August 14, 2013
From NorthernNeckNews.com
General District Court Judge Gordon Wilkins sentenced John Barnes to serve six months in jail after convicting him of trespassing to hunt and the reckless handling of a firearm Monday in connection with the shooting of James Marston in Heathsville May 7.
Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Elizabeth Trible called both James, who testified he was hit by shot in 29 places, and his brother, Phillip, as witnesses. Barnes testified on his own behalf.
The Marston brothers described an unknown truck they found parked on their grandmother’s property when they arrived to turkey hunt. They said they heard no one, saw no one and found no footprints to indicate a hunter.
Phillip then made a hen turkey call and immediately heard a responding hen call. The brothers heard that distinct call move from the right of their position to directly in front of them. Philip and James then suspected a hunter was nearby and started whistling to alert him that others were in the woods. The only response they received was a gun shot, which hit James and sent him to his knees.
On the stand, Barnes said he has hearing problems and hadn’t heard the whistling. He said he’d seen a gobbler and three hens. Then the hens disappeared and after that the gobbler disappeared. Moments later, Barnes said he saw white and thought it was the gobbler. He shot.