No one murdered outside the Cube

Danman said :

I just got back from Samoa, and they are one of the kindest most gentle race I have encountered first hand in their homeland environment.

To associate thugs with only these people is absurd.

Pack animals appear in every race, lets not discriminate…

agreed danman. i have several mates that are maori, fijian, etc. they are known for their positive attitude, not a desire to beat everyone up.

Jim Jones said :

ant said :

This qld new person isn’t our friend from a few days ago, valiantly patrolling the Parkway with his rubber band gun?

Nah, he’s new. Marty McFly was funny, and he wasn’t motivated by racism like this tool – every thread he’s appeared in has been nothing but abuse of Pacific Islanders and attempting to demonstrate that they’re all evil killers.

I’d suggest ignoring him.

Ah, the good old rascist. Maybe he’s a conspiracy theorist too? Can he please be a conspiracy theorist? A racist conspiracy theorist, like one of those ones who believe Jewish people run the world and that they’re using black people as muscle to control them? And that it’s all to STEAL MAH GUNS!!!

This could be so much fun.

I just got back from Samoa, and they are one of the kindest most gentle race I have encountered first hand in their homeland environment.

To associate thugs with only these people is absurd.

Pack animals appear in every race, lets not discriminate…

qld, have you got something against islanders? you seem to be popping up on the strangest of threads, maybe you are searching RA for them?

if someone has a knife, in their jacket, and pulls it out to “defend” themselves, is it a concealed weapon, or not?

and regardless of the other actions of the drunken men, the owner of the cube could have walked away, called the police, and laid charges against them. He did not. he provoked the drunks, and someone ended up dead. where was the duty of care to his other patrons? at what point did he decide that he was judge, jury and executioner? what happens next time?

ant said :

This qld new person isn’t our friend from a few days ago, valiantly patrolling the Parkway with his rubber band gun?

Nah, he’s new. Marty McFly was funny, and he wasn’t motivated by racism like this tool – every thread he’s appeared in has been nothing but abuse of Pacific Islanders and attempting to demonstrate that they’re all evil killers.

I’d suggest ignoring him.

This qld new person isn’t our friend from a few days ago, valiantly patrolling the Parkway with his rubber band gun?

qld said :

If Rao did that in another state he would have walked free as well. He’s a hero to me the way he fought for justice.

Fought for justice? don’t be ridiculous.

If Rao did that in another state he would have walked free as well. He’s a hero to me the way he fought for justice.

I would like to know why in other states you can be sentenced with gaol under the one punch rule, but you are cleared if you carry a knife (which I believe in other states is an offense in its self)?

Does this mean that I can carry a gun with mr, use it in “self defense” & get away with murder?

Who cares if he called them that racial slur. They were acting like CATS. He wasnt calling all black people cats just these four idiots.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinosrch.cgi?method=boolean;query=samoa;meta=%2Fau;mask_path=;mask_path=au%2Fcases%2Fact%2FACTCA;mask_path=au%2Fcases%2Fact%2FACTSC;mask_path=au%2Fcases%2Fnsw%2FNSWSC;mask_path=au%2Fcases%2Fnsw%2FNSWCA;mask_path=au%2Fcases%2Fnsw%2FNSWCCA;mask_path=au%2Fcases%2Fqld%2FQSC;mask_path=au%2Fcases%2Fqld%2FQCA;mask_path=au%2Fcases%2Fvic%2FVSCA%20au%2Fcases%2Fvic%2FVICSC&offset=20

Here’s many examples of Samoans being involved in senseless fatal incidents.

Also the Tongan incidents

http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinosrch.cgi?method=boolean&query=tonga&meta=%2Fau&mask_path=&mask_path=au%2Fcases%2Fact%2FACTCA&mask_path=au%2Fcases%2Fact%2FACTSC&mask_path=au%2Fcases%2Fnsw%2FNSWSC&mask_path=au%2Fcases%2Fnsw%2FNSWCA&mask_path=au%2Fcases%2Fnsw%2FNSWCCA&mask_path=au%2Fcases%2Fqld%2FQSC&mask_path=au%2Fcases%2Fqld%2FQCA&mask_path=au%2Fcases%2Fvic%2FVSCA+au%2Fcases%2Fvic%2FVICSC

Rao was found to be innocent.

I agree with everything he did almost to a tee.

He actually used his knife at the last possible point after heavy provocation.

I disgree with victim and his friends behavior, if you are drunk beyond limit to control your reasonable senses, call in quit for the night, hithome and be with your family,drunk you increasing the chances of inappropiate behaviors that leads to violence,but people go clubs to have fun,nor to engage in acts of terror I say this to the Poly- Uso, a true warrior is the one who humble himself and self -disciple – not to go out and look for a fight -we can express our aggressiverness /adrenaline whatever you call it.. join the military special force / SWAT team,
But I disagree with RAO racial slur(offensive), and possession of a weapon(knife), stab a brother to death, if a drunken person would try and harm call the police, I hope RAO is at peace with himself and stop your racial comments.

So, person, hypothetically speaking you would be quite happy to serve jail time if you were beaten to within inches of your life and happened to deliver a fatal blow to your attacker/provoker of the fight in the middle of an adrenalin-fueled fight or flight response? No one here, or the judge, or Rao himself, is denying that he killed someone on that fateful night – ie, he is a ‘killer’ as you so like to state. There is however, a big distinction to be made between killing someone justifiably or not. That is also the difference between a cold blooded pre-meditative murderer and someone who kills in self defence. The law here has the final say – and that is all that you and I and everyone else have to accept. Whether the whole truth was dealt with or not, the verdict was delivered on testimony by both parties. As you clearly feel a personal injustice, I hope you never find yourself in the same position Rao or the deceased found themselves in that night.

nice wordings there DALRYK and thanks for agreeing with me RAO is a KILLER, thats the only point i wanted to make. I dont support anyone who kills any one oh and by the way,RAO seems to have been the thug, he carried the weapon and used it. what made you think he beat up his wife and kids? hmm you seriously have a cold heart.He loved his family and kids, didnt have much time to spend with his last child but the few months he did, he showed loved. I’m sure if it was some one you knew that had been killed your opinions would be different. but anyway RAO is a KILLER and thats all im going to say. No matter what that will always be with RAO for what ever left of his life he has left.

Kinda pointless to try and argue with a ‘Person’ who “doesn’t give a damn what anyone else says”, but it’s also difficult to give their opinions any weight either. Particularly when they have a writing style incredibly similar ‘To’ another poster they claim to be supporting….

Yes Rao is a killer. He has killed someone.

But the deceased actions were such that he could very well have killed Rao, or at the very least left him seriously or permanently injured. Under our laws, that means the killing was justified.

Lesson to be learned here is that if you want to be a thug and default to violence as a means of settling a dispute, then you might just get yourself killed one day. And personally, good riddance – one less person to beat up on his wife and kids.

to my dearest MARKET. RAO is a killer i dont give damn what anyone says, he who kills someone is a killer and RAO IS A BLOOD COLD KILLER. no matter what anyone says. the judge, his familr or YOU. RAO is a KILLER because he KILLED a HUMAN. if i killed someone that would make me a killer just like RAO.So say what you have to say, the law here F$%@D. RAO IS A KILLER and thats all there is to it. KILLER KILLER KILLER KILLER KILLER KILLER. oh and he was smiling coz he probably had something up his arse, F&%$#G KILLER.

Dear Person, what an incredible story you have. It’s clear that you have a very biased opinion here. It is also clear that you have a alot of anger towards the outcome. To be fair to yourself and your friend’s family you should take the time to read the court transcripts BOTH sides of the story. I have no doubt you know nothing of the legal system or how the law works, and that you are so caught up in the race thing that you think it is the underlying reason why things are they way they are. Sadly Mr Rao will never be found innocent in the eyes of people like yourself becasue your so concerned with passing judgement on things that are beyond your comprehension. Clearly given your comments you have made nothing but allegations which are unwarranted and blantly false. You should perhaps take the time to read the court transcripts,Mr Suela was the aggressor and did deliver the first blow, his friends that were there also testified to it. They also testified along with other independant witnesses that they had Mr Rao on the ground, whilst they kicked him in the head, you will also notice that it was your friend that was alive and well, delivering “soccerball kicks to his head” Mr Rao never got up, you friend was then delivered a blow to the head and fell to the ground, the fighting stopped. RAO is not a killer. Your right there is no justice, cause RAO will still be judged by people like u who refuse to look the truth because it\’s not what you want to hear. As to your comment about his smile, well F**K you I would be smiling too if I just heard NOT GUILTY verdict for a crime I didnt commit. I

i agree with TO. its exciting to know that i can go clubbing and just happen to have a weapon with me just incase. Rao is a killer, the judge needs to go back to law school. Rao shits money out of his ass, it all seems too dodgy to me. i knew the deceased and his 2 kids and and fiance, he was a nice person who minded his onw business and who like anyone if they were told a recist common would say anything back to defend their race. Rao is a bitch, literally and physically and anyone that agrees with the outcome are his bitches. He is a killer and probably would have been better of in jail then out free walking the street knowing that their is a large community out there that arent happy with his actions. Money is a powerfull thing and Rao is only lucky to have rich parents who always paid to have his little daughter bailed out. Thats all he will ever be a killer and a gay club owner. and to INGEEGOODBEE for calling an islander a monkey boy, see its peole like you that get punched on the mouth for talking shit, you racist dick, say that to an islander or dark person’s face and see how much of a monkey we can get and to say that he was to lame to finish hmmmmm how could he when a fag who couldnt fight the real man way had to pull his knife out and defend him silf by killing him.RAO is ment to be training to be a manager but i think he got to caught up they in gay side of things that lost his manly hood. People make islander seem like animals only coz of their size, obviously they gonna be stronger and bigger, its in their blood so if you mess with anyone bigger than you their punches would hurt more. Its a shame how the law system works in the ACT and how money and race plays a big part of it. I saw the deceased seconds from passing away on his hospital bed, no one deserves to be stabbed on the head or any part of the body and leave his wife to be a baby kids behind.RAO knew what he was doing and he went for the kill like the bitch that he is, but like said he would have been better of behind bars than walking the streets he better hope he is carrying plenty of self defence weapons with him now that he’s free coz he’s gonna be needing them. im just glad to know that i can self defence kill someone and get away with it. RAO is a KILLER and like they say what goes around comes back around. He could be smiling on that picture now but i wonder how long it would last.

He had the knife on him already, Special G, and from what people have said on here, he frequently carried it. According to the court documents, he did not draw the knife until the deceased approached him with a sandbag and he did not open it until after he had parried two strikes from the deceased and another had knocked out the bouncer.

A sandbag, like any other object that can inflict damage with forceful impact, is considered a weapon if swung at someone. The deceased brought weapons in first and even then, Rao did hesitate to use them.

Bd84 you’re not getting the point I’m trying to make. Bunch of drunk yobbos – acting like drunk yobbos v nightclub manager/security acting like a drunk yobbo. Rao had the opportunity for this to go no further with the islanders walking away yet he had to further escalate the situation which ended in him stabbing one of them.

Pity SwamiOFswank didn’t testify at the trial. Going to the front door with a knife is premeditation as far as I am concerned.

Rao played it smart though electing to be tried by judge alone in the ACT Supreme Court is almost a guaranteed get out of gaol free card. His smile on the front page of the Canberra rag says it all really. Here’s the link http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/acquittal-in-cube-club-stabbing/1202859.html (Wasn’t there going to be a funky link button here somewhere for comments?)

I hope they take him to civil court for compensation.

haha sounds like Rao is a dick.

Rao always had the knife in the office. Waved it around occasionally, bragging about how tough he was and what he might do with it. Then he did. Provocation or not, there’s no excuse for violence on either side. Regardless of who was right and wrong, one man took another’s life, a mother lost a son, and a community is left trying to understand why there seems to be little justice on either side.

Special G: and you don’t think that the islanders used some abusive term towards gay people too? Didn’t your mother ever tell you the ditty about sticks and stones? I don’t remember it ending in going back and beating the person to an inch of their life, as a few of the witnesses testified. Self-defence involves a person using force to defend themself when they seriously believe their life is in danger. In this case you have that satisfied, if I was getting beaten up that badly i’d want to have a weapon handy to defend myself too.

A murder charge the prosecution needs to prove that he acted premeditately and/or with intent. They did not prove either of these, he was getting beaten up badly and used the knife to protect himself, simple. They didn’t even have evidence to support it was Rao who stabbed him, none of the numerous witnesses saw him with the knife and the security cameras didn’t show it, all they had was circumstantial evidence after the event. I doubt the remaining charges will stand up either based on what I’ve seen.

Verdict was never going to go any other way, they got one right for once.

Rao’s job was to de-escalate the situation – his job was done – the islanders were walking away before he picked a fight with them.

You can’t be particularly scared if you’re prepared to call 5 islanders black c*nts. And after saying that he wasn’t expecting them to come back and smack him in the head. You’ve got to be joking.

possibly a sandbag from around the city somewhere, don’t they use them to hold down cafe barriers and the such?

I’m really interested in why they were carrying around a sandbag. Were they from South Australia ?

Well said dalryk – the chap got nothing more than what he deserved.

@To

people get killed in ‘old fashioned’ fights all the time. As I understand from the transcript, the deceased in this case was seen kicking Rao’s head like a soccer ball while he was on the ground – an act which is more than capable of killing someone.

So put away your misplaced indignation for a second and realise that to the majority of civilised people in this town it’s not acceptable behaviour to go round beating up anyone you feel like. And if you choose to try and use violence to solve your problems, then don’t expect to be protected when you recieve violence in return.

How can you make a distinction between pounding someone with a sandbag, or stomping on the back of their head while they’re prone on the ground, and pulling a knife? You can’t. Your position and your indignation is arbitrary and bullshit.

Cube is a gay club

Thanks for the revelation.

Just another RA poster living up to their screen name.

Tool by name, tool by nature….

Cube is a gay club, do you really think it is the first time Rao has stabbed someone in the head? I reckon he might have been stabbed a few times himself in the past.

I don’t know about you, but i think i’d have problems closing the door on 5 guys when the lightest one is 120kg trying to force their way in. Plus, they threatened his life, that constitutes self defence in my books. They threatened to kill him, so the only thing he could do was to use the knife to defend himself! It would be different if he attacked them first, but he didn’t! They attacked him after threatening to kill him, how did he know that they weren’t going to kill him after bashing him! Remember, after the fight, he was in hospital for over 2 weeks! I know he left straight after getting to the hospital, but he had head injuries and was rushed back to hospital.

Coots?

Oh wait, there is a # in there.

He called them black cats?

Of course I suppose they couldn’t have just closed the door to the club when things escalated, called the Police, and sat tight until they arrived to sort it all out?

No, much better to walk out to the front door with a knife – just in case something does happen, eh?

Maybe we should all just start carrying knives, so we can be prepared if something happens?

No aa they told him he was going to die AFTER he used the term black c@#ts.

exactly sepi. Everyone who’s saying he should root in jail has never been jumped by 5 big islanders. Plus you are forgetting one thing, THEY THREATENED HIM and told him he’s going to die BEFORE he abused them!

I’m not condoning the use of the knife.

But as a hypothetical, how can you defend yourself if 5 large, angry and drunk pacific islanders are coming at two of you, and one hits you in the head with a sandbag?

But provocation is not a defence for assault, however self defence is certainly a defence against killing some twat.

After reading the judgement it would appear to me the islanders were leaving until Rao made a racially abusive remark at them. I’m not surprised they went back. Who was really looking for the fight?

The FACT is this jumped up little monkey boy started something he was too lame to finish and he got what he deserved – a couple of holes in his dumb-sr$e skull. When you go prancing around town with a gut full of RTDs (‘Cause you’re too much of a fag to drink hard liquor)you’ll start believing you’re smarter than your year three education certificate of attainment would suggest. I’ll support any court that re-affirms the right of honest, peace loving business people to defend themselves and their staff against a-holes with a skinful – even if their not doing anything, you should be allowed to shove a spike between their eyes and get away with it.

and for anyone who says this is fair and to read the facts before making comment… the FACT is he had the knife and HE KILLED someone. This more than likely would have just ended up like any other civic fight which happens all the time but he had to go get a knife like a bitch

Further to my previous post, I either need a new keyboard or fingers, or both, and my spellcheck doesn’t work. Sorry.

this is bulls***! this p***y dirty prick deserves to be behind bars and be somebodys b****! who cares how the fight started and who was drunk and watever he couldent finish it the old fashioned way and had to use a knife – he MURDERED someone and this IDIOT JUDGE has just told us we all can get away with murder if we play it right.

The justice system in this country and in the ACT is a JOKE! I hope this S**T haunts this prick for the rest of his life and he wishes he was found guilty.

A mate of mone at worsk son was origainlly charged with being an accesory to this as he took teh knife back into teh hnighclube after teh stabbing. Luckily charges were dropped after it was proved he took teh knife away to avoid further incident. It onlyt cost my mate $25,000 to get the charges dropped though.

I also agree with Deadmandrinking. Adult fights are not pretty and far from fun, especially when alcohol is involved -it really can be survival of the fittest and fight or flight reflex generally takes over.

thanks Skidbladnir, as Max would say … it was THAT close …

He also told one of the staff there to call the police before the fight broke out. If he wasn’t fearing for his life why would he do that? Plus the bouncer pressed the panic button, so if they weren’t threating him, why would he do that? If you read the transcript, it clearly says they threatened to kill Rao before the fight even started! So before saying he should be guilty, read the court transcripts!

It all happened quickly. There was no time to call the police.

I agree the Towle (Mildura driver) and OJ Simpson cases were ridiculously lenient.

This one I think is fair.

You armchair idiots should really read the transcript of the decision before commenting further.

“If you’ve ever met Rao it wasn’t like he was outsized or anything.”

Actually Special G, he and Adam where.

Rao was so severely injured that he woke up in hospital after the event

Incorrect. Rao was driven to hospital by TImothy Smith at 6:40 am.

Arm yourself with the facts before making comment.

“Did anyone bother calling the Police,..” Come on Mr E, this is a serious thred – there’s no room for humour here.

Link almost worked, but if you dont put “” around your a href target, RiotACT assumes its hosted locally on the server.

gggrrrr

http://www.courts.act.gov.au/supreme/judgments/rao.htm

Forgive me if this link doesn’t work, it’s my first one.

Supreme Court Judgement is here

Did anyone bother calling the Police, or was it a case of ‘we’ll sort it out ourselves”?

Whos knife was it?
You don’t bring a rifle to a rodeo unless you’re planning something, and once the weapon is gone any plans are ruined.
Once you’ve disarmed them, using lethal force is overkill (I imagine, having never had the luxury of killing a man. I guess I need to be wealthy and involved with a minority to experience it).

Who was the defence’s barrister, anyone know?

The guy got what he deserved. If you place someone in a position where they are in genuine fear for their life they are entitled to take whatever action is required to remove that fear then you get what you pay for. The protagonist could have simply stopped punching Rao and walked away – If Rao pursued him then it would be a diferent matter.

Must have been reasonable force.
May be its been redefined in ACT.
Every other civilised country force is defined with different levels.
ie Verbal
Fists
Weapon
Fire arm or something like that. The hole idea is to reduce the level of force required not escalate it.

Think about that comment next time you have a few ales Ingee.

Starting a fist fight doesn’t justify getting stabbed- punched, elbowed, kneed, headbutted yes but stabbed no. If you’ve ever met Rao it wasn’t like he was outsized or anything.

It seems that the courts are only a useless revolving door handing out koala stamps if you disagree with the verdict – to be honest I don’t give a rats if some drunk dirt-bag cops a steel between the eyes … it might teach some of these a-holes to be a little more polite when they’re out getting drunk.

Special G, as far as I understand it, he pulled the knife mid-fight. If you’ve ever been in a fight (as an adult, where they get ugly), you should understand that no-one is exactly thinking straight with all that aderenalin rushing through them.

If those boys hadn’t started that fight, this wouldn’t have happened.

I heard he woke up the next day and thought he was Mr Potato head. sure he did.

Self defence is “I’ve got a knife, f%^k off or I’m going to stab you” not going all Unky chop chop on them.

by no means do I know the full story but if you take a knife to a fist fight surely you have some idea of the possible outcome

They failed to prove the he wasn’t acting in self-defence. Seems a pretty clear-cut outcome.

Remember – Rao was so severely injured that he woke up in hospital after the event.

Expect Bouncers to be carrying knives (to cut lemons with of course) – precedence has now been set.

Agreed justbands, seems like a fair outcome to me.

Whilst I’m normally as shocked as the next Canberran by our often very lenient sentencing, this one I’m not so upset about….granted, I don’t know exactly what happened (& may I point out, neither do any of you)…but this always seemed to be a case of “club owner defending himself/his staff/his patrons from drunken, roaming, violent f***heads”. Always sad when someone dies, but live by the sword, die by the sword.

pled not please….

well next time 4 or 5 big guys start throwing punches at you and you defend yourself and kill one, i hope you please guilty to murder instead of trying to defend yourself.

ooops, conscience not conscious

Add it to the “getting away with murder” file along with O.J Simpson and Mr Towle in Mildura.

As I’ve said before, if you are going to murder someone make sure you do it in the ACT.

How many people these days are carrying knives or screw drivers or hammers or cricket bats or baseball bats? Obviously the court saw a reason for him to carry it. Maybe he used it behind the bar to cut lemons? Maybe he used it to cut speaker cables. That’s not the point, the point is if he used it to defend himself, and the court says yes!

There is no surprise here. The “justice” system stinks. Magistrates, Judges, lawyers and those who get away with these crimes, should hang their heads in shame. Living in this city is becoming an embarrassment, and dare I say it, a magnet for all crims everywhere.

And yes, eggman, you ask a very valid question … Why did Rao have a weapon?

Rao will never be happy within himself knowing he took the life of a human being, and for that his conscious will never be clear, no matter what some court says. Rot in hell you b****rd.

They probably went to Cube as a last resort….. willing to visit a gay bar as long as the drinks were still being served. Being denied entry was the final straw

i understand the concept of self defence however why did the accused have a knife?

I’m guessing then that the courts have once again reinforced the idea that if you are in reasonable fear for you life then you’re entitled to take suitable action to defend yourself.

I actually support this result.

While it is always sad that someone died, reports I’ve read suggest that the victim and his friends had been kicked out of many clubs in Civic, and went to Cube itching for a fight.

The fight was at the entrance, as outnumbered staff tried to refuse them entry.