'Bad Neighbor' Someone They Knew with Tamron Hall

Video Statistics and Information

Video

Captions Word Cloud

Reddit Comments

Captions

[dramatic music] ♪■ - Spring Valley in the mid-1990s was a working-class neighborhood-- not a lot going on there, and along comes John Harper, Jr. He was someone who did terrorize the neighborhood. A car in the hands of John Harper is potentially a lethal weapon. He'd tailgate people and engage in a lot of menacing activities. - A lot of the neighbors felt helpless that they couldn't do anything about it. - They wanted the sheriffs to do something. They didn't do anything. - Danny had had enough. He'd had enough. ♪■ - By the fall of 1995, the quiet town of Spring Valley, California had turned into a powder keg ready to explode. For the past several years, the neighbors in this sleepy enclave have had to deal with the erratic and dangerous behavior of one of its residents. The escalating situation ultimately led to a violent encounter on the morning of January 28th. It raised a serious question about where the line is drawn between self-defense and murder. ♪■ - Spring Valley is much more rural than urban Downtown San Diego. ♪■ Things are more spread out. John Harper, Jr. was someone who was living with his parents in Spring Valley and was not really a very welcome presence in the neighborhood. ♪■ - John Harper would be defined differently by different people. Obviously, if you talk to John Harper's family, I'm sure he was appreciated and loved. If you talk to the members of the community in Spring Valley, pretty much, I'd say, they thought he was a monster. - John Harper, Jr. was a ne'er-do-well, and John Harper, Jr. was a jerk. He was someone who did terrorize the neighborhood, didn't contribute much to society, other than the fact that he took very good care of his parents. ♪■ - There were allegations that he was a methamphetamine user. He was apparently harassing neighbors. - John Harper had a reputation of terrorizing people in Spring Valley. According to some of the residents, he basically uses his car as something of a weapon. ♪■ - He would get in his car and follow people really closely at a relatively high rate of speed. He'd tailgate people and engage in a lot of menacing activities. [tires squealing] [metal crunches] ♪■ A lot of police reports about the bullying tactics that John Harper would do. People in the community felt very intimidated by him. - Come on! [car honking] - It's difficult to get inside the psyche of somebody like John Harper. But by all appearances, this was obviously a very unhappy person and did have a lot of anger issues, a lot of rage issues. Now, what the source of the anger and the rage is is hard to determine, but he was certainly acting out in a way that was very threatening to the Spring Valley community. [tires squeal] - He had 11 pages of priors, two being a felony, and several misdemeanors. He had even been in a juvenile facility. - The neighborhood response to John Harper, Jr. was that of fear and dismay that this was someone who lived in their community and who was tormenting them. I think a lot of the neighbors felt helpless that they couldn't do anything about it. ♪■ Danny Palm had 29 years of military service. ♪■ And he had retired from the military, and he and his wife had bought their dream home in Spring Valley. ♪■ - Danny Palm and the neighbors had a meeting with the sheriffs and talked about Mr. Harper and what he was doing. They were afraid of him. They wanted the sheriffs to do something, and they didn't do anything. ♪■ Danny Palm was an organizer. He really took the bull by the horns, so to speak. He just wanted to make his neighborhood safe. - Danny Palm believed in order, and he believed in rules, and Danny Palm's first recourse was the rule of law. He went to the authorities because that's what you're supposed to do. ♪■ - Danny Palm met with the police, and the sheriff's department passed him off to CHP. CHP said, "No, it's not our jurisdiction." Eventually, Dan Palm was working with an organization called Safe Streets Now, and the organizer of that group had asked Dan to be one of the leaders of the neighborhood organization that was trying to document what John Harper, Jr. was up to. Dan Palm had notes that contained 150 incidents and 42 different victims of transgressions that John Harper, Jr. had done. There was at least one attempt to speak with the parents to communicate to them what was going on, but they were not getting any sort of a response to their complaints. In essence, Dan Palm was doing everything that he'd been asked to do in regard to trying to get a handle on the John Harper, Jr. situation. ♪■ - You have this threat, and the system can't take care of it, and so what transpired pits our legal system against this notion of vigilante justice. ♪■ - On November 28, 1995, Danny Palm pulled up next to John Harper, Jr., and pulled the trigger, and shot him right between the eyes. Danny Palm then took his gun, shot him seven more times, reloaded, and emptied the magazine in John Harper, Jr. He shot at him 13 times. Eight of the shots went through his back. ♪ [tires squealing] - It was very scary 'cause he was yelling. He had his fist in the air. I just couldn't figure out what I had done to make him so angry. [metal crunches] - There was a lot of tension built up between John Harper and Danny Palm. Law enforcement wasn't there to see it. [tires squeal] ♪■ [dramatic music] ♪■ - As a retired commander, Danny Palm lived life by the book, following every rule and guideline that was consistent with being both an officer and a gentleman in the United States Navy. So it was startling to the people of Spring Valley when he was arrested for shooting his neighbor John Harper, Jr. to death. It was even more surprising that Palm shot the unarmed Harper 13 times, hitting him with a total of nine bullets. While the neighbors might have been shocked by the killing, few of them were surprised it happened. ♪■ - The community at large was fearful of John Harper. It seems as though people were describing their lives as being threatened by some kind of terrorist. So this was not something that was just in the mind of Danny Palm. In a sense, I mean, Danny Palm represented the collective view of that neighborhood. ♪■ - John Harper, Jr. had a car, an El Camino, that he would use to basically tailgate other people, and in some cases, run other cars off the road. [tires squeal] [metal crunches] ♪■ - John Harper and Danny Palm had different run-ins, and most of these run-ins involved activity on the roads of Spring Valley, where John Harper was known to basically use his car as a weapon. Danny Palm actually grew fearful of encounters with John Harper. There was a lot of tension built up between John Harper and Danny Palm. Law enforcement wasn't there to see it. ♪■ [tires squeal] - They really didn't feel as though there was a lot they could do. - There was an incident where Melody Hurt and her daughter were in the car, and she claimed that John Harper, Jr. ran her off the road. - My daughter was at a cheer camp that day, and I was asked by her cheer coach if I would run to a store and pick up some red pom-poms for the cheer socks. ♪■ Traffic was really bad, so I decided to take a shortcut, which was Helix Street, and that's when the incident occurred on our way back to the cheer camp. - There was no ramp-up of John Harper, Jr.'s activity. I think that he was consistently being a jerk to all the neighbors. - I was just driving, and this car pulled up very close to me and was revving its engine. [car honks] - What the [bleep]? Come on! - And I thought, "Oh, my gosh, this is a very curvy street, and he's in a hurry. So I got to a place where I could pull over, so he could pass me, and he didn't. He just pulled up behind me and revved his engine again. It was very scary 'cause he was yelling. He had his fist in the air, yelling something at me. I didn't cut him off. I didn't turn in front of him. I just couldn't figure out what I had done to make him so angry. - The roads out there in East County are two-lane roads, and they can be curvy. Driving fast there is actually very dangerous and scared Melody tremendously. - He was right behind me. I got to a curve in the road where I really had to slow down because it's a very winding road, and it actually has a steep drop-off on the right. I slowed down, and he bumped my bumper. [metal crunches] My daughter had gotten pretty sick, and when he came up onto my side of the car, she was screaming, very upset. She was crying, and I said, "Just get down on the floor," 'cause I thought he might have a gun. I sped up as fast as I could on this curvy road, and I pulled into a person's driveway. I leaned on my horn. Nobody came out. At which point, my daughter turned around and looked out the window, and she goes, "Mama, he's gone," and I went, "Oh, thank goodness." And as I pulled out of the driveway, there he was, waiting for me. ♪■ I was driving beyond the speed limit for sure, and I could see just down the hills, and there was a three-way stop, and I just ran the stop, and then as soon as I got to the bottom of the hill, there was an elementary school I pulled into. There were a couple of custodians outside, so then he left. - John Harper would really walk the line in terms of committing any criminal act until with Melody. He was driving recklessly and dangerously and threatening her. - After the Melody Hurt incident, John Harper, Jr. was arrested and charged. - He was arrested for reckless driving and assault with a deadly weapon. His attorney had it reduced to a reckless driving. ♪■ - They day that John Harper came to the courthouse, when he walked out the elevator, he went like that to me. ♪■ - There were comments that were made by John Harper, Jr., one of which had been heard by a detective, which was to the extent of, "I know that the neighborhood did this to me. "If they think I was bad before, wait till they see me now." ♪■ - John Harper is furious because he was brought to trial, and John Harper was determined to retaliate against people who had testified against him, and one very important person was Danny Palm, who testified against him. who testified against him. [dramatic music] ♪■ - The residents of Spring Valley had to endure John Harper, Jr.'s menacing behavior for years, and much of the suffering they endured was due in part to what they called the lack of response by law enforcement. That is, until Harper tried to run Melody Hurt and her daughter off the road. Now that Harper has been arrested and charged for his dangerous antics, there's a real chance the people of the neighborhood will finally get some peace through the justice system. ♪■ - A lot of times, people in the general public don't want to testify at trial against a defendant that they see as somebody who is dangerous or menacing, and they are fearful that, quite frankly, that defendant, you know, might come after them. Regardless, in the trial of what John Harper did to Melody Hurt, Danny Palm testified, and he knew that he was putting himself at some risk. - Nobody thinks that John Harper, Jr. was a boy scout. As community members, Danny Palm and the rest of the community did what they were supposed to do. They organized groups. They did community watch. They contacted the sheriff's department and so forth, and that's all they could do. Now, did that end the problem? And the answer is no. ♪■ [tires squealing] - Danny Palm testified as to what was happening in his own neighborhood, and I was told this had been going on for a very long time. - John Harper is furious because he was brought to trial, had to defend himself. And John Harper, according to reports, was determined to retaliate against people who had testified against him. - Danny Palm and his wife, Carol, were sitting on a seat outside the courthouse, and Harper had the desire to taunt people, and he had then blown a kiss at him. - John Harper, Jr. appeared to not have any remorse for what he was doing and for the fact that his actions had resulted in a court case. ♪■ - The jury hung on that, and those are very hard cases to prove. Melody Hurt and her daughter were not hurt, and there was just not enough evidence to prove that he was guilty of that crime. - I believe either he had got a reckless driving with a minimal fine or he got virtually no penalty on it, and essentially thumbed his nose at everybody after that. - There was fear. There was fear that he'd come after me. ♪■ - When John Harper, Jr. was released after his court hearing, given a fine, the neighborhood heard about this, and knew that he was coming back, and had heard about comments that he'd made and that he was angry. - On November 28, 1995, John Harper, Jr. went out, bought a milkshake and some French fries, and drove up to outside-- right outside Danny Palm's house. ♪■ - His wife, Carol Palm, saw John Harper, Jr. outside, and they were very concerned. ♪■ - There was no reason at all why John Harper would've been by the house and no reason why he would've sat in front of the house. So Danny does grab his gun 'cause he's afraid. - John Harper, Jr. then drove down the road. Dan Palm's response was to get in his own car with a loaded gun and essentially follow John Harper down the road. - John Harper comes to a stop, and Danny Palm stops behind him. John Harper apparently waves to Danny Palm to pass him. Well, Danny Palm does not see this wave as a friendly gesture. Danny Palm sees this wave as, "Okay, Danny Palm, you get in front of me. "I, John Harper, am now going to tailgate and terrorize you." Danny Palm makes a critical decision in this moment. Danny Palm decides to pull up to the car. He shows the gun to John Harper. He loads the gun. He makes it clear. John Harper, by all accounts, is not intimidated. - And that's where Dan Palm says John Harper, Jr. said, "Your family's good as dead." - You and your family are as good as dead! - It appears that that was a snapping point for Dan Palm. - Mr. Harper then somehow releases the brake. The car rolls down the hill, veers to the right, ends up hitting a tree. Mr. Palm follows the car down, gets out of the vehicle. - Dan Palm proceeded to shoot 13 total rounds, nine of which entered John Harper, Jr.'s body, and that included Dan Palm reloading in the middle of shooting. - After the crime, Danny Palm took the gun and a live round in a magazine, and he hid 'em in an open field next to his house, went home. His friend called and said, "What are all these helicopters doing here?" And Danny Palm acted like he had no idea what was going on. ♪■ - I just think Danny had had enough. He'd had enough. - If you were honestly acting in self-defense and you really thought you were justified, you would own up to it. He would've called the police himself, but he tried to cover it up afterwards. - He was being charged with murder. A perfect self-defense is when you're acting to protect yourself or someone else in a reasonable manner, considering the circumstances and considering what you did. Imperfect self-defense is that you had a reasonable belief in that you were helping someone, but you did it in an unreasonable manner, and that's imperfect. ♪■ - Danny's attorney questioned me. He said, "Do you think Harper would have hurt you if he would have found you?" And I said yes. Danny Palm may have been my savior. ♪■ - John Harper, Jr. was still slumped over the right-hand side of his car, and the defendant walked up to that window and fired. One, two, three, four, five, six times into John Harper, Jr. On that sixth shot, the slide was locked back. ♪■ [dramatic music] ♪■ - When John Harper, Jr. died in a hail of gunfire on the morning of January 28, 1995, few of the residents of Spring Valley mourned his loss. It will be up to prosecutor Blaine Bowman to convince a jury of 12 people to ignore the years of John Harper's menacing behavior. For the state, the core issue is that no person has the right to take the law into their own hands, regardless of the circumstances. ♪■ - Ladies and gentlemen, on November 28, 1995, just after 11:00 in the morning, a single shot rang out in a Spring Valley neighborhood. That shot was fired by this weapon right here. - This is a .45 caliber semiautomatic firearm. When that shot was fired from this weapon, it was fired by the defendant, Danny Palm. It was fired at the victim, John Harper, Jr. while John Harper, Jr. sat in his car unarmed, with his door closed, with his seatbelt securely fastened. Danny Palm, ladies and gentlemen, fired that shot at John Harper, Jr. while John Harper, Jr. was drinking a milkshake. There was not a lot of public support for this prosecution, especially in the Dictionary Hill area. You know, and I got emails, I got nasty phone messages from people around the community saying, "Why are you prosecuting this guy? He should get a medal for what he did." ♪■ John Harper, Jr. was still slumped over the right-hand side of his car, and the defendant walked up to that window and fired. One, two, three, four, five, six times into John Harper, Jr. On that sixth shot, the slide was locked back. At that point, the defendant took the magazine out of his gun, got his second loaded magazine. It was filled with seven rounds. Put 'em in that gun, released the slide, and he continued firing into the lifeless John Harper, Jr. Six more shots this man fired into John Harper, Jr. as he sat in his car. Most of those wounds, ladies and gentlemen, entered the back of John Harper, Jr. I understand that people were upset about it, but you can't kill somebody because they were menacing the neighborhood, terrorizing the neighborhood. You can't kill them. The conclusion of this trial, I'm gonna ask you to return a verdict. I'm gonna ask you to return a verdict not because of who Danny Palm is, or because you don't like John Harper, Jr. I'll be asking you, ladies and gentlemen, to return a verdict based on what Danny Palm did on November 28th. I will ask you to return a verdict of guilty of first-degree murder. - There was a lot of public support for Dan Palm before his court case. There was definitely a feeling that this was someone who stood up to a bully, and was defending a neighborhood, and did not deserve a lengthy sentence for what he'd done. - Dan Palm pulled the trigger of the gun that killed John Harper. ♪■ There's no dispute about that. ♪■ The question is why. My strategy was to put on all the evidence that I could concerning the behavior of John Harper-- in other words, almost putting John Harper on trial to show that he was the bad guy. He was the cause of his own death. Dan Palm did pull that trigger, but he did it out of fear for his life, and more importantly, out of fear for the lives of his family. Dan Palm's actions were self-protective, a self-defense action. - This was never a case about self-defense in my mind. Danny Palm was the one who took that loaded gun and chased him down the hill. The law is clear in California. An aggressor cannot claim self-defense. - You're gonna hear that when he showed Harper the gun, he didn't wanna kill him. When he pulled the trigger, his family's safety was more important to Dan Palm than Harper was. His only focus was on his family and their safety. ♪■ John Harper did things so often that it angered people, but put them in fear of him, and that fear was real. - I saw a vehicle coming towards me, and the vehicle proceeded to come head on towards my girlfriend's mother's car. She was the driver. I was the passenger. He turned away about maybe 50 feet away from the vehicle. - And who did you recognize that vehicle belonging to? - John Harper, Jr. - John Harper, Jr. pulled up alongside my vehicle as we were driving down together, and he motioned to me, you know, like a hand rolling to roll my window down, and I presumed I had some problem with the car, so I rolled my window down, at which point, he came to a stop, and I stopped. And he said, "You don't scare me, "even if you are a deputy sheriff. I know where you live. I can burn your house down." - Did you take that threat seriously? - Yes, sir. - Dan Palm had notes that contained 150 incidents and 42 different victims of transgressions that John Harper, Jr. had done in Spring Valley. - He let the speed build up to about 25 and slammed on his brakes. I in turn slammed on my brakes to avoid hitting him if he would reverse his truck again. [dramatic music] - A car in the hands of John Harper is potentially a lethal weapon, and he was using it to intimidate people. - Was kind of swinging the hammer, trying to intimidate me, and at that point, I realized talking wasn't going to help. And I turned around to walk away, and as I walked away, he said, "Yeah, you get out of here," and he swung the hammer, and hit me in the butt, in the rear. ♪■ - He was really agitated, and he went on with some obscenities and profanities, and I said, "Why are you doing this?" He was incoherent. He said that I was bothering him. He says, "I'm going to hurt your family." And at that time, he came with his hand and scared me. I went back, and he put his cigarette out on my T-shirt. I was really shook up, so I went right down, and I called the sheriff's department. - We showed every event that happened, and what led to it, and why you had to fear John Harper. ♪■ - I tried to point the gun in Harper's direction, and I really couldn't. My hand was shaking violently. My arm was shaking violently. It was my intention to tell him to get out of the neighborhood and don't come back. I never got those words out. ♪ [dramatic music] ♪■ - In a case like this, where the argument is self-defense, it is critical to hear from the defendant. There's no question that on the morning of January 28, 1995, retired Navy Commander Danny Palm shot an unarmed John Harper, Jr. on the streets of Spring Valley. Now a jury of his peers will hear his explanation for why he did what he did. ♪■ - And I thought he was gone, and then my daughter screamed, "Mom, he's right behind us again." - Okay, where was your daughter sitting at this time? - She was sitting in the front seat next to me, in the passenger seat. - You said she screamed. I mean-- - She was frightened. - There was an incident involving Melody Hurt 5and her daughter in a car, where they claimed John Harper, Jr. ran her off the road, and the evidence was such that my office, the DA's office, charged John Harper, Jr. with assault with a deadly weapon. - And you arrested him for a 245, correct? - Correct. - What's a 245? - Assault with a deadly object. - And in this case, the object was a vehicle? - Correct. - Did you tell Dan Palm upon Mr. Harper's release from custody around July 1, 1995 that he had threatened his neighbors? - Well, the statement, the way it came out was, as he was leaving, just mentioned something that he would get even. That's all. There's nothing as far as what a statement or anything other than he would get even. - When you received the threat from Mr. Harper, you were also afraid for the safety of the public. - Yes, sir. - And that fear had increased from the threat. - Yes, sir. - In the Danny Palm case, law enforcement's hands were tied. They wished that they could do more. Well, yes, you can get a restraining order, but the person doesn't care about the restraining order, so there's no question, this is a gap in the law. - All right, sir, you can stand right there and raise your right hand and be sworn. - Our society has a great deal of difficulty dealing with renegade personalities like John Harper. Maybe they don't get caught. Maybe the law doesn't hold them accountable. ♪■ - Detective Green called me to inform me that Harper, Jr. had made a threat to him while he was being released on bail. He told me that John Harper, Jr. had stated, quote, "I know my neighbors have done this to me, "and if they think it was bad before, just wait till they see me now." Unquote. And Detective Green stated the threat was a serious threat, that there was no remorse or reconsideration of behavior as a result of interaction with the authorities, and it told me that this person was not a normal person. - Did you feel that he was terrorizing the neighborhood? - He was. - On the morning of the 28th, who did you get the phone call from? - Louis Such. He's a neighbor. - When you heard him say the guy in the silver El Camino was coming up, what'd you think? - I was frightened. I was terrified. - John Harper drives his vehicle up Dictionary Hill and approaches Danny Palm's house, sits outside the house with his car. And at that point in time, Mrs. Palm says to Danny, "Hey, he's outside the house." - Well, it was clear now that he knew where I lived and where my family lived, and this was the first time that I was aware of that. As soon as I had the gun in my hand and the clips in my other hand, my wife yelled down from upstairs, "He's out front." - How did she sound? - Frightened. - John Harper, Jr. drove down the road. Dan Palm's response was to get in his own car with a loaded gun and follow John Harper down the road. - You drove down, and you described that you rolled down your window, and you're now adjacent to him. Tell us what you did next. - He had an angry look on his face as I pulled up. I tried to point the gun in Harper's direction, and I really couldn't. My hand was shaking violently. My arm was shaking violently. It was my intention to tell him to get out of the neighborhood and don't come back. I never got those words out. - Was something said to you? - Yes, there was. - What was said? - He looked at me again angrily with one eye squinting kind of and said, "You and your family are good as dead." ♪■ - You see the car rolling down the hill. What are you thinking at that point in time? - My first thought was, "Maybe he's going to leave now." - Then what happened? - The silver El Camino started rolling faster, and before too much distance, the right side wheels of the car jumped the right curb of the street. - I think the fear in Danny Palm was so great at that time that he actually opened fire on John Harper, and as we know, he struck John Harper and killed him with one shot. We know that that one shot alone may have given rise to a self-defense-- a defense in trial. But we also know that Danny Palm fired 12 more shots. And so that is the definition of overkill. - What's the next thing you recall? - I think I remember standing behind the car with the gun in my hand. - Do you remember shooting? - Not really. - You remember reloading? - Not really. - Blaine Bowman was a well-polished district attorney, and Blaine Bowman went for the jugular, and Blaine Bowman hit the jugular. ♪■ - Mr. Palm, when you shot John Harper, Jr., in your own mind, did you feel he got what he deserved? - No, I didn't. - Why not? - I wasn't thinking when I shot John Harper, Jr. - You don't know what you were thinking about? - No. - My theory going into the trial was that Danny Palm was obsessed with John Harper, Jr. He kept meticulous notes about all of his activities. He had binoculars. He had a telephoto lens, where he took pictures from his house. He was obsessed with it and wrote down every single thing John Harper, Jr. did. You picked up the gun, put the clip in, immediately charged it, right? - It was all essentially one action. - What did John Harper, Jr. say when you tried to point the gun at him, when your hand was shaking? - He said, "You and your family are good as dead." - How'd that make you feel? - Terrified. - Did it make you mad? - No, I wasn't mad. - Not at all? - No. - What did you do next? - I blanked out. - What was John Harper, Jr. doing right before you blanked out? - I guess, the instant he finished that sentence, I blanked out. I don't know what he was doing. - Mr. Palm said he blacked out, or blanked out at that time. And therefore, what happened was, Mr. Palm saw what he did, realized it, and then adrenaline or some other effect on him took place, and he just let loose everything. - Now, Mr. Palm, let me ask you this, how did your finger get from there, where it is now, to over here, where the trigger is? - I don't know. It didn't happen while I was conscious. When I blanked out, that had to have happened for me to have shot John Harper. - So you don't know why you shot him, is that what you're saying? - That's correct. I do not remember thinking about firing that weapon. - And if you don't remember thinking about firing that weapon, then you can't tell this jury here why you shot him, is that right? - It's important to know that Dan Palm reloaded his gun because Dan Palm's defense was that he had blacked out, that he didn't know what he was doing, but that's hard to defend when you remember to reload your gun. - Jury could have done anything. That they believed in jury nullification, and they thought Danny Palm was a great guy, and they didn't like John Harper, Jr., they could have come back not guilty. - I can say unequivocally that what I am about to do, I have never done. ♪■ [dramatic music] ♪■ - The German poet Georg Buchner once observed that murder begins where self-defense ends. The jury has heard all of the evidence in the trial of Danny Palm for the murder of John Harper, Jr. They will soon have to decide whether Palm's actions cross the line. ♪■ - Mr. Kanter. - Thank you very much, Your Honor. "You and your family are good as dead," a direct threat to anyone, a direct threat to anyone's person, to the ones they love most. So how does one react to that? How would you? How would anyone react to that? Oh, it's okay? Go kill me? No. We react appropriately. We defend. That's what we do. - The immediate community in Spring Valley was horrified and extremely upset that Dan Palm had done this, and I think more so, they were upset that Dan Palm was now under arrest than they were that John Harper, Jr. was no longer alive. - You know, some people may think that following someone down the hill makes one an aggressor. Danny Palm followed John Harper down the hill, But he did so to protect his family and his neighbors. That is uncontroverted. - It grew to become a big story locally and nationally, and I think there really was a debate that began to occur about whether or not Dan Palm was a hero or a vigilante. ♪■ - And in this case, what John Harper, Jr. did was push Danny Palm mentally over the edge. His system was working at such a level that after all the frustration, all the fear, all the emotion, everything from Spring Valley built, and built, and built. When the last words were said, he blacked out. He blanked out. He became unconscious. Dan Palm, you're a good man. Dan Palm, yeah, you were pushed. You were pushed through no fault of your own. Dan Palm, you're not guilty. Thank you. I did feel good about the imperfect self-defense. But I was scared because the prosecution, Mr. Bowman, is a very good lawyer, and his argument was pretty compelling. - What did I tell you three weeks ago when I first stood up here? I told you that you probably won't like John Harper, Jr. And I have a feeling I'm probably right. You don't like what he did. So I'd ask that you think of two things. First, what if the roles were reversed? What if John Harper, Jr. killed Danny Palm? Would there be any doubt in your mind this is a first-degree murder? Absolutely not. Yes, the defendant was in the Navy for 29 years, very honorable. Yes, he was an upstanding citizen. We're not here to judge Mr. Palm as a person. We have all these jury instructions, which the judge just read to you. Did you ever hear Judge Mudd tell you, "If you find Danny Palm is a good person, you're to find him not guilty"? No. Did you hear Judge Mudd tell you, "If you find that John Harper, Jr. was a jerk, Danny Palm's not guilty"? No. I've tried over a hundred cases to jury, and there is never a single time that I felt comfortable when that case goes back to the jury. Of course this was no different. - I was scared, you know, that they could come back with a murder conviction. I didn't think first-degree, but I mean, at least a second-degree murder. ♪■ - Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. Juror number seven, I understand that you've reached verdicts? - We the jury, in the above entitled cause, find the defendant, Danny James Palm, not guilty of the crime of murder in violation of penal code section 187, as charged in count one of the information, and fix the degree thereof as murder in the first degree. Same title, court, and cause, we the jury, in the above-entitled cause, find the defendant, Danny J. Palm, guilty of the crime of murder in violation of penal code section 187, as charged in count one of the information and fix the degree thereof as murder in the second degree. - Jury could have done anything. That they believed in jury nullification, and they thought Danny Palm was a great guy, and they didn't like John Harper, Jr., they could have come back not guilty. If they follow the law, which they did, I knew that the right verdict would come out. - I felt so bad for Mr. Palm and Mrs. Palm, you know. I did not believe he deserved what he got. I did not believe he deserved a second-degree murder conviction. [soft music] - Dan Palm's initial sentence was 15 years, plus the possibility of a gun charge being tacked on. What happened after that was fairly unprecedented. The judge in the case, Judge Mudd, was petitioned and heard the case again, even though a jury had decided that verdict. ♪■ - John Harper, Jr. was a ne'er-do-well, who frankly was unilaterally terrorizing a community of this county. He was running completely rod shod, and there is overwhelming, conclusive, unrebutted evidence to establish that. Mr. Harper was a victim who set this all in motion himself. I can say unequivocally that what I am about to do, I have never done, ever. But I am absolutely convinced, based on a complete, and thorough, and total review of the facts and the law, and the person that is Mr. Palm, that a sentence of 15 years to life, plus the use of a gun-- and in our state, that is a lifetime sentence now-- would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. [dramatic music] - Judge Mudd decided that the verdict had been too great. So Judge Mudd reduced it to manslaughter, and Dan Palm was given ten years after having served about a year and a half. - I would say to him, thank you for getting involved. Thank you for doing the right thing. Thank you for making the people in your neighborhood matter. I don't condone killing, but I do believe that if law enforcement had done their job, that situation would have never happened. Maybe John Harper could have gotten help, and Danny Palm could have lived a better life. - There's a lot of people who think vigilante justice is okay. The law disagrees, and you can't go out and kill a person in the street because you don't like them or because you think they deserve it. So I was worried that people might put themselves in Danny Palm's shoes. I was mostly worried about the jurors. And fortunately, they didn't do that because the law does not allow it. ♪■ - After serving nine years of a ten-year sentence, Danny Palm was released from prison in 2004 and now lives a quiet life with his wife. I'm Tamron Hall. Thank you for watching "Someone They Knew." ♪■

Info

Channel: COURT TV

Views: 267,281

Rating: undefined out of 5

Keywords: tamron hall court tv, tamron hall court tv show, someone they knew with tamron hall, someone they knew with tamron hall court tv, someone they knew with tamron hall playlist, someone they knew with tamron hall episodes, someone they knew with tamron hall full episodes, someone they knew episodes, court tv live, court tv, court tv trials, tamron hall, court tv original productions, original night court tv show, original night court tv series, true crime daily, True crime asmr

Id: cdOhYXMYA0I

Channel Id: undefined

Length: 44min 2sec (2642 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 09 2023