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

DATE: FRIDAY, January 10, 1992                   TAG: 9201100166
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT                                LENGTH: Short

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TURKEY HUNTER WHO SHOT FRIEND FINED

A Franklin County man who mistook his hunting buddy for a turkey was found guilty of a reckless firearms charge Thursday.

Dennis Dean Davis, 30, of Route 4, Rocky Mount, was fined $1,000 and given a 90-day suspended jail sentence.

Davis and a friend, Jack Allen Altice Jr., 36, were hunting Nov. 27 when the two men were separated and unwittingly began to respond to each other's turkey calls.

Davis saw what he thought was a turkey about 40 yards away and fired one round from his 12-gauge shotgun. Altice was hit in the back with 20 pellets that caused welts but did not break the skin.

Both men were wearing camouflage clothing. Blaze orange is not required for turkey hunting because the fowl have keen eyesight and can detect bright clothing.

John Boitnott, attorney for Davis, argued that the shooting was accidental but not reckless.

General District Judge William Alexander II found Davis guilty of recklessness.

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