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

DATE: SATURDAY, March 25, 1995                   TAG: 9503270001
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                 LENGTH: Short

JURY SIDES WITH OFFICER IN SHOOTING

A bystander who was shot by a police officer in his front yard last June is not entitled to any compensation because the shooting was an accident, a jury has decided.

The U.S. District Court jury believed officer Miles L. Warren, who said his gun went off accidentally after he dropped his flashlight and tripped while bending to pick it up. A police review board also found that the shooting was accidental.

The bystander, Ronald L. Duck, 38, claimed the shooting was intentional, that Warren raised the gun with both hands and aimed before shooting him, with no warning.

Duck was shot through the shoulder while talking to a neighbor in front of his house. He was hospitalized for four days. Warren was suspended for a week.

Duck sued Warren for $1 million for gross negligence and violating his civil rights. The jury deliberated for an hour Thursday after hearing three days of testimony.

When the verdict was announced, Warren dropped his head into his hands and wept. ``I feel vindicated,'' he said later.

- Associated Press

by CNB