Shooting case ends with a hung jury

By James Beaty
Senior Editor

October 09, 2008 10:47 am

— A Pittsburg County jury deliberated approximately four and-half hours on Wednesday without reaching a decision in a shooting with intent to kill case.
Joe K. Heathcock, 44, of Krebs, was accused of shooting at Jon Medders with a .22 caliber gun on March 22. Medders was not struck by any of the bullets, according to court testimony.
Associate District Judge James Bland called the jurors back into the courtroom at the Pittsburg County Courthouse on Wednesday afternoon when they were unable to reach a verdict.
Without asking which way the numbers were leaning, the judge inquired how close the jurors were to reaching a unanimous verdict in the case.
Jurors told the judge they were deadlocked eight-to-four and had been deadlocked since around 10:50 a.m.
When jurors indicated to the judge that they did not think further deliberations would be helpful, Judge Bland declared a mistrial.
Assistant District Attorneys Mike Miller and Wade Dodson served as prosecutors in the case, while Pat Layden defended Heathcock against the charge.
Heathcock is accused of firing the .22 caliber gun at Medders after Medders allegedly crossed Heathcocks’ land near Shaw Road in the High Hill area.
Medders told law enforcement officers he went across the land after seeing his bull in a nearby pasture.
He told deputies who arrived at the scene that Heathcock had started firing a gun at him. Deputies later found 16 spent .22 caliber shell casings in the area, according to court documents.
The defense maintained that Medders was trespassing and that Heathcock fired some shots in the air and was not aiming at Medders.
Other testimony had concerned a previous fight between the two men.
After the jury failed to reach a verdict, Judge Bland told attorneys in the case that unless he hears otherwise, he will reset the case for the December trial docket.
Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.