Did Dick Chaney break any Texas statutes or local ordinances when he accidentally shot his hunting companion? I’m thinking statutes along the lines of unlawful or careless use of firearms or something similar, or even some sort of battery offense. Anybody knowledgeable in Texas law who can answer?
The legal counsel for the Ed Shultz show says there is a law that could be used against him if they wanted to - third degree felony of firing a weapon in a direction of people; can’t remember the number I’ll have to pod it and find out what precisely he cited.
According to the news this morning, he’s received an official warning from the State of Texas because he didn’t have the appropriate $7.50 stamp for his hunting license for the specific species of bird he was shooting.
As for shooting his hunting companion, it appears to be an accident.
http://audio.wegoted.com/podcasting/21306Norman.mp3
Listening for the cite now.
(wow the board has been up all morning! someone must have fed the hampsters v-day chocolate)
The Smoking Gun has a copy of the police report here as well as a press release from the Kenedy County Sherriff.
They aren’t planning on persuing any criminal charges.
Yes, but knowingly. Assuming he didn’t realize the fellow was there - which by all accounts is the case - it can’t be said he did it knowingly.
Amusing that he wasn’t cited for shooting someone, but did get a warning for hunting quail without the right stamp.
From what I’ve heard, it’s pretty standard to let those involved in hunting accidents go without prosectuting them, unless there was some sort of gross negligence involved.
Oh, see, then the news reports have it all wrong. I had read that he had intentionally, knowingly, fired the gun - but didn’t know the guy was there. So - his finger slipped? He didn’t mean to shoot at the birds at all?
If he didn’t knowingly fired the gun (maybe he was dropping it, or something? I know of a guy who died when he dropped his gun w/buckshot), then there is no way that penal code is in effect.
I guess I can see being surprised by a human in my range and accidentally firing. Then again, if he was under the influence of anything, can that be argued as ‘knowingly’?
Depends on how you parse that sentence.
If it’s illegal to “knowingly discharge a firearm” in the direction of individuals, you might not know the people are there, but you still knowingly discharged your firearm 
Okay, that was a joke. For real: I bet he did break the law in Texas: he shot at someone and didn’t kill them 
Okay, nevermind, I don’t think he did anything approaching high crimes and misdemeanors. But it’s still worth a laugh over.
Are you going out of your way to misinterpret the statute? The “knowingly” applies to the entire phrase “discharges a firearm at or in the direction of one or more individuals,” not just to the “discharges a firearm” part.
I’m surprised there is no accounting for negligence in the law.
I agree if there was no way to know the other guy was there (say he was hiding in a bush wearing camoflage) then it is a true accident.
However, this guy was part of Cheney’s hunting party. Presumably he knew the people who were around him and presumably when hunting together you take prudent precautions to make sure you do not shoot each other. If someone gets shot then I would think someone messed up somewhere. Whether that makes Cheny guilty of anything is open to question (the other guy could have done something stupid on his own to get himself shot). Nevertheless I would think the law should have some stipulation for negligence and let the facts determine whether it rose to the level of criminal negligence.
Listen to the link - the lawyer Ed had on was interpreting it in the fashion I presented. I am not a lawyer, nor am I currently a Texas resident or law enforcement official. I don’t know how close he was to the guy in the bright orange hunting vest; with a varied-reported number of hours between the episode and the actual communication with local law enforcement officials, I’m not sure anyone will ever actually come up with the real distance, time, etc.
I’m saying this is how that guy talked about it on the show.
If you listen further on, that is now Norman seems to be interpreting it, hence my later comments:
I know someone there broke some friggin law, even if it was just a darned $7.50 stamp tax. I know many people break the law all the time - I’ve driven over the speed limit on occasion.
The op asked if there was a law he broke in regards to the alleged shooting, I posted one lawyer’s comments and intepretation, and a bit of interpretation based on the rest of the conversation I linked.
Please, continue this mutiple thread (there are two others in two other sections of the board) - stomp it to pieces from your armchairs. Then we don’t have to think about all the friggin torture and abandonment of people who don’t own multi-billion dollar corporations that are perpetrated by this careless sport hunter and the rest of his administration.
I imagine other laws concerning negligence apply. If someone showed reckless disregard for the safety of his hunting companions, I believe charges would be filed. Keep in mind, though, that everyone in a hunting party knows there are dangers. Moving from a position that a shooter knows you were in, and coming up behind him without announcing your presence, is not wise. There seems to be a reasonable argument that the other guy did do something stupid to get himself shot. At least stupid enough that no one in the hunting party or in the police agency involved sees the shooting as a criminal act.
When one hunts line-style as Cheney was doing, there is a clearly defined field of fire for each hunter. The fellow that got shot had apparently dropped out of line, and then returned. In that situation, it is his responsibility to announce his return to the line, to prevent this very accident from happening. The folks on either side of him would (correctly) assume that they had a larger field of fire.
Erase and correct. Not sure what term **should **be applied, but “sport hunter” should not be applied to Cheney. My apologies to hunters here.
Mynn. I’m sure you meant to post this last paragraph to one of those “other” threads that are in fora that are more forgiving of political potshots(pardon the pun).
Keep politics out of General Questions. OK?
Thanks.
samclem GQ moderator