TEEN WHO SHOT FRIEND GUILTY OF MISDEMEANOR

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 18, 1993                   TAG: 9303180085
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
TEEN WHO SHOT FRIEND GUILTY OF MISDEMEANOR
A judge found a Franklin County teen-ager guilty of reckless handling of a firearm in the January shooting death of his best friend, Commonwealth's Attorney Cliff Hapgood said.
Michael Cooper, 18, pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge, which stemmed from the Jan. 4 death of B.J. Clingenpeel, 17, who died after being shot while playing a game of "quick-draw" in Cooper's home in Waidsboro, Hapgood said.
Cooper didn't contest the evidence, and the judge suspended the entire sentence of a year in jail and a $2,500 fine on the condition that Cooper not possess firearms for two years, Hapgood said.
Cooper's mother testified that her son already had been through enough, and Hapgood said that probably had a lot to do with the judge's decision.
"I think that he was very sorry that happened," Hapgood said.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB