Stagger Lee
New member
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/ID_CAMPER_SHOT_IDOL-?SITE=CODEN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
GRANGEVILLE, Idaho (AP) -- A northern Idaho man has been sentenced to the maximum five years in prison for the alcohol-fueled shooting of another man floating in a lake.
"Society is, frankly, fed up with the effects of alcohol and guns," 2nd District Judge John H. Bradbury said Thursday, ordering Michael W. Jackson to serve at least two and a half years before becoming eligible for parole.
The 43-year-old was convicted of aggravated assault during a two-day jury trial in April.
While camping in July 2007, he fired six hollow-point bullets from a .44-magnum handgun at 21-year-old Alex Hagen, who was floating in a lake in a rubber raft.
Hagen was struck in the abdomen and spent three months in hospitals, eventually losing his left leg.
"It's probably by the grace of God that you're not charged with homicide," Bradbury said. Mixing alcohol and guns "is a scourge. It ruins families. It takes lives. (This incident) was totally avoidable."
At the trial, witnesses said Jackson and other campers had been drinking beer throughout the day. Jackson said he didn't intend to harm Hagen.
"I just can't understand how this gets blown into me being a felon," the Lewiston Tribune quoted Jackson as saying. "It was an accident."
...
And this is why many people resist allowing guns in National or State Parks.
GRANGEVILLE, Idaho (AP) -- A northern Idaho man has been sentenced to the maximum five years in prison for the alcohol-fueled shooting of another man floating in a lake.
"Society is, frankly, fed up with the effects of alcohol and guns," 2nd District Judge John H. Bradbury said Thursday, ordering Michael W. Jackson to serve at least two and a half years before becoming eligible for parole.
The 43-year-old was convicted of aggravated assault during a two-day jury trial in April.
While camping in July 2007, he fired six hollow-point bullets from a .44-magnum handgun at 21-year-old Alex Hagen, who was floating in a lake in a rubber raft.
Hagen was struck in the abdomen and spent three months in hospitals, eventually losing his left leg.
"It's probably by the grace of God that you're not charged with homicide," Bradbury said. Mixing alcohol and guns "is a scourge. It ruins families. It takes lives. (This incident) was totally avoidable."
At the trial, witnesses said Jackson and other campers had been drinking beer throughout the day. Jackson said he didn't intend to harm Hagen.
"I just can't understand how this gets blown into me being a felon," the Lewiston Tribune quoted Jackson as saying. "It was an accident."
...
And this is why many people resist allowing guns in National or State Parks.