Retrial Ordered in Accidental Shooting of Girl

An Orange County judge ruled Friday that a father will be retried on negligence charges for accidentally shooting off his daughter’s arm while he was perched on a bathtub’s edge.

Jurors in October had deadlocked 11 to 1 in favor of acquitting Jeffrey West, 35, of San Clemente of felony child endangerment.

“I think this case needs to go to trial one more time,” said Orange County Superior Court Judge Patrick Donahue without elaborating on his decision. The second trial is scheduled to start March 22 in Santa Ana.

West accidentally fired a 12-gauge shotgun at his then-8-year-old daughter, Madison, in September 2002. He had been loading and unloading the brand-new weapon when it discharged and struck Madison as she watched his girlfriend put on makeup.

The blast tore away Madison’s right arm above her elbow and severely damaged a kidney. The girl is now 10 and lives with her mother in Oceanside.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Karen Schatzle had pushed for a new trial, saying that West’s actions amounted to reckless conduct.

Deputies who searched West’s home and car after the shooting reported finding a second shotgun and a hunting rifle in the master bedroom and a handgun in his car, all loaded and unsecured.

“Dismissing the case would be inappropriate and not in the interests of justice at this point,” Schatzle told the judge.

West’s attorney, Robison D. Harley Jr., disagreed.

“I haven’t heard any new evidence that will be submitted on retrial,” Harley said in court.

He also asked the judge to consider dismissing the case because of alleged misconduct on the part of the lone holdout in the first trial. Other jurors described the 38-year-old foreman as uncooperative, but he maintained his belief that West was reckless in taking his gun into the same room as his daughter.

“The judge didn’t buy that that juror’s behavior constituted misconduct,” Harley said. “The gravity of the crime seems to overshadow everything.”

The case raised the issue of how criminally liable parents should be when their negligence leads to their child’s death or injury, with some saying the guilt their actions cause is punishment enough.

West is “depressed and disappointed” by the judge’s decision to retry him, Harley said after the hearing.

His client maintains a strong relationship with his daughter through weekly visitations, Harley said, but his court appearances have made it difficult to get a job or find closure. “His life is on hold until these charges are resolved,” Harley said. “Essentially he’s just stuck.”