Drizzt
Member
The Associated Press State & Local Wire
March 7, 2003, Friday, BC cycle
12:37 PM Eastern Time
SECTION: State and Regional
LENGTH: 432 words
HEADLINE: Jury rejects manslaughter charge in hunting death
DATELINE: BENTONVILLE, Ark.
BODY:
Jurors opted not to convict a Washington County man of manslaughter in the accidental hunting death of a teenage boy.
Jimmy Dale Cole, 33, shot and killed John Crisp, 16, on Oct. 6, while the two were hunting in a remote area. Cole was arrested on manslaughter charges Nov. 29.
On Thursday, a Washington County Circuit Court jury acquitted Cole of manslaughter and instead found him guilty of violating an Arkansas Game and Fish Commission statute of negligently discharging a firearm while deer hunting.
Cole was sentenced to two months in jail and fined $1,000 for the unclassified misdemeanor. The sentence followed emotional testimony from Cole who repeatedly apologized to Crisp's family.
Cole said he mistook Crisp for the hindquarters of a deer from 50 to 60 yards away. Cole fired a round of buck shot from his 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. Most of the shots hit John Crisp in the chest.
"I heard my name and he said, you shot me," Cole said. He said Crisp threw his hand into the air and then fell to the ground.
Cole testified that he and his two sons ran to a friend's house for help where they called 911. The friend, Jason Williams, had loaned Cole that shotgun used to shoot Crisp.
Cole testified that Williams did not want his new gun to be taken by police and that someone at the house replaced Williams' new 12-guage camouflage pump-action shot gun with a regular 12-gauge model.
The day after Crisp was killed, Cole called the Washington County Sheriff's Office and told detectives that the guns had been switched. Williams was arrested and convicted of tampering with physical evidence.
Michael Dodson, Cole's attorney, said that Crisp died as a result of a tragic accident.
"He had no idea. He had no idea and he shot, and he made a terrible, terrible mistake, but this was an accident," he said.
But prosecutor Terry Jones said Cole acted irresponsibly and it cost Crisp his life.
"(Crisp) had a right to go out in the deer woods and take a bow and arrow and hunt game, but he also had a right to assume he wouldn't be dodging bullets and all the other hunters out there," Jones said.
Crisp's father Leonard Crisp testified that his son's death devastated the family.
"It took everything from me," Crisp said. "He wanted to be a veterinarian. He went and shadowed a vet one time and he really enjoyed it. I did everything for him and now he's not here no more. I don't know what I'm going to do now."
Cole offered a teary-eyed apology from the stand.
"I hope someday you can forgive me, and I apologize severely," he said.
March 7, 2003, Friday, BC cycle
12:37 PM Eastern Time
SECTION: State and Regional
LENGTH: 432 words
HEADLINE: Jury rejects manslaughter charge in hunting death
DATELINE: BENTONVILLE, Ark.
BODY:
Jurors opted not to convict a Washington County man of manslaughter in the accidental hunting death of a teenage boy.
Jimmy Dale Cole, 33, shot and killed John Crisp, 16, on Oct. 6, while the two were hunting in a remote area. Cole was arrested on manslaughter charges Nov. 29.
On Thursday, a Washington County Circuit Court jury acquitted Cole of manslaughter and instead found him guilty of violating an Arkansas Game and Fish Commission statute of negligently discharging a firearm while deer hunting.
Cole was sentenced to two months in jail and fined $1,000 for the unclassified misdemeanor. The sentence followed emotional testimony from Cole who repeatedly apologized to Crisp's family.
Cole said he mistook Crisp for the hindquarters of a deer from 50 to 60 yards away. Cole fired a round of buck shot from his 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. Most of the shots hit John Crisp in the chest.
"I heard my name and he said, you shot me," Cole said. He said Crisp threw his hand into the air and then fell to the ground.
Cole testified that he and his two sons ran to a friend's house for help where they called 911. The friend, Jason Williams, had loaned Cole that shotgun used to shoot Crisp.
Cole testified that Williams did not want his new gun to be taken by police and that someone at the house replaced Williams' new 12-guage camouflage pump-action shot gun with a regular 12-gauge model.
The day after Crisp was killed, Cole called the Washington County Sheriff's Office and told detectives that the guns had been switched. Williams was arrested and convicted of tampering with physical evidence.
Michael Dodson, Cole's attorney, said that Crisp died as a result of a tragic accident.
"He had no idea. He had no idea and he shot, and he made a terrible, terrible mistake, but this was an accident," he said.
But prosecutor Terry Jones said Cole acted irresponsibly and it cost Crisp his life.
"(Crisp) had a right to go out in the deer woods and take a bow and arrow and hunt game, but he also had a right to assume he wouldn't be dodging bullets and all the other hunters out there," Jones said.
Crisp's father Leonard Crisp testified that his son's death devastated the family.
"It took everything from me," Crisp said. "He wanted to be a veterinarian. He went and shadowed a vet one time and he really enjoyed it. I did everything for him and now he's not here no more. I don't know what I'm going to do now."
Cole offered a teary-eyed apology from the stand.
"I hope someday you can forgive me, and I apologize severely," he said.
