Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Alleged shooter:?Defending friend


By MATTHEW SCHOMER
POSTED: March 2, 2010
Steubenville Pike man may have been defending a friend when he shot another man in the chest, but his bond has been doubled to $500,000 as his case heads to grand jury.
David Duffy, 18, was bound over Monday before county Municipal Court Judge Mark Frost on a charge of felonious assault.
Duffy is accused of shooting 19-year-old Josh Rudder, state Route 518, West Point, through the chest in the early morning hours of Feb. 22 after Rudder and several other people showed up to speak with Justin Cogar, homeowner and fellow resident of the home at 11501 Steubenville Pike.
Monday, Assistant County Prosecutor Virginia Barborak was unable to speak on Rudder's condition, commenting, "I only know I heard he is not doing well."
Barborak believed Rudder had been released from a Pittsburgh-area hospital and later had to return because of complications from his injury, but family members in the courtroom informed her that Rudder has not left the hospital since being admitted there, and he is in need of surgery.
Duffy has no prior convictions.
Sgt. Andy Sweeney of the county Sheriff's Office, who took Duffy into custody, was one of two officers who testified in court Monday.
Sweeney had gathered from witness statements that two women showed up at the home Feb. 22 wishing to speak with Cogar, who had been asleep. Duffy woke Cogar and the women received permission to come inside. The women left and returned a short time later with one more woman and two men, one of whom was Rudder, Sweeney said.
Sweeney said Duffy told him he was concerned for Cogar and asked the people to leave. They refused and Duffy felt Rudder was moving toward him, whereupon he attempted to shoot Rudder in the right shoulder.
"The statement says that he must have moved and (Duffy) shot him in the right chest," the sergeant said.
Sheriff's Deputy Brandon Hoppel also testified Monday. He responded to the Steubenville Pike home in the 2 a.m. hour of Feb. 22 for a report of a shooting. He saw blood coming from the residence and three residents inside, including Cogar, said Duffy had fired a gun.
Duffy, who had been on the telephone with a 911 dispatcher, received permission to hang up before admitting to firing the gun.
A group of people had already begun transporting Rudder from the scene before any law enforcement officials arrived. They took him to his home where an ambulance transported him to East Liverpool City Hospital, and he was later transported by medical helicopter to a Pittsburgh-area hospital.
Both law enforcement officials said they saw no sign of fighting prior to the shooting, and while there were beer cans present, all involved parties had denied drugs or alcohol played a factor in the incident.
Frost acknowledged Duffy may have been acting in defense of his friend when he shot Rudder, but the preliminary hearing Monday was held only to determine if there were probable cause to believe Duffy had committed a crime, and a defense based on defending others could only be valid at a later hearing.
"What I heard today is extremely serious," Frost said before increasing Duffy's bond. Barborak had requested Duffy's bond be continued at $250,000.

1 comment:

Brenda said...

Hello Belinda, My name is Brenda the Victims' Advocate at Help Hotline Crisis Center and I had spoke to a couple of years back when I read your article in The Review and once again I came across your article in today's paper I would like to meet with you and know more about what you're doing and see if myself or Help Hotline Crisis Center could be of any help. You can reach me at bgray@helphotline.org or 330-747-2696. Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.