BISBEE — A jury acquitted Darryl Chenowth of murdering two men near his home in McNeal at the conclusion of a trial Wednesday in Cochise County Superior Court.
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The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for only a few hours on Wednesday before reaching the verdicts of not guilty on each count.
The defendant told law enforcement officials that Rivera’s pit bull terrier was causing problems for his cattle and horses. He said he warned Rivera that he would shoot the dog if it kept doing so.
On the night of Jan. 11, Chenowth said, he fatally shot the dog when it tried to bite him. He said Rivera threatened that he would to burn down his house with him inside.
Rand and Rivera confronted him. He said he shot them with a pistol in self-defense when Rand hit him in the leg with a stick and when he thought Rivera was going to strike him.
During closing arguments on Wednesday, James Glanville, deputy county attorney, said Chenowth was not justified in shooting them. He pointed out both victims died from wounds to their back.
He said Rand was shot in the abdomen and in the back of the neck, and Rivera was shot in the arm and in the back.
But, defense attorney Clarence Jenkins said Rivera was not shot “square in the back.” He argued his client was afraid of what Rand and Rivera would do to him. He pointed out Rand was drunk at the time.
Jurors started deliberating around noon Wednesday. After lunch, they requested another opportunity to watch a video of Chenowth’s interview with law enforcement officials from Jan. 12 and to listen to recordings of his phone calls to Cochise County Sheriff’s Office dispatchers and 911 from Jan. 10 and 11.
Those items were played for them in court between about 3 p.m. and about 4 p.m. They returned to the jury room for about half an hour, and then announced they had made their decision.
After the trial, Ken Sugden, who was the jury’s foreman, explained to the Herald/Review that members of the panel reviewed the evidence and they felt this outcome was appropriate.
He said some main factors in this case were the significant amount of stress that Chenowth experienced during the incident, and the way a person under attack can react automatically without any real thought.
Comments
to disgusted wrote on Nov 18, 2009 8:56 PM:
Disgusted wrote on Nov 16, 2009 5:11 AM:
Good for you. wrote on Nov 12, 2009 12:29 PM: