Syracuse.com - Solon man found not criminally negligent in hunting-related death of his uncle

[HuntingNY-News]

"My sentence was known to me the day it happened and I'm going to live with it for the rest of my life," Robert Ross said following the jury's verdict.

Robert Ross, 44, of Solon, was found not guilty Friday of his uncle's hunting-related death in Truxton.

A Cortland County jury acquitted him of criminally negligent homicide. Another felony charge of second-degree manslaughter was tossed out by County Judge Julie Campbell for insufficient evidence, the Cortland Standard reported this weekend.

"My sentence was known to me the day it happened and I'm going to live with it for the rest of my life," Ross said following the jury's verdict.

Ross said his uncle Alton Carr, was a father figure. He fatally shot his uncle with a shotgun slug Nov. 20, 2010, while trying to shoot at three deer during a hunting trip on family property off Maybury Road in Truxton, the newspaper reported.

During the trial, it was noted that Ross helped Carr set up the hunting blind 160 yards apart in a wooded area, with Ross "aiming to shoot in Carr's direction." The deer Ross said he was targeting at the time of the fatal shooting was less than 30 yards from Carr's blind, the newspaper reported.

The prosecution said Ross failed to perceive a "substantial and justifiable risk." Lawyers representing Ross said Carr's death was an accident.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog