Pa. judge: Man not guilty in friend’s accidental party shooting


PITTSBURGH (AP) — A judge says a 22-year-old man who claimed he accidentally shot his friend at a party last year is not guilty of criminal homicide.

Allegheny County prosecutors wanted either a third-degree murder or manslaughter conviction under the homicide charge filed against 22-year-old Damien Franklin, of Penn Hills.

But Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Manning says today there wasn’t evidence to support the charge of murder, which requires malice, or even the recklessness or negligence needed for manslaughter.

Police say Franklin and Hurrell were partying when Hurrell aimed a shotgun at Franklin and asked what he’d do if someone pointed it at his face on June 19, 2014.

That’s when Franklin lifted another gun onto the side of a hot tub to see if it was loaded, only to have it fire when he pulled back its slide.

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