovered. The University (once again in reactionary mode) quickly expelled 4 students. Worst part was one of the persons in charge of the dismissal (Assistant Dean) released an extremely convicting statement to the media prior to even meeting or interviewing any of the students involved. This was all FRONT PAGE stuff. When the students proved in a court of law that they the University was wrong, the findings and outcome were buried on the 4th page in about one paragraph. Thats how our great media works.

I actually remember that. I was expecting more from the follow up, and you are right...it was buried by the media.

 

[OrediggerPoke]

I actually remember that. I was expecting more from the follow up, and you are right...it was buried by the media.

Yep. And to this day when I google those students' names, what articles do you think come up? Oh, and numerous other papers copied the Casper Star's initial story. It is sickening that a person's reputation can take a drastic hit on FALSE assumptions and angry mob media mentality. I have no idea what those students are doing today, but I bet the FALSE story has had a negative impact on their job applications as every employer does a google search of any applicant.

 

[Aaron]

Hell maybe Luke likes to powerfap so hard he broke his finger. We dont know. And as much as I would love him to be on the team I doubt he will be back so who gives a shit. Until we get a trial its all hearsay and horseshit

 

[Wyolie Coyote]

I saw Martinez's mug shot from that night. There's not a mark on him. If he got hit, his pride was wounded more than anything.

How did he have a mug shot that night? He wasn't arrested the night of the fight. It was 2 weeks later after the team returned from the Nevada game. The mug shot came then, not on December 30.