MAYVILLE – The jury in the David F. Waggoner murder trial will be allowed to determine, through deliberation, whether or not the July shooting of William Michishima was justified.
Judge David Foley ruled Tuesday afternoon in Chautauqua County Court that the jury will be allowed to decided whether or not Waggoner, of Jamestown, should be convicted for either second-degree murder (original indictment) or second-degree manslaughter. Waggoner can be also be acquitted from both charges, but he can’t be convicted on both counts.
Chautauqua County Public Defender Ned Barone asked Foley to grant the additional consideration, to the futile objection from Chautauqua County District Attorney Patrick Swanson. Barone also attempted to add criminally negligent homicide as a third option to consider, but Foley declined the motion.
Prior to Foley’s decision, Barone declared that he was ready to rest his case. Waggoner was informed, following the jury’s dismissal, of his right to determine whether or not he’d want to testify. The Jamestown man declined to testify.
Waggoner is accused of shooting Michishima outside of 114 Livingston Ave. in Jamestown.
WNYNewsNow reached out to Barone for comment following Tuesday’s proceedings, but he declined comment. As of publish time, Swanson hasn’t returned a message seeking comment.
A separate article chronicling Tuesday’s testimony will be published Wednesday morning. Court is expected to resume at 9:30, as both attorneys will make closing statements to the jury. In addition, Foley will provide instructions for the jury, who wasn’t present when Foley made his ruling for the record Tuesday afternoon.
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