Judge considers verdict in fatal crowd shooting
A St. Louis County judge is considering whether to overturn homicide charges against a man convicted of shooting into a crowd, killing one person and injuring another.
Defense attorney Keith Shaw told the judge Monday that Philbert Barnes was running away when he shot at a group of people while holding a gun upside down outside in Duluth last July. Shaw argued Barnes had no intent of killing anyone. Curtis Cooney was struck and killed. Another man was hit in the leg.
Prosecutor Vern Swanum argued that if Barnes merely meant to scare the group, he would have fired the gun into the air.
A St. Louis County jury found the 40-year-old Barnes guilty of intentional and attempted murder in January. The Duluth News Tribune reports Judge David Johnson will make a decision by March 18, Barnes' sentencing date.
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Information from: Duluth News Tribune
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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