Call for accountability

I have not yet written to any publication my views on the Karen Wood-Donald Rogerson case, but after reading about Joy Theriault’s misplaced compassion (Readers Write, Nov. 30-Dec. 1), I feel compelled to respond.

Rogerson claimed, before the jury, that he saw a deer moments before he fired; he saw the white flag (Karen’s gloves), and thinking he had found his quarry, fired. The Bangor jury had an opportunity, indeed, an obligation to tell him, and other hunters, that that is not good enough. You are responsible to positively identify your target, and are accountable for the bullet that leaves the barrel of your rifle.

I do not feel Rogerson should spend many years behind bars, but he should have been held accountable for his irresponsible action. By finding this man innocent of negligent homicide, it not only cheapened the value of Karen Wood’s life, but brought down a vicious backlash of anti-hunter sentiment (I am not a hunter), and tarnished Maine’s reputation among the other states and provinces. In serving the interests of justice, the Bangor jury failed miserably. Joseph A. Couture Eliot