Watching reality cop show tonight..

[ironglow]

  Show entitltd "48 hours on ID".. a regular show which examines crimes, involving the actual participants & victims...
  Tonight they had a show where an experienced hunter of Springfield, GA.. is accused of shooting 3 people with a 12 ga 870 Remington, using factory 3" buckshot.
  One thing I have to look skeptically at..  The accused had bruises on his bicep..which he claimed was from a fall from his bathtub..onto his toilet bowl.  The prosecution claimed the bruises came from the shotgun recoil...the show producers claim nobody can shoot that combination without suffering bruises to the shoulder..and they have an "expert" to back them up!
   The jury convicted him on this evidence.. ..even though they had no other hard evidence.  I am not judging the verdict, just this one conclusion.  I simply cannot believe that 3" buckshot in an 870...always produces bruising, when my much lighter H&R never did it to me, even shooting slugs.
   What do you think?

[BUGEYE]

I grew up in the goose capital of the world.  shot magnums, never bruised, just a little sore sometimes.  and occasionally it was shirtsleeve weather.

[popplecop]

Some people bruise much easier than others.  Also depends on where the gun was positioned on the shoulder.

[ironglow]

Pop;
  They did mention positioning of the buttstock, but the part which got to me was where their "expert witness" made it seem one could not fire such a weapon without bruising.
  If I were the defense lawyer, I would have taken a video of 3-4 people firing the same gun & load..then having them all display their shoulders to the jury next day.  If any came away without bruises (and we know most would), that should have blown the prosecution's contention out of the water..

[BBF]

So this defense lawyer sucked big time. Perhaps that is ground for a retrial.

[ironglow]

So this defense lawyer sucked big time. Perhaps that is ground for a retrial.

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  Sure looks that way to me..  Although he may have been convicted for other reasons..