Commonwealth v. C.R

C.R. was sitting in a car with his pregnant girlfriend when another individual walked past him into an alley, turned back around and fired a shot at C.R. That individuals bullet tragically struck and killed the girlfriend and the unborn baby. C.R. returned fire and fled from the car as the other person chased him down the street firing multiple times. At a preliminary hearing, the video did not clearly show who fired first, but the DA argued that under the law, since C.R. was engaged in a gunfight he was liable for homicide of the girlfriend and Aggravated Assault of the other man. The defense cited ballistic evidence and used the video to argue that the gunfight was not initiated by C.R., and after 18 months in custody, a judge agreed with the defense and dismissed the homicide and assault charges against C.R. for lack of evidence.