Now .. who is to blame for THIS? Discuss amongst yourselves .. >=-)
Florida Boy Says He Shot Teacher Accidentally
May 8, 2001 6:19 pm EST
By Marianne Armshaw
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - A 14-year-old boy charged as an adult with
the murder testified on Tuesday the gun went off accidentally and said he
did not intend to kill the English teacher he shot between the eyes.
Nathaniel Brazill, who was 13 at the time of the shooting, is on trial for
first-degree murder in the killing of Lake Worth Middle School teacher Barry
Grunow, 35, and faces life in prison if convicted.
Brazill, testifying in his own defense, seemed somber and self-assured as he
testified that he was not a "psycho" and liked Grunow but wanted the teacher
to allow him to see two female classmates.
Composed and showing little emotion, Brazill recounted the moment the
"Saturday Night Special" .25-caliber handgun fired after Grunow told the boy
to stop waving it in his face.
"When he said 'get that out of my face,' immediately after that is when the
gun went off," Brazill said.
"Did you have any desire to kill Mr. Grunow or harm him at that moment?" his
attorney Robert Udell asked.
"No," answered Brazill.
Brazill was sent home early from school for throwing water balloons on the
last day of the term last year. He returned with a gun and shot Grunow after
the teacher refused to let him into his classroom to speak to his friends.
TEACHER LAUDED
In a videotape shown to jurors, Brazill admitted to police that he shot
Grunow. But defense attorneys said Brazill thought the gun's safety was on,
and that the handgun went off accidentally as Brazill pointed it at his
teacher.
The boy also faces aggravated assault charges alleging he pointed the gun at
another teacher and witness tampering charges stemming from letters written
to friends from jail.
Brazill described Grunow on the witness stand as a good teacher who went out
of his way to help his students. "He was a nice guy, a good teacher. He made
his class fun," Brazill testified.
He answered in a firm, deep voice as Udell peppered him with questions.
"Are you a psycho?" Udell asked.
"No," Brazill said.
"Are you a cold-blooded killer?" Udell asked.
"No," Brazill said.
The defense sought to counter prosecutors' portrayal of Brazill as an honor
student who feared getting a failing grade because of the water balloon
incident. In fact, the testimony showed, Brazill earned Cs and Ds as well as
As and Bs and was going to get a C in Grunow's class.
Brazill said he found the gun in a cookie box at his grandfather's house
days before the shooting and took it because he hoped a relative would teach
him to use it.
He said he pulled the gun on Grunow only after the teacher failed to take
him seriously when he asked to see his friends.
"I thought about it this way. if you have a million dollars and I take out a
gun, and point the gun at you, you are going to give me the million
dollars," he said. "I was gonna put the gun away, talk to them and leave."
Prosecutors will question the boy on Wednesday.
The case has attracted attention because of the alarm over incidents of
school violence in the United States such as the rampage at Columbine High
School in April 1999 in which 15 people died.
It has also prompted protests because Brazill is being tried as an adult,
and faces mandatory life imprisonment if convicted. Critics such as rights
group Amnesty International say sentencing someone so young to life in
prison without a chance for parole violates international law.
Brazill's trial follows the conviction and sentencing in March of another
Florida boy, Lionel Tate, 14, who was sent to prison for life by a Broward
County judge for the beating death of a 6-year-old family friend.
Todd
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"Boom" shaka-laka
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