Post by WaTcHeR on Jul 14, 2006 17:19:14 GMT -5
07.14.2006 - VISALIA, Calif. - A former Tulare County sheriff's deputy was acquitted Thursday of improperly storing his county-issued gun that was used in the accidental shooting death of a 7-year-old girl.
Officer Paul Turner, 27, was charged with negligent storage of his .40-caliber Glock handgun after Gabriella Garcia died in the hospital in 2004. She was shot once in the head while playing in Turner's Porterville apartment.
Turner had faced up to three years in prison if convicted.
The girl, who lived in the same complex, had gone to Turner's home to get her younger brother, who was playing with Turner's two children, her parents said.
During the two-day trial, Gabriella's 5-year-old brother testified that Turner's then-4-year-old son, Devon Turner, shot the girl.
Turner was cleaning the gun on the morning of the shooting but heard one of his children crying, said Bill Mueting, Turner's attorney.
Turner put the gun on a closet high shelf while he attended to his child and later forgot about it, Mueting said.
www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/15032925.htm
Officer Paul Turner, 27, was charged with negligent storage of his .40-caliber Glock handgun after Gabriella Garcia died in the hospital in 2004. She was shot once in the head while playing in Turner's Porterville apartment.
Turner had faced up to three years in prison if convicted.
The girl, who lived in the same complex, had gone to Turner's home to get her younger brother, who was playing with Turner's two children, her parents said.
During the two-day trial, Gabriella's 5-year-old brother testified that Turner's then-4-year-old son, Devon Turner, shot the girl.
Turner was cleaning the gun on the morning of the shooting but heard one of his children crying, said Bill Mueting, Turner's attorney.
Turner put the gun on a closet high shelf while he attended to his child and later forgot about it, Mueting said.
www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/15032925.htm