Dove, Dogs, and Shotguns

From WCAX:

A new court ruling could ease prosecution of hunters who unintentionally wound or kill people. The Vermont Supreme Court has established the legal distinction between a tragic hunting accident and hunting criminal negligence that has already sent two hunters to prison with others awaiting trial.

Timothy Madden’s lawyer announced that Madden will be ready to be tried for involuntary manslaughter in October for shooting his pal David Jenkins while they were deer hunting in Milton. Police say Madden told them he thought Jenkins was a coyote and it was an accident.

Madden has rejected a plea deal for one year behind bars and chosen trial.

Five years ago Collin Viens became the first hunter ever sentenced to prison in Vermont, after he shot a farmer sitting in a tractor– not knowing the farmer was there. Viens got one year behind bars. He appealed claiming it was an accident, not a crime.

Two weeks ago the Vermont Supreme Court unanimously rejected Viens appeal. The court ruled that because Viens ignored the risk of causing the death or serious injury of all persons within gunshot range, the state was not even required to prove that he intentionally fired the rifle to prove criminal negligence.

“The Vermont Supreme Court is really clarifying that it’s not going to tolerate defenses that say, look, I didn’t mean to kill anybody. I wasn’t doing anything illegal,” explained Cheryl Hanna, a professor at Vt. Law School.

Hanna says the ruling established for the first time that hunters can be held criminally responsible for unintentionally wounding or killing others, even if they are breaking no other laws.

I think this is a good start for hunters. We don’t prosecute traffic accidents, other than establishing fault and writing a ticket, hunting accidents should be the same.

Time to RELOAD!

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