Desertdog
Member
It is just too bad a person has to go through a trial just because somebody has no control over their emotions. With less than an hour to acquit, it must have been a poor case to start with. Good thing he had intelligent jurors.
Former store owner not guilty of assault
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/stories/20061110/localnews/136650.shtml
By STEPHEN GURR
The Times
It took less than an hour Thursday for a jury to find a former Gainesville business owner not guilty of aggravated assault in the shooting of his ex-wife's boyfriend.
Anderson Bobo "Bo" Briscoe, 48, smiled, wept and mouthed the words "thank you" to the jury after the verdict was announced in Hall County Superior Court. He faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Briscoe, the former owner of Briscoe's Boot Country, claimed self-defense in the May 8, 2005, shooting of 64-year-old Ray Richardson in the driveway of Briscoe's ex-wife's home.
According to court testimony, Briscoe went to the River Road Circle home of Melissa "Missy" Cagle to see his son, now 9 years old, and an argument erupted between the two men.
Briscoe testified that Richardson, who was unarmed, punched him twice as he sat strapped into the driver's seat of his Dodge Caravan. Briscoe said he grabbed his 9 mm Taurus handgun from a computer bag in the van to defend himself from the blows. Richardson was shot twice in the hands, according to medical testimony.
One of the shots passed through Richardson's hand and entered his chest, leaving separate entrance and exit wounds, according to medical testimony. He survived the shooting but spent six days in a hospital.
Briscoe, who was free on $25,000 bond, was discharged by Judge Kathlene Gosselin after the acquittal.
"It's just wonderful," Briscoe said outside the courtroom of the jury's verdict. "I'm glad that they saw the truth. I hope they'll all pray tonight that soon I'll get to see my little boy."
Jury foreman Tillman Hill said after the trial that the evidence presented by the state did not justify a guilty verdict.
"We felt it was self-defense," Hill said. "He was perfectly within his rights. Everybody unanimously felt he was completely justified. There wasn't any debate whatsoever on the question of his innocence."
In her closing argument, Northeastern Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Juliet Aldridge told the jury of seven men and five women that a not guilty verdict would send the wrong message.
"It would say to the members of this community that you can drive onto someone's property, antagonize them to the point that they come at you and then shoot them," Aldridge said.
Hill, the jury foreman, disagreed.
"I think it sends a message that in the county we live in, a person is justified to defend himself, and that justice was served."
Gainesville defense attorney Troy Millikan delivered an animated and impassioned closing argument, at times hopping up to the witness stand to recount testimony in the case. Millikan's mother died during the course of the four-day trial and he was not in the courtroom when the verdict was read. He was assisted in the trial by co-counsel Ann T. Shafer.
Quoting from the law in his closing argument, Millikan said his client was justified in the "use of force in the defense of habitation." Under Georgia law, a car can be considered habitation the same as a home, he said.
The defense maintained Richardson was trying to get into the car and had threatened to kill Briscoe.
"The gun was necessary to stop the attack," Millikan said. "It's the only thing he had and he used it, and he used it legally to protect himself."
Richardson sat expressionless as the verdict was announced. Asked by a reporter afterward if he had any comment about the jury's verdict, he complained about pre-trial publicity and lashed out at the defense lawyer.
"I believe Mr. Millikan already bought the verdict," Richardson said. "He's had it in the paper twice. That's all I've got to say."
The Times published several news reports about the case since Briscoe's arrest, including Millikan's unsuccessful efforts to have the case dismissed.
Millikan said after the verdict that the jury's decision showed it "knew we were telling the truth from the very beginning. What happened was a result of being in fear. Fear pulled the trigger."
Contact: [email protected], (770) 718-3428
Former store owner not guilty of assault
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/stories/20061110/localnews/136650.shtml
By STEPHEN GURR
The Times
It took less than an hour Thursday for a jury to find a former Gainesville business owner not guilty of aggravated assault in the shooting of his ex-wife's boyfriend.
Anderson Bobo "Bo" Briscoe, 48, smiled, wept and mouthed the words "thank you" to the jury after the verdict was announced in Hall County Superior Court. He faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Briscoe, the former owner of Briscoe's Boot Country, claimed self-defense in the May 8, 2005, shooting of 64-year-old Ray Richardson in the driveway of Briscoe's ex-wife's home.
According to court testimony, Briscoe went to the River Road Circle home of Melissa "Missy" Cagle to see his son, now 9 years old, and an argument erupted between the two men.
Briscoe testified that Richardson, who was unarmed, punched him twice as he sat strapped into the driver's seat of his Dodge Caravan. Briscoe said he grabbed his 9 mm Taurus handgun from a computer bag in the van to defend himself from the blows. Richardson was shot twice in the hands, according to medical testimony.
One of the shots passed through Richardson's hand and entered his chest, leaving separate entrance and exit wounds, according to medical testimony. He survived the shooting but spent six days in a hospital.
Briscoe, who was free on $25,000 bond, was discharged by Judge Kathlene Gosselin after the acquittal.
"It's just wonderful," Briscoe said outside the courtroom of the jury's verdict. "I'm glad that they saw the truth. I hope they'll all pray tonight that soon I'll get to see my little boy."
Jury foreman Tillman Hill said after the trial that the evidence presented by the state did not justify a guilty verdict.
"We felt it was self-defense," Hill said. "He was perfectly within his rights. Everybody unanimously felt he was completely justified. There wasn't any debate whatsoever on the question of his innocence."
In her closing argument, Northeastern Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Juliet Aldridge told the jury of seven men and five women that a not guilty verdict would send the wrong message.
"It would say to the members of this community that you can drive onto someone's property, antagonize them to the point that they come at you and then shoot them," Aldridge said.
Hill, the jury foreman, disagreed.
"I think it sends a message that in the county we live in, a person is justified to defend himself, and that justice was served."
Gainesville defense attorney Troy Millikan delivered an animated and impassioned closing argument, at times hopping up to the witness stand to recount testimony in the case. Millikan's mother died during the course of the four-day trial and he was not in the courtroom when the verdict was read. He was assisted in the trial by co-counsel Ann T. Shafer.
Quoting from the law in his closing argument, Millikan said his client was justified in the "use of force in the defense of habitation." Under Georgia law, a car can be considered habitation the same as a home, he said.
The defense maintained Richardson was trying to get into the car and had threatened to kill Briscoe.
"The gun was necessary to stop the attack," Millikan said. "It's the only thing he had and he used it, and he used it legally to protect himself."
Richardson sat expressionless as the verdict was announced. Asked by a reporter afterward if he had any comment about the jury's verdict, he complained about pre-trial publicity and lashed out at the defense lawyer.
"I believe Mr. Millikan already bought the verdict," Richardson said. "He's had it in the paper twice. That's all I've got to say."
The Times published several news reports about the case since Briscoe's arrest, including Millikan's unsuccessful efforts to have the case dismissed.
Millikan said after the verdict that the jury's decision showed it "knew we were telling the truth from the very beginning. What happened was a result of being in fear. Fear pulled the trigger."
Contact: [email protected], (770) 718-3428
