27
August 1999
By Richelle Turner-Collins
Wuerzburg
bureau
Wuerzburg,
Germany - A 1st Armored Division soldier was aquitted
Wednesday ofshooting his adult son with a semiautomatic pistol last May.
Sgt.
1st Class Claudio Griffin, Sr. was initially charged with attempted murder for
shooting his 21-year old son, Claudio Griffin, Jr. in the chest May 21.
The charges were later reduced to intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm and assault with a dangerous
weapon, V Corps officials said. he was
found not guilty of both charges.
The
father, 47, is assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4thBrigade,
1st Armored Division in Hanau.
"Both
he and I are both gratified that he was found not guilty," DAVID COURT, Claudio
Griffin Sr.'s defense attorney, said Thursday.
"Personally, I wish one could say he was found innocent."
The
two-day trial ended Wednesday afternoon in Hanau. It took a jury of two officers and three enlisted service members
31/2 hours to acquit Claudio Griffin, Sr., a native of St. Thomas in the U.S.
Virgin Islands.
During
the trial, COURT contended the father acted in self-defense. He also said the
son had a documented history of civilian misconduct and military police reports on file, which included
assaulting his pregnant wife in 1996.
In
addition the civilian misconduct authority told Claudio Griffin , Sr. before he
left for a training maneuver that his son would be sent back to the States,
said Hilde Patton, a spokeswoman for V Corps. The father did not contest the
decision.
Patton
said Claudio Griffin Sr. gave the following account of the incident: He came
home from the 30-day training maneuver on May 21 and didn't think the house was
in order. While he was cleaning the bathroom, his son requested money, and the son flashed a fist at his
father.
The
father had to squeeze by his son to get into his bedroom, and once inside, he
got his semiautomatic pistol, stuck it into his pants and walked to the living
room.
In
the living room, the father told Claudio Griffin Jr. that the son would be
returned to the States. The son reportedly
grabbed a 2-feet high table lamp that had a metal base. When the son grabbed
the lamp, the father became afraid because the son had a history of violence.
The
defense said that's when the father shot his son in order to stop him. The
bullet entered between the son's ribs and exited out the back, near his kidney. The bullet lodged in the wall of their home
at building 230 New Argonner Casern.
The
son stumbled out of the apartment. Neighbors called an ambulance. The sonwas
transferred to a German hospital in Hanau, where he had surgery. Oncereleased,
he was sent back to the United States. He did not attend the trial or provide a
sworn statement to the court.
However,
the prosecution didn't believe the father acted in self-defense. Patton said it
noted: