A Richmond man pleaded no contest yesterday to a misdemeanor charge for shooting an intruder in his North Side backyard.
James Chadwick Ross, 38, had been charged with unlawful wounding, a felony, but he entered a plea to the lesser charge of reckless handling of a firearm, under an agreement between his attorney and prosecutors.
Circuit Judge Theodore J. Markow gave Ross a suspended, 12-month jail sentence and ordered him to pay $1,000 and complete a firearm-safety course.
In approving the plea agreement, Markow expressed conflicting views. He said that people can't use excessive force to defend their property, which was what prosecutor Michael E. Hollomon accused Ross of doing. But the judge added: "If I saw this in my backyard, I don't know what I would do."
Hollomon said Ross should have called 911 before he shot Emory Heiston. Ross shot Heiston after seeing him near a detached garage outside his house on Seminary Avenue about 3 a.m. on Aug. 5.
Instead of calling police, Ross went upstairs, grabbed the shotgun, got his German shepherd and handed his wife a phone, telling her to be ready to call police because there was a man in the backyard, Hollomon said.
Ross told police he saw Heiston moving a security light so it would not shine on the garage, and holding a dark object that authorities later determined was a crowbar. He told police he thought the man was going to break into his garage, Hollomon said.
Ross also told police that he walked onto a back deck, and that after Heiston turned toward him, Ross fired once, wounding Heiston in his back and on the back of his head with buckshot.
Defense attorney John Honey said Heiston was shot after he began moving in a direction that might have led him toward Ross. "He had a fear for his safety," Honey said.
Heiston, 23, fled toward a wooden fence, and as he was jumping over it, Ross fired a second time, hitting the fence, Hollomon said. Ross later told police it was a warning shot.
Heiston fled through an alley, leaving a trail of blood to his apartment less than two blocks away, Hollomon said. He was later treated at VCU Medical Center.
Virginia law allows people to use deadly force when serious injury or death is imminent, but not to defend property outside a home, Hollomon said. "Under the law, his actions were unreasonable," the prosecutor said.
But Hollomon noted that juries are unpredictable and said he knew Honey would argue self-defense if the case went to trial. He added that Heiston has been untruthful with police. "We didn't have a very sympathetic victim," he said.
Ross had no criminal history before yesterday's conviction.
Heiston faces charges of attempted burglary and possession of burglary tools. He has a jury trial on those charges set for March 11.
Contact Reed Williams at (804) 649-6332 or rwilliams@timesdispatch.com.
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