Felony charges in Caledonia hunting death

[WNYBuckHunter]

Good.

 

http://www.thelcn.com/lcn01/felony-charge-filed-in-caledonia-hunting-death-20161215

[ny hunter]

I don't have a problem with that

[Salmon_Run]

Accountability.    

Doesnt bring back a victim but one should be held accountable for careless and reckless actions.

[Nomad]

Good 2X 

[Pygmy]

That is as it should be..  I don't have the details at hand, but I read in the local paper that another guy who mistook another man as a deer at fully TWO HOURS before legal shooting hours has been charged with criminal assault plus some other criminal charges as well as game violations such as shooting before legal hunting time. The victim survived but was seriously injured with a leg wound.

[Doc]

Quote: “We remind all hunters to remember safety first,” Sheriff Thomas J. Dougherty said in a statement. “We do not call these accidents because these types of incidents are preventable by hunting safely and following the rules of mandatory hunter safety principles.”

I wonder if that means that this fatality will not show up in the DEC tallies of hunting accidents?  What do you think?

[Zem18]

So the shooter and the victim share the same last name. Did this guy shoot his wife? Maybe it was an "on purpose". Either way he is getting what he deserves.

[Nomad]

Sister in Law .

[growalot]

I believe it was the sister in-law...which totally devastates an entire two family units...

Sorry I have to comment on this it was in the same link...Really Do Not tell me Sasquatch does not exist! and it's a breeding age female

http://www.thelcn.com/lcn01/second-lobster-tail-bandit-apprehended-in-rochester-20161212

 

Edited December 15, 2016 by growalot
forgot insert

[Steuben Jerry]

The shooter needs to be held accountable. I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV, but homicide? Which means murder, right?

I wonder if that gets reduced to manslaughter?

[moog5050]

Criminally negligent homicide means no intent to kill someone but the person did something so stupid that resulted in death they must be held accountable.  I don't handle criminal cases, but I believe manslaughter is a class C felony with more jail time than a class E felony.

[BigGuyNY]

10 minutes ago, Steuben Jerry said:

The shooter needs to be held accountable. I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV, but homicide? Which means murder, right?

I wonder if that gets reduced to manslaughter?

Simply put, any death that is not natural or accidental is classified as a homicide.  The main reason that he is being charged the way he is, has to do with his culpable mental state,  In this case it has been determined not to be intentional so he is not charged with any type of murder as defined in the NYS penal law.  They believe that the defendant recklessly caused her death, hence the criminally negligent homicide charge.  

 

[Steuben Jerry]

Thanks, I thought murder and homicide were the same thing.

[Core]

1 hour ago, Pygmy said:

That is as it should be..  I don't have the details at hand, but I read in the local paper that another guy who mistook another man as a deer at fully TWO HOURS before legal shooting hours has been charged with criminal assault plus some other criminal charges as well as game violations such as shooting before legal hunting time. The victim survived but was seriously injured with a leg wound.

That I get.

I am not sure what they are charging this guy with. It seems like a terrible accident. Was he negligent OTHER than the fact he killed somebody? Was he waving his gun around, shooting at anything dark that moved, etc.?

[Nomad]

As usual the news accounts suck .

This is my understanding of it only . They were walking out after hunting in a cut bean field . The defendant  through sloppy gun handling and ignoring basic safety rules shot and killed a person. He  had no muzzle or trigger discipline , that along with his safety being off , lead to the gun being fired and killing another person .

So of the four basic gun safety rules .

1.treat all guns as loaded

2. Don't point at anything not willing to destroy 

3.keep your bugger hook of the bang switch till ready to shoot

4 be sure of your target and what's beyond it

He pretty much broke all of them .

The rumor mill on this one, has many scenarios being put forth about what really happened , but the charges seemed to be based upon breaking basic gun safety rules  , leading to a death .

 

Edited December 15, 2016 by Larry302

[JRod 8G8H]

A guy called into a local radio station here, said he was hunting the adjacent property... Apparently the gun discharged while being slung back over the hunter's shoulder and the safety was off??? Again, this is from the radio interview. Please be careful everyone... Very sad for everyone involved.

[Uptown Redneck]

Plea bargain will be reached, no jail time for the accused

Let's see if the final result ever gets reported 

[brownclown]

well i dont know the whole story here but from what i have read this appears to be a tragic accident. if it is truly an accident,  i just dont see how charging and arresting do anything for justice. Without GROSS negligence, to me this is just a tragedy and any legal intervention (arrest/charges)  will only cause more harm to this family's situation  then  doing any good. i would only support this if  fellow family members support and want this action.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

10 minutes ago, brownclown said:

. Without GROSS negligence,

Is that the legal standard?

[brownclown]

6 minutes ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

Is that the legal standard?

i dont think so. its  just my own opinion. i feel the law should be focused on being restorative towards victims

[Culvercreek hunt club]

17 hours ago, Jared A said:

. Apparently the gun discharged while being slung back over the hunter's shoulder and the safety was off??? 

I didn't hear it on the radio but that is the same account I heard from a friend that knows the family.  

[Caveman]

59 minutes ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

Is that the legal standard?

The legal standard for criminally negligent homicide is that one act with "criminal negligence." 

 

"A person acts with criminal negligence with respect to a result or a circumstance . . . when he fails to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk that such result will occur or that such circumstance exists. The risk must be of such nature and degree that the failure to perceive it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the situation." 

 

That's from Section 15.05 (4) of the Penal Law.  

[Salmon_Run]

1 hour ago, brownclown said:

 its  just my own opinion. i feel the law should be focused on being restorative towards victims

How is that accomplished when the victim is deceased ?

[Culvercreek hunt club]

The legal standard for criminally negligent homicide is that one act with "criminal negligence." 
 
"A person acts with criminal negligence with respect to a result or a circumstance . . . when he fails to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk that such result will occur or that such circumstance exists. The risk must be of such nature and degree that the failure to perceive it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the situation." 
 
That's from Section 15.05 (4) of the Penal Law.  

That would seem to fit in my opinion. For what that is worth

[Uptown Redneck]

1 hour ago, Caveman said:

The legal standard for criminally negligent homicide is that one act with "criminal negligence." 

 

"A person acts with criminal negligence with respect to a result or a circumstance . . . when he fails to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk that such result will occur or that such circumstance exists. The risk must be of such nature and degree that the failure to perceive it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the situation." 

 

That's from Section 15.05 (4) of the Penal Law.  

If the report about the gun firing while being slung over the accused shoulder is true I cannot see how the act of slinging a rifle be considered a "substantial and unjustifiable risk" nor it being "a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the situation."