14-Year-Old Insists He Didn’t Mean to Kill His Sister: ‘I’m Not Stupid’ : Trial: ‘If I’d wanted to kill her, I’d have taken her out to a ditch or something,’ he says in taped interview, shown as prosecution rests.

A 14-year-old Anaheim boy insisted to police in a videotaped interview played in court Tuesday that his fatal shooting of his 12-year-old sister was an accident.

“If I’d wanted to kill her, I’d have taken her out to a ditch or something--no witnesses, see. That’s what you got to think about,” Richard D. Hubler told an Anaheim police investigator who was secretly videotaping the interview. “I’m not stupid. I know about that.”

The videotape also shows Hubler displaying a range of emotions when he was left alone in the interview room. At one point, he said a prayer, “Please, God, please don’t let her die.” But later, still alone, he said, “Three years. Damn!”

Hubler, who was on probation for two weapons violations at the time, had earlier speculated to the police investigator, Carl Martin, that he might end up with a three-year sentence because of the shooting.

Hubler is being tried for murder in the June 14 death of his sister, Gema Marie, who was shot once in the head at the Hublers’ Anaheim Shores home. The girl, who never regained consciousness, died four days later. The case is being heard by Superior Court Judge Robert E. Thomas.

Prosecutors claim that Hubler shot his sister after they argued over the use of the telephone. But Hubler’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Sharon Petrosino, contends that the shooting was an accident.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Brent F. Romney on Tuesday rested the prosecution’s case after four days, concluding with Martin’s interview of Hubler, which was videotaped on the day of the shooting. The defense is scheduled to begin today.

Hubler was shirtless and barefoot and wearing cutoff jeans when first interviewed, the videotape shows.

On the videotape, Hubler initially told Martin in detail about three intruders who shot his sister and how he believed that they were from a local gang that recently took shots at him and his friends, then threatened to kill their families. But Hubler gave up that story after Martin told him that lab tests would show whether he had fired the gun that killed his sister.

Hubler then repeatedly said he thought that the gun, a .22-caliber rifle, was empty when he aimed it at her and pulled the trigger while “just messing around.”

“It was an accident,” Hubler said. “I cocked it and pulled the trigger and ‘Boom!’ it went off. I didn’t even know I was pointing at her. I aimed it at her the first time, but not that time.”

Hubler said he had aimed plenty of guns at his sister before while playing around and nothing had ever happened. He added that she had never complained about such dangerous horseplay.

But Martin told Hubler that his sister regained consciousness at the hospital--which wasn’t true--and told police that he had shot her on purpose.

“No way,” Hubler said. “Why would I want to shoot my own sister?” He added that she probably said that about him because “she’s scared right now. She’s probably mad at me. I know she is.”

During the two hours of interrogation, Hubler tripped over his version of events numerous times. At first, he said he pulled the trigger once while aiming the rifle at his sister and nothing happened; the gun went off the second time he pulled the trigger. Later, he said the gun fired on the third time he pulled the trigger.

Hubler also denied shooting the gun any other time that day. But when Martin said neighbors reported hearing two other gunshots, Hubler admitted that he had shot in the air twice before going upstairs to his sister’s room to show her the gun.

During his interview with police, Hubler showed extensive knowledge of guns. He discussed at least six guns that he had had in his possession at one time. He also said he was the one who had turned the rifle into a sawed-off gun the night before the shooting by using a hacksaw because he thought it made the rifle “look good.”

Hubler’s father, James, watched the videotape intently, occasionally glancing at his son.