Friday, Apr. 22, 2005

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Riverdale man gets 10 years in shooting case

By LEE WILLIAMS
lwilliams@TheCitizenNews.com

A Riverdale man was ordered Wednesday to spend a decade in prison for shooting a Fayette County man in the face with a nickel-plated Colt .44 handgun during an argument about his girlfriend.

Charles David Harper, 59, of 100-A Fruitwood Trace, was convicted last month by a Fayette County jury of one count of aggravated assault for shooting 46-year-old Jimmy Bernard Massey in the face Nov. 3, 2002.

Massey was in the front yard of his former Fayetteville home wearing a leaf blower when the shooting occurred.

Fayette County Superior Court Judge Chris Edwards withheld sentencing until he heard arguments from the Griffin Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Cindy Spindler and Harper’s attorney Paul Liston on Wednesday.

Spindler, a new assistant district attorney who scored her second guilty verdict after trying her first two cases, was satisfied with the verdict.

“I think the law and the facts were clearly on our side,” Spindler said. “I think there was some contradictory evidence that made the case not necessarily certain, but I think it was clear that people need to be able to feel safe when they are in their driveway blowing leaves, and that’s what the victim was doing when this guy came over with his gun.

“We want to represent the interest of our victims and just give people the right to have some peaceful living on their own property.”

Harper and Massey were friends who often visited each others home. But the relationship soured after Harper’s girlfriend, Alicia Teresa Spear, 44, of Riverdale alleged Massey forced her to touch him in a sexual way.

Spear detailed the account on the witness stand.

Spear said Massey asked to use the phone and went into the kitchen. She followed him as directed by her boyfriend and that’s when Massey grabbed her.

“He proceeded to hand me the phone and he just dropped it,” Spear said. “He grabbed my arm with a tight grip.”

To her surprise, Massey had already unzipped his pants and tried to get her to grab his penis, she said. Stunned by his actions, she yelled for help. Massey bolted from the home.

Spear called a Fulton County detective and asked about getting a warrant. The officer told her she needed Massey’s address to file the warrant.

Assuming Massey would be at the Atlanta Falcons game on Sunday, Harper and Spear drove to his home and tried to get the address from the mailbox.

Instead of avoiding a confrontation, an argument allegedly ensued between the men and a bullet from Harper’s gun struck Massey in the face.

Harper testified he only meant to hit him on the head with the gun, not shoot him. He said Massey shrugged his shoulder when he tried to hit him. The gun fell and went off striking him in the face.

Harper testified the shot was fired at close range and said it was accidental.

A lab test showed Massey’s hair was on the gun, but the evidence had no bearing on the outcome of the case.

Harper testified he called for an ambulance and gave Massey a towel for his face. He expressed remorse about the shooting.

“I was ashamed of myself for letting that happen and I still am,” Harper told the jury his voice heavy with emotion.

But Massey told a different account. He said Harper pointed the gun at him from a distance as he pulled into his driveway and fired.

“I saw this green pickup,” Massey said. “He turns in. He had a gun in his hand and I had the blower. As the gun went off, I (flinched) and it hit me like this.”

Massey said he walked to his house and yelled for his friend, Israel Young.

“He got a towel and we put it on my face and we sat in the garage,” Massey said.

Liston asked Massey why it appeared Young was not interviewed by any law enforcement officials. Massey contended his name was on a police report.

Massey, who spoke in a matter-of-fact, almost comedic tone at times, held firm to his testimony despite intense questioning from Liston.

At the request of the prosecutor, Massey showed the jurors the damage left by the bullet. He said he had seven surgeries to correct the disfigurement. He also told the jurors he filed a civil suit against Harper seeking damages for his pain and suffering.