[ChrisWNY]

Hunter whose bullet hit bus sentenced | WIVB.com

RANDOLPH, N.Y. (WIVB) - The hunter who fired a shot and struck a school bus full of children will spend the next year behind bars.

William Donald Squire was sentenced Tuesday on charges of criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, and environmental conservation charges after being convicted in a jury trial in July.

Squire was on his own property in a tree stand when he fired his gun at a deer in November of 2011. He missed, and the deer slug continued across Route 241 and struck a Randolph bus. It nearly struck the driver, who was taking 35 students to school.

He must've been using one of those new, state-of-the-art, deer-slug-slinging rifles...LOL.

Thoughts? Was the punishment fair? I'm assuming his tree stand must've been elevated on a hill. On flat land I can't see this being much of an issue considering the downward trajectory of a shot out of a tree stand, though I suppose a ricochet is possible. Any way you slice it, shooting toward a road is not the best idea. Had it actually been a deer slug, not much chance it would've hit the bus.

 

[ChrisWNY]

jury trail when it involves a school bus.... bad call

Agree. He was offered a reduced plea, but went with trial by jury instead. Either his defense attorney was an idiot, or he flat out ignored the advice from his attorney.

 

[ChrisWNY]

^ So it's really a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. I agree though that Squire shouldn't have talked unless there was a lawyer around.

 

[ChrisWNY]

he certainly didn't dodge that bullet

See what you started, Ted? LOL.

 

[ChrisWNY]

Aside from the fact that the guy was likely an idiot, I don't agree with sentencing someone to a year behind bars for an accident that simply resulted in some minor damage to a school bus. Could it have been worse? Of course, but what happened, happened. Doesn't mean the guy should be locked up behind bars. Revoke his hunting license, impose a fine, and require the guy to re-take the Hunter's safety course in order to have his hunting license reinstated.

So I guess next time someone nearly hits a pedestrian in their vehicle while yapping on their cell phone (that's about equally as negligent), they should expect to be arrested then convicted for almost injuring or killing someone...if the justice system is going to impose criminal penalties on hypothetical crimes, might as well do enforce across the board, right??

Judging by the fact that he was convicted by a Jury, it's probably safe to assume the following simple-minded logic factored into the conviction...

(1) All guns are evil
(2) Therefore, those who own/use guns are evil as well
(3) Evil people who use guns belong in jail

Let's not forget the Dr. Corasanti case (Amherst, NY) - guy knocked back some whiskey at the country club, got into his BMW over the DWI limit, then ran down and killed an 18 yr old girl, fled the scene, tampered with evidence, and lied to police. No felony conviction, and he got off with a light 1-yr sentence. Justice is blind, right?