Jury finds man guilty of attempted murder in ND
A man who brought a handgun into a western North Dakota courtroom and unsuccessfully tried to fire it was convicted Thursday on two counts of attempted murder.
Vicente Chacano was charged with 14 counts, one for prosecutor Jonathan Byers, one for former sheriff Eugene Molbert and 12 for each one of the jurors in the Hettinger courtroom on Feb. 4, 2011.
Chacano testified Wednesday that anxiety, stress and illness played a part in the incident. He said he was in a hurry to get to the sentencing hearing and forgot he had tucked the gun into his pants. He said he panicked when he realized he had the gun, and blacked out.
Prosecutors called Chacano's testimony a lie.
Witnesses said the gun jammed. Chacano was subdued by Byers and Molbert.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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