Reply #21: Judge: Jury can see, not hear, boy's Uzi death [View All]

[RamboLiberal]

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- A judge ruled Friday that jurors in the manslaughter trial of a former western Massachusetts police chief won't hear audio from the most graphic part of a video that shows an 8-year-old boy accidentally shooting himself to death with an Uzi submachine gun.

Hampden Superior Court Judge Peter Velis' ruling came as jury selection resumed in the case of former Pelham Police Chief Edward Fleury, whose company co-sponsored a 2008 gun fair where Christopher Bizilj of Ashford, Conn., shot himself in the head.

Velis earlier ruled that jurors will see the video, but said Friday that they will not hear the audio portion of the shooting and afterward because it would be too prejudicial against Fleury. Velis said last week that the video and sound "would shock the conscience of any reasonable human being."

The video was taken by Christopher's father, Dr. Charles Bizilj, and shows the boy losing control of the 9 mm micro Uzi, shooting himself, and Dr. Bizilj dropping the camera amid screams and praying aloud that Christopher is all right, officials say.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/17/AR2010121703094.html

Wow, that is splitting hairs. IMHO the audio should be allowed.