Associated Press

August 12, 2002


ANGOLA, Ind. -- A special prosecutor has decided not to file charges against a town marshal who fired his gun inside a bar.

Whitley County Prosecutor John Whiteleather did, however, determine that one or more members of the Orland American Legion Post tried to keep information about the gun's discharge from police.

 




"Such efforts did not rise to the level of obstruction of justice as provided by Indiana criminal statutes," Whiteleather wrote in his findings, submitted last week in Steuben Circuit Court.

State Excise Police investigated an allegation that Orland Town Marshal Charles Smith fired his gun inside the post's bar on Feb. 2.

The prosecutor's investigation determined Smith did fire the gun while inside the building,[red] but that it was not intentional or reckless.[/red]