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Liberty shooting case ends in acquittal
The jury deliberated for an hour.
LIBERTY — A former township resident has been found innocent of aggravated menacing charges stemming from a shooting where two woman said they were forced to run for safety.
A jury of three women and six men took about an hour to reach a verdict in the case against 49-year-old Dennis Bryan of Cortland, formerly of Lucretia Drive.
Bryan was on trial because police said he fired a shot from a handgun that caused two Lucretia Drive women to run in fear. Bryan and one of the women, 32-year-old Jennifer Sehon, are members of families that had been feuding for years.
The charges were first-degree misdemeanors.
Township police have files dating back to 2004 detailing the dispute between the Sehon and Bryan families.
After the purported shooting, township officers removed numerous guns from the Bryan residence including a rifle resting on a two-legged stand near an upstairs window, reports said.
Prosecuting attorney Bob Johnson said the Bryan family has since left the neighborhood, so the trial should be an end to disturbances in the neighborhood.
“I respect the jury’s decision. I am just glad that he has moved away, and we don’t have anymore problems. Liberty Police Department has not been there, and we don’t have to waste time being mediators in this,” he said.
Sehon, however, took no comfort in the jury’s decision.
“I am totally disappointed,” she said. “I thought this was my last best chance for some justice. What else has to be done here?”
Sehon said she still feels as if she is being harassed by Bryan. She said he rides up and down Lucretia Drive regularly and sometimes sits on the street.
Bryan, speaking after the trial, said he only comes to Lucretia Drive to check on his property, which is now being rented.
Atty. James Gentile, who represented Bryan, said the verdict should speak for the entire situation.
“We have had to put up with Mrs. Sehon’s accusations for four years and now Mr. Bryan has been vindicated,” he said. “We’ve moved out of the neighborhood and we don’t know what [Sehon] is talking about.”
jgoodwin@vindy.com