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

DATE: SUNDAY, May 2, 1993                   TAG: 9305020128
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: HEATHSVILLE                                LENGTH: Short

MAN CLEARED IN HIS FATHER'S HUNTING DEATH

A jury has acquitted a man of involuntary manslaughter in the death of his father while turkey hunting last spring.

John W. Brann, 23, testified in Northumberland County Circuit Court on Friday that he thought he had shot a turkey gobbler but discovered too late that he had shot his father, William F. Brann.

The elder Brann, 51, died from a single pellet wound to the chest from a 12-gauge shotgun last April 24.

"I ran to him, tried to help him, but there was nothing I could do," John Brann said.

Commonwealth's Attorney William LoPorto told the jury he was not seeking a prison term but did want a conviction.

The jurors deliberated for about 10 minutes before deciding Brann was innocent.

"It makes us feel a lot better," said the defendant's mother, Melissa Brann, who held hands with her dead husband's uncle while the jury declared its verdict.

William F. Brann Jr., Brann's older brother, said the Northumberland County family stuck together after the tragedy, convinced it was an accident.

"It should have never" resulted in a court case, William Brann said. "All it did is cause a lot of pain for the family."

LoPorto, however, argued that John Brann's shot was hasty and reckless. "The cardinal safety rule in hunting is that a hunter must identify not only his target but what is beyond it before he fires his gun."

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB