Bill Starks
State Researcher
imported post
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/377123_folklife30.html?source=rss
No jail for Folklife shooter
Plea deal mandates community supervision, accepts time served
By LEVI PULKKINEN
P-I REPORTER
A Snohomish man charged in the shooting of two people at the Northwest Folklife Festival won't see further jail time for the incident.
Clinton Chad Grainger, who spent 78 days in jail following the May 24 shooting, was sentenced to time served Friday after pleading guilty to two counts of third-degree assault.
Grainger had initially faced a more serious second-degree assault charge, which could have carried a nearly four-year prison term. Prosecutors reduced the charges as part of a plea deal, granted in part because the shooting did not appear to have been intentional.
In King County Superior Court, Grainger's attorney, Kearney Lee Hammer, told Judge Michael Trickey his client was "criminally negligent" to bring a loaded pistol to the Seattle Center festival. But Hammer disputed initial police accounts of the altercation.
Grainger had become involved in a scuffle with an acquaintance at the festival, Hammer said. The second man lunged for a holster holding the weapon on Grainger's ankle in an attempt to seize the gun and use it against Grainger.
The Glock pistol, Hammer said, discharged as the men wrestled with the gun. The round penetrated a man's wrist before lodging in a woman's leg. Neither victim was involved in the altercation.
"For people who think they need a gun in a public place, they should have second thoughts," Hammer told Trickey.
"No kidding," the judge answered, without humor.
After an apology from Grainger, Trickey called the 22-year-old's decision to bring a gun to a crowded public gathering "a colossal lapse of judgment."
Trickey then followed the agreed sentencing recommendation and placed Grainger on two years of community supervision. Grainger was also ordered to continue treatment for heroin addiction.
At the hearing, Hammer disputed news reports that Grainger suffers from schizophrenia and should not have been issued the concealed pistol license he carried. Despite earlier statements to the contrary, prosecutors did not offer any evidence Friday that Grainger suffers from the mental illness.
"He has never had any schizophrenia," Hammer said. "He was legally qualified to possess a firearm."
The conviction, however, bars Grainger from carrying a gun in the future.
The shooting prompted an effort by Mayor Greg Nickels to ban concealed firearms from city parks and facilities. The prohibition has not been enacted and no change in the law is before the City Council.
P-I reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/377123_folklife30.html?source=rss
No jail for Folklife shooter
Plea deal mandates community supervision, accepts time served
By LEVI PULKKINEN
P-I REPORTER
A Snohomish man charged in the shooting of two people at the Northwest Folklife Festival won't see further jail time for the incident.
Clinton Chad Grainger, who spent 78 days in jail following the May 24 shooting, was sentenced to time served Friday after pleading guilty to two counts of third-degree assault.
Grainger had initially faced a more serious second-degree assault charge, which could have carried a nearly four-year prison term. Prosecutors reduced the charges as part of a plea deal, granted in part because the shooting did not appear to have been intentional.
In King County Superior Court, Grainger's attorney, Kearney Lee Hammer, told Judge Michael Trickey his client was "criminally negligent" to bring a loaded pistol to the Seattle Center festival. But Hammer disputed initial police accounts of the altercation.
Grainger had become involved in a scuffle with an acquaintance at the festival, Hammer said. The second man lunged for a holster holding the weapon on Grainger's ankle in an attempt to seize the gun and use it against Grainger.
The Glock pistol, Hammer said, discharged as the men wrestled with the gun. The round penetrated a man's wrist before lodging in a woman's leg. Neither victim was involved in the altercation.
"For people who think they need a gun in a public place, they should have second thoughts," Hammer told Trickey.
"No kidding," the judge answered, without humor.
After an apology from Grainger, Trickey called the 22-year-old's decision to bring a gun to a crowded public gathering "a colossal lapse of judgment."
Trickey then followed the agreed sentencing recommendation and placed Grainger on two years of community supervision. Grainger was also ordered to continue treatment for heroin addiction.
At the hearing, Hammer disputed news reports that Grainger suffers from schizophrenia and should not have been issued the concealed pistol license he carried. Despite earlier statements to the contrary, prosecutors did not offer any evidence Friday that Grainger suffers from the mental illness.
"He has never had any schizophrenia," Hammer said. "He was legally qualified to possess a firearm."
The conviction, however, bars Grainger from carrying a gun in the future.
The shooting prompted an effort by Mayor Greg Nickels to ban concealed firearms from city parks and facilities. The prohibition has not been enacted and no change in the law is before the City Council.
P-I reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com.
