Mother’s Need Helps to Atone for Son’s Deed

An Encino man who shot and wounded his 60-year-old mother was spared a prison term Tuesday because, according to a Van Nuys Superior Court judge, “Putting him in jail would destroy his mother.”

Although Richard Colton, 32, faced a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison for shooting his mother twice with a pistol, Judge Richard Kolostian sentenced him to five years’ probation, saying that Dorothy Colton, who lives with her son, is emotionally dependent on him.

Colton was charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and use of a firearm. But, in an agreement with the district attorney’s office, Colton in December pleaded guilty to the reduced charges of attempted murder and use of a firearm.

Mrs. Colton, who was sitting next to her son in the courtroom Tuesday, repeatedly had called the district attorney’s office and asked prosecutors to dismiss the case, saying the incident was an accident caused by her son’s addiction to prescription drugs, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Edward Feldman.

Removed Tranquillizer From Cabinet According to police, Colton, a driver for Paramount Pictures, tried to open a locked medical cabinet in the home he shared with his mother on the morning of Nov. 22, 1983. After an argument, his mother removed the tranquilizer Tuinal from the cabinet, and, when Colton could not find the drug, he shot her with a pistol containing birdshot, officers said.

Mrs. Colton then crawled to a telephone and called an operator, reporting the shooting. While on the telephone, she was shot again by her son, police said. By the time officers arrived at the residence, in the 17500 block of Miranda Street, Mrs. Colton had staggered to a neighbor’s house.

She was taken to Rancho Encino Hospital, where she underwent surgery for wounds in her chest and abdomen. She was released after six days, said Colton’s attorney, Ed Tolmas.

Richard Colton was arrested at the scene of the shooting and was released from County Jail the next day after posting $10,000 bail, said police.

Mrs. Colton later told a probation officer that her son would not have shot her if he hadn’t been under the influence of medication. In his probation report, officer Joan Zeise wrote that Colton is a “chronic drug abuser who exhibits self-destructive and assaultive behavior. It was just short of a miracle that he did not murder his mother.”

For his part, Colton said in a letter to the county Probation Department, “I don’t remember arguing with my mother or anything that happened.

Wanted Case Dismissed Judge Kolostian said Mrs. Colton wanted the case dismissed and refused to testify against her son. “It’s the victim, the mother, whom I’m concerned with. She would have fallen apart if her son was sentenced to jail.”

Shortly after Colton’s birth, his mother and father were divorced, according to court records, and Colton, who is a bachelor, has since lived with his mother. In April, 1983, he was arrested for allegedly abusing his mother physically but charges were dropped when Mrs. Colton refused to testify, prosecutors said.

The probation report said that, since age 15, Colton has been under several physicians’ care and had been prescribed numerous tranquilizers, including Tuinal, Valium and Librium.

Prosecutor Feldman said that, because of “the longstanding mutual dependency between Colton and his mother,” he was not surprised at the judge’s ruling. “We didn’t expect prison time, but, given the serious nature of the offense, we did anticipate a sentence to County Jail,” he said.

Feldman said the judge’s ruling for probation reflected “the perception that the mother’s well-being was more at risk if she was separated from her son than if he remained with her.”