MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) - A man who fatally shot another man after a fight outside a southern Oregon convenience store has been convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Bradley Quillen, 27, also faced a murder charge, but not enough members of a divided jury determined he was guilty of that crime, the Mail Tribune newspaper reported (https://is.gd/E15AM3).
Quillen did not testify during the three-day trial that ended Wednesday. Defense attorney Christine Herbert said her client was trying to defend himself against Miguel Delfin, 23, outside a 7-Eleven store in Phoenix, Oregon last April.
Prosecutors said Delfin, armed with a large rock, was retreating at the time Quillen fired the .22 caliber pistol.
Delfin’s dominant arm was down before a shot fired through his left bicep then pierced his heart, said Dr. James Olson, deputy medical examiner. Olson testified that no soot or gunpowder particles were found on Delfin’s body or the clothes he was wearing, indicating he was shot from a distance.
Deputy District Attorney Virginia Greer said the rock was inside Delfin’s pocket along with his hand in the moment the shot was fired. She said Quillen had a folding knife in his pocket.
“He had options,” Greer said. “He didn’t have to draw the gun.”
During cross-examination, Herbert brought out the rock Delfin had on him and asked whether Olson had seen homicides involving similar weapons. Olson said he’d seen homicides caused from blunt force trauma, but not from a thrown rock. Olson added that contusions and skull fractures can occur.
The sentence was issued immediately after the verdict. Delfin’s mother, Belinda McCurdy, told the court that Quillen has ruined her life.
“I am a mess,” she said. “My heart has been destroyed.”
Judge Patricia Crain said there wasn’t much she could say to comfort the grieving mother.
“It’s horrible,” Crain said. “These cases happen far too often.”
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Information from: Mail Tribune, https://www.mailtribune.com/
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