i'll check around.

last i heard the amish kid's family (and the entire amish community) forgave the guy 100%...as is their way.

the prosecutor was going to press charges, but there were some issues with the shooter's health.

let me do a little digging.

the mansfield or wooster papers should have something on the case.

MILLERSBURG (AP) – A man accused of fatally shooting a prankster who threw tomatoes from a cornfield was found guilty of misdemeanor negligent homicide Friday night and sentenced to time served.

Marion Weaver, 58, of Benton, had been charged with murder, which could have resulted in a sentence of 18 years to life in prison. The jury decided on the lesser charge after 4 1/2 hours of deliberations.

Weaver, who has been jailed since September, was sentenced to time served by Holmes County Common Pleas Judge Thomas White and given the maximum $1,000 fine. The charge carried a maximum six-month sentence.

“I’m as happy as I could be under the circumstances,” defense attorney John Johnson Jr. said. “You have to remember someone died. He (Weaver) is responsible for that and he’s aware of it, but he’s not a murderer.”

Steven L. Keim, 23, of Apple Creek, was shot and killed on Sept. 1. He was in a group of people throwing tomatoes at passing vehicles from a cornfield, an annual prank in the Holmes-Wayne County area about 80 miles south of Cleveland that has the largest Amish settlement in the world.

Angry that his car was hit, Weaver came back to the cornfield with a shotgun. He said he had aimed into the air when he fired.

“I was frustrated. I lost it,” Weaver testified earlier Friday, the fourth day of his trial. He said when he learned the next day that Keim had been fatally shot, “I was devastated. I had a heart attack.”

Assistant Holmes County Prosecutor Steve Knowling told jurors during closing arguments that Keim’s death was no accident. He said Keim was struck by more than 100 pellets.

“If he shot the shotgun above the cornfield, into the air, he wouldn’t be here. Steven Keim wouldn’t be dead,” Knowling told jurors.

Knowling said he believes there was evidence to support the murder charge.

“We put on the best case we can,” he said.

Weaver had been a friend of Keim and his family, former Amish who had converted to the less-restrictive Mennonite faith – and had often gone fishing and trap shooting with the young man and his father.

Eight teens and three men in their early 20s pleaded guilty to vehicular vandalism in the prank. The juveniles were sentenced to serve a weekend in juvenile detention and fined $250; the adults were sentenced to four days in jail and fined $500.

www.timesreporter.com/left.php?external=repsearch_detail.php&ID=27526

From the article -

"Assistant Holmes County Prosecutor Steve Knowling told jurors during closing arguments that Keim’s death was no accident. He said Keim was struck by more than 100 pellets.

"'If he shot the shotgun above the cornfield, into the air, he wouldn’t be here. Steven Keim wouldn’t be dead, Knowling told jurors."

Yep. A misdemeanor conviction and time served!

Lovely.

Eric The(Stunned)Hun

a lot of you are missing the point.

1. the attack was provoked.

2. the shooter was a family friend...a close family friend that had take the keim lad hunting and fishing.

3. no evidence of attempt to deliberately cause death (fired high).

4. the family forgave the shooter. that is their way. please respect it. the jury and court did.

5. the shooter was very remorseful, has health issues (big dollars to the us ohio taxpayers if we warehouse him).



this shooting was a local tragedy that no amount of jail time could put right or be just punishment for.

the amish and mennonites can forgive.

apparantly some here prefer more blood.

Post from AR15fan:

6-Months for killing a grown man who was committing serial vandalism.

Yeah. I 'spect that's one way of looking at it.

But not a very sensible one.

I cannot imagine anyone leveling a shotgun at targets that he could not possibly identify and letting go with a shot....and still be defended by an LEO.

There must be something more to this story than meets the eye.

Eric The(Don'tMessWithTexasGunLaws)Hun

I cannot imagine anyone leveling a shotgun at targets that he could not possibly identify and letting go with a shot....

this happens all the time, eric.

when i was a lad in the boy scouts, i was hit by a long-distance blast of pellets by an old woman that could not have possibly identified her targets. fortunately, other than welts and light skin penetratration, no harm no foul.

perhaps ohio is more like texas than texas, itself?

and still be defended by an LEO.

i think you legal types call it 'mitagating circumstances'?

There must be something more to this story than meets the eye.

not every death is murder in cold blood and not every murder deserves a lynching.

the family forgave the man. i think you would call that a "christian act"...and obviously a deserved one in this case. the jurors and judge saw it likewise.

enough blood was spilled for everyone involved.

Quoted: a lot of you are missing the point.

I seriously doubt that.

1. the attack was provoked.

Yes, indeed.

A 12 oz tomato smashing into a 2,000 pound vehicle is quite provocative!

2. the shooter was a family friend...a close family friend that had take the keim lad hunting and fishing.

If friends can't shoot friends what's this world coming to, anyway?

3. no evidence of attempt to deliberately cause death (fired high).

And yet there were more than 100 pellets in the lad's corpse.

Strange trajectory that shotshell made!

4. the family forgave the shooter. that is their way. please respect it. the jury and court did.

Sorry, but that's why it is the State of Ohio vs. the Defendant, not The Heim Family vs. the Defendant.

If forgiveness by the victim's family makes any difference at law, we then make a mockery of the law.

The more depraved the victim's family, the less likely for them to forgive, the greater the punishment for the wrongdoer?

What nonsense is that?

5. the shooter was very remorseful, has health issues (big dollars to the us ohio taxpayers if we warehouse him).

Jeepers, why did you save that for last? That makes all the difference in the world!

If that fellow could have put his shotgun back in the trunk of his car and driven away unidentified, I would bet he wouldn't be near as remorseful as he is NOW!

Facing criminal prosecution makes for a lot of remorse!

this shooting was a local tragedy that no amount of jail time could put right or be just punishment for.

When does jail time ever put a crime 'right'?

the amish and mennonites can forgive.

Hooray for them!

That's quite charitable and noble of them, indeed.

But the State of Ohio should not be swayed by the religious convictions of the victim's next-of-kin

apparantly some here prefer more blood.

Does the State of Ohio execute murderers, or have they abolished the death penalty?

The defendant was never charged with a crime that he could have received the death sentence for, nor should he have been.

But that certainly doesn't mean that what occurred in the Courtroom was correct, at all.

Eric The(Reasonable,AsAlways)Hun

cyanide, you are correct.

targets that night included rotten lettuce heads, tomatos, paintballs and...dried ears of corn.

do any of you know the potential kinetic energy carried in the equation of: .5kg ear corn/husked * 45mph velocity of vehicle =??? energy?


weaver, the shooter, had been the victim of this prank on more than one occassion that fall and also in previous years. the deputies, despite serving a generally tranquil holmes county, can't road patrol for the dozens and dozens of 'deadly' amish tomato tossing gangs (you have the crips and bloods. we have the yoders and the herschbergers).

everyone involved screwed up. the vandals started the dance and the buckshot ended it.

was anyone 'right' in what they did? no.

but, things got worked out on their own...by the local folks involved.

that's justices at its' most fair and equitable for all concerned.

Quoted: this happens all the time, eric. when i was a lad in the boy scouts, i was hit by a long-distance blast of pellets by an old woman that could not have possibly identified her targets. fortunately, other than welts and light skin penetratration, no harm no foul.

I got lit up with birdshot from across a pasture as a teen, like you said, the wounds were no more than some welts and a couple of scratches, no harm no foul, plus I learned a huge lesson. I think firing a load of birdshot as a warning is fairly common practice in truly rural areas.

Quoted: Quoted: A 12 oz tomato smashing into a 2,000 pound vehicle is quite provocative! Felony vandalism depending on where it hits and the value of the car.  Plus the risk of the resulting traffic collision.

You are really not being serious, are you?

I mean, there is such a thing as proportionality, you know.

So, you are quite pleased at the outcome of this little episode?

I mean, except for the unfortunate death of a 23 year old tomato throwing 'repeat' felon, that is.

Right?

That's just sick, if you are being serious.

Really.

Eric The(Stunned)Hun

A 12 oz tomato smashing into a 2,000 pound vehicle is quite provocative!

yes. and the corn and lettuce can be more so.

If friends can't shoot friends what's this world coming to, anyway?

a sorry place where folks want a nanny-state calling the shots for them, evidently.

And yet there were more than 100 pellets in the lad's corpse.

Strange trajectory that shotshell made!

can you tell me how many pellets are in a no. 7 , 3" shotshell? can you tell me the choke? a magazine capacity? don't have a clue, do you?

nor do you know the total number of rounds shot. nor do you know the range at which the keim lad was struck. lastly, you do not know the inclination of the field in relation to the road.

but...feel free to play junior ballistics expert on the web.

Sorry, but that's why it is the State of Ohio vs. the Defendant, not The Heim Family vs. the Defendant.

sorry. they didn't need no stinkin' nanny state telling them 'what' justice was. they were smart enough to do that on their own. their friends, neighbors and peers agreed. as did the judge.

but, i take it you know more than they?

If forgiveness by the victim's family makes any difference at law, we then make a mockery of the law.

now, there's a line of bullshit only a lawyer could spout. does "the law" tell the people what is just...or...do the people detrmine what justice is?  

evidently, the families involved, the jury, the judge and myself are in complete disagreement with your opinion. but, don't let us dismount you from your high legal horse.

The more depraved the victim's family, the less likely for them to forgive, the greater the punishment for the wrongdoer?

that's the way it works in many cases. the judge listens to victim statements and sentences, within the guidelines, accordingly.

but, you knew that...didn't you?

What nonsense is that?

the kind of nonsense you often bring up.

Jeepers, why did you save that for last?

because it is of the least significance. should i have listed it first? if so, i'll try to do that just for you, next time.

That makes all the difference in the world!

it does bear on the judgement. feel free to live in denial, though.

If that fellow could have put his shotgun back in the trunk of his car and driven away unidentified, I would bet he wouldn't be near as remorseful as he is NOW!

no one would argue against that statement.

Facing criminal prosecution makes for a lot of remorse!

so does killing a friend, i suppose.

Hooray for them!

and for you? a cry of 'foul!' from the sidelines?

That's quite charitable and noble of them, indeed.

yes. very christlike. most of the amish and mennonites i know are pleasure to have as neighbors. et tu?

But the State of Ohio should not be swayed by the religious convictions of the victim's next-of-kin

well, that's the way it works. i would have guessed that you, being immersed in the legal system, would at least have a clue about this. my error, obviously, in making that assumption.

allow me to clear up the mystical workings of the criminal justice sytem for you...

the county prosecutor files charges after the evidence is collected.

the grand jury indicts based on that evidence.

the trial is held, hearing all that evidence.

a jury renders a verdict based upon that evidece.

a judge sentences based upon the charges returned within the legal framework for sentencing.


there. a little more clear, now?


Does the State of Ohio execute murderers, or have they abolished the death penalty?

depends on the case. it's all about that there 'evidence' stuff and those 'circumstances' of the case.

one size does not fit all.

but, you knew that, too...didn't you?

The defendant was never charged with a crime that he could have received the death sentence for, nor should he have been.

agreed.

But that certainly doesn't mean that what occurred in the Courtroom was correct, at all.

it was correct to all concerned. your opinion of justice in holmes county carries about as much weight as mine would in texas...zero.

I got lit up with birdshot from across a pasture as a teen, like you said, the wounds were no more than some welts and a couple of scratches, no harm no foul, plus I learned a huge lesson. I think firing a load of birdshot as a warning is fairly common practice in truly rural areas.

birdshot...rocksalt...rice...and whatever dad left in it the last time he propped it behind the door.

i learned a lesson, too (a scoutmaster sent a bunch of us kids over a fence to gather flat rocks for a fire pit lining)...don't trespass even if told to do so and damn! shot carries a long freaking way an still smarts!


no one is saying the death of the keim youth was called for...for his acts of vadalism.

but, it happened.

as halloween approaches and the frost gets closer...the gardens in holmes county are giving up their last yield for the season. the ears of corn are drying on the stocks and paintball guns...er...markers are being readied for a another season of vandalism along ohio roadways.

now, i drive a junk s10 that isn't worth $100. i drive pretty slowly (according to ar15com standards...anyways) and i'm usually prepared for deer, coons, possums, skunks and all manor of wildlife and stuff to cause me to brake/swerve. if eli dents my door or fender, i wouldn't care or be angry.

other folks, driving nicer vehicles...driving faster that i am accustomed to...or subject to being freaked out by an instantaneous loss of forward vision (ever see a barrage of ear corn take out a windshield?) might not be so understanding.


those of you calling for the sheriff's deputies to handle this might be shocked to learn that each county has thousands of miles of roads (from state routes and interstates to secondary roads to tertiary roads to county and townships roads)...thousands of kids out doing weird shit...and maybe two cars out on patrol at any given moment. the odds, frankly, are on the vandals' side by a disproportionate percentage.