Sunday, September 30, 2007



Arizona Man Who Shot prankster Teen Acquitted: "A Willcox man who shot and wounded a teenage girl after she and her friends banged on his windows in a late-night prank was acquitted of three felonies, but a jury couldn't reach a verdict on a fourth charge. The Cochise County jury found Delbert "Cody" Evans not guilty of aggravated assault using a deadly weapon and endangering Kayla Shores, who was 14 when a bullet fired by Evans hit her in the back in February 2006. She has since recovered. Evans was also cleared of endangering another girl who was with a group of five teens on Evans' porch. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on a charge of aggravated assault causing disfigurement. The verdicts came Friday after a three-day trial and eight hours of deliberations. The teens had gone to Evans' rural home to get back at him for making a scary prank phone call, testimony showed. He had known Shores for years and they were friends. Evans, 32, testified he had been threatened by a man over payment for a wood stove and thought he was shooting in self-defense at an assailant. A 13-person grand jury unanimously refused to indict Evans in 2006, infuriating some in the community, who accused Cochise County Attorney Ed Rheinheimer of bungling the case. A subsequent recall effort failed. Rheinheimer eventually asked for a preliminary hearing, and a judge ordered Evans to stand trial on the four felony counts."

FL: Freed in murder case, man faces new charges: "Ronald Oats Jr. will not face a murder rap, but he is not off the hook yet. Prosecutors dropped a murder charge against the 20-year-old man on Monday morning, but Oats was arrested minutes later in court on gun and drug charges. Assistant State Attorney Brian Iten decided that Oats acted in self-defense when he shot a man during a drug deal turned sour. ... After filing a motion to drop the murder count, Iten quickly had Oats arrested on gun and marijuana charges. Bailiffs arrested him in the courtroom, and a judge ordered Oats to be released on his own recognizance because prosecutors did not have enough evidence to prove he was a flight risk."


WI: Conceal carry law unconstitutional, judge rules: "Charges were dropped Monday morning against a Milwaukee pizza delivery man accused of shooting two would-be robbers, and in a 10-page statement, the judge said Wisconsin's law forbidding the carriage of a concealed weapon, as it pertains to this case, was unconstitutional. Andres Vegas was delivering pizza near 22nd and Locust streets Jan. 4 when a 16-year-old pulled out a gun and demanded money, police said. Vegas was accused of pulling out his own gun and shooting the teen three times. ... The incident in January was the second time in less than six months that Vegas shot someone who tried to rob him on the job. In July of 2006, a 14-year-old boy pulled a gun on Vegas, who retaliated by shooting the boy three times. Then-District Attorney E. Michael McCann said that since Vegas had been robbed in the past, state law said he had a reasonable belief that he needed to protect himself and did not file charges... District Attorney John Chisholm's office said they will not appeal Noonan's decision and lawyers for Vegas said that he is no longer delivering pizzas".

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