Sometimes you can look at the legal strategy that is being used by a defense lawyer and realize he should probably be in another field of employment. Thomas Fairbanks is being accused of murdering a sheriff’s deputy from Mahnomen County. The deputy was shot twice, once in the head and once in the abdomen, which is an important point to note when you look at the defense strategy being attempted by Mr. Fairbank’s lawyer:
Thomas Fairbanks is accused of first-degree murder in the death of Deputy Chris Dewey. Dewey was shot in the head and abdomen in February 2009 and died 18 months later.
The defense is aiming to show that the handgun’s trigger could be so easily pulled that Fairbanks accidentally fired the handgun at times that day.
Let me get this straight, Fairbank’s lawyer is trying to demonstrate that the trigger of the murder weapon could be easily fired by accident… twice? You may be able to get away with the negligent discharge due to light trigger pull weight defense if the victim is only shot once but shooting a firearm twice requires a completely conscious effort. In order to discharge the second round the shooter would have to release the trigger and pull it again. It would be akin to somebody running over another person with a car, backing up over the victim again, and then driving off.