Lawyer gets 10 to 25 years in fatal shooting of hunter

[RamboLiberal]

Montgomery County lawyer David Manilla was sent to state prison for 10 to 25 years this afternoon for fatally shooting a Quakertown man while hunting illegally last fall in upper Bucks County.

Bucks County Court Judge Albert J. Cepparulo, calling Manilla "lucky" he wasn't charged with murder, sentenced him to 2 ½ to 5 years for involuntary manslaughter in the Nov. 29 slaying of deer hunter Barry Groh, 52, of Quakertown. It was the maximum sentence possible for the first-degree misdemeanor charges.

Cepparulo then gave Manilla, 49, an additional 7 ½ to 20 years for illegally possessing two firearms that day in Richland Township. Because of his prior record - Manilla had been convicted of aggravated assault in the 1980s - it was illegal for him to have any firearms. Despite that prohibition, Manilla continued to hunt in several states.

In 1993, he had been cited for careless hunting in Schuylkill County after an incident in which a pheasant hunter was shot in the neck with birdshot fired by Manilla or a hunting partner.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20110708_Sentencing_set_for_lawyer_in_fatal_shooting_of_hunter.html

Good cause this stupid bastard from the Dick Cheney school of hunting didn't learn his lesson the first time!

[MicaelS]

1. Clearly, lawyers, including former District Attorneys

Can't be trusted with guns.

Manilla accidentally shot Groh through the heart as Groh stood in a creek bed adjacent to property Manilla owned at the time in Richland Township. Groh died almost instantly, but Manilla and two fellow hunters waited more than 30 minutes before calling 911 and did not give full accounts of what had happened until more than a week had passed.

Among those fellow hunters was Manilla's uncle, former Montgomery County District Attorney Michael D. Marino. Marino, who was not charged with a crime, did not attend the sentencing.

[ManiacJoe]

2. Was there something in the article you wanted to discuss?

[gejohnston]

3. Don't go hunting with Republican lawyers? Or anyone that

went to the Dick Cheney & Sarah Palin hunter safety course.

[DissedByBush]

4. No sympathy for poachers either n/t

[melm00se]

5. isn't aggravated assault

a felony?

aren't felons, in addition to not being to own firearms, barred from holding a law license?

[melm00se]

6. isn't aggravated assault

a felony?

aren't felons, in addition to not being to own firearms, barred from holding a law license?

[aikoaiko]

7. More than appropriate sentences.

Adios criminal.

[Hoopla Phil]

8. Agreed.