Posted on 02/16/2006 12:56:09 PM PST by blogblogginaway
SARITA, Texas (AP) - The sheriff's department closed its investigation Thursday into Dick Cheney's accidental shooting of a hunting partner and said no charges will be filed.
The Kenedy County Sheriff's Department issued a report that largely supports the vice president's account of the weekend accident that wounded 78-year-old lawyer Harry Whittington.
Whittington, interviewed in the hospital, assured investigators no one was drinking when the accident occurred and everyone was wearing bright orange safety gear, according to the report.
Sheriff's dispatcher Diana Mata, speaking for the department, said the case is closed and no charges will be filed. She said Sheriff Ramon Salinas would have no comment on the report.
Whittington was peppered with bird shot in the face and chest Saturday while hunting quail with Cheney on a ranch in South Texas. He is in a Corpus Christi hospital in stable condition after suffering a mild heart attack caused by a pellet that traveled to his heart.
Gilberto San Miguel Jr., an investigator with the Sheriff's Department, interviewed Cheney at the ranch a day after the shooting. San Miguel reported that Cheney shook his hand and "told me he was there to cooperate in any way with the interview."
The vice president said the sun was setting when Whittington fired at some quail and went to find his downed birds, according to the report.
Cheney said he walked about 100 yards and met up with the hunting guide. He said a bird flew behind him, and he followed it in a counterclockwise direction, not realizing Whittington had walked up behind him to rejoin the group. He said Whittington was about 30 yards away, on lower ground, when he fired his shotgun.
"Mr. Cheney told me if Mr. Whittington was on the same ground level the injuries might have been lower on Mr. Whittington's body," the investigator reported.
The investigator, accompanied by another officer, briefly interviewed Whittington at his hospital room on Monday.
"I asked Mr. Whittington if we could record our conversation and Mr. Whittington requested not to be recorded due to his voice being raspy," San Miguel wrote.
The investigator asked for an affidavit, and Whittington said he would provide one when he returned home to his office in Austin. Doctors have said Whittington will probably remain hospitalized until next week.
Before a nurse asked the officers to "hurry up so Mr. Whittington could rest," Whittington "explained foremost there was no alcohol during the hunt and everyone was wearing the proper hunting attire of blaze orange," San Miguel reported.
Whittington said the shooting "was just an accident," and he was concerned all the media attention would give hunting in Texas a bad image, the report said.
Working. Where have you been?
Did you see the VP say this? I heard/read it was Brit who stated this on-camera, not Cheney.
He said at 11:00 am.
Even better. :)
LOL
devastating report....for the media. This should just about end the story.
Secret Sevice has "allowed" much worse to go on in previous Administrations.
Excellent decision. It was an accident with witnesses. Don, over. Media...get a life.
Don't have to be drunk for alcohol to impair judgement. Most agree impairment starts with the first drink and gets worse with each subsequent drink consumed.
SS usually doesn't interfere with those they guard, even if what they're doing is illegal. (See: Friday, June 1, 2001, Bush daughters cited on alcohol laws - Police accused Barbara Bush of being a minor in possession of alcohol and Jenna Bush of misrepresenting her age for trying to use false identification to buy alcohol, according to a statement from the Austin Police Department.)
Presumably, their SS detail was with them in June, 2001, when they A) bought alcohol and B) presented a false ID, yet did nothing to stop the illegal activity.
Really? Drunks with guns around their charges?
Here's the full transcript:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/02/20060215-3.html
Q Was anybody drinking in this party?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: No. You don't hunt with people who drink. That's not a good idea. We had --
Q So he wasn't, and you weren't?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Correct. We'd taken a break at lunch -- go down under an old -- ancient oak tree there on the place, and have a barbecue. I had a beer at lunch. After lunch we take a break, go back to ranch headquarters. Then we took about an hour-long tour of ranch, with a ranch hand driving the vehicle, looking at game. We didn't go back into the field to hunt quail until about, oh, sometime after 3:00 p.m.
The five of us who were in that party were together all afternoon. Nobody was drinking, nobody was under the influence.
| RACE | NAME | PARTY | CANVASS VOTES | PERCENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| President/Vice-President | ||||
| George W. Bush/ Dick Cheney | REP | 82 | 48.52% | |
| John F. Kerry/ John Edwards | DEM | 85 | 50.29% | |
| Michael Badnarik/ Richard V. Campagna | LIB | 2 | 1.18% | |
| Michael Anthony Peroutka/ Chuck Baldwin | W-I | 0 | 0.00% | |
| John Joseph Kennedy/ Daniel R. Rezac | W-I | 0 | 0.00% | |
| Deborah Elaine Allen/ Joesph H. Senegals | W-I | 0 | 0.00% | |
| Andrew J. Falk/ Marijohn Peterman | W-I | 0 | 0.00% | |
| Walt Brown/ Mary Alice Herbert | W-I | 0 | 0.00% | |
| David Keith Cobb/ Patricia LaMarche | W-I | 0 | 0.00% | |
| Ralph Nader/ Peter Miguel Camejo | W-I | 0 | 0.00% | |
| ----------- | ||||
| Race Total | 169 | |||
| ---------------------------------------- | ||||
| U. S. Representative District 27 | ||||
| William (Willie) Vaden | REP | 50 | 30.86% | |
| Solomon P. Ortiz | DEM | 109 | 67.28% | |
| Christopher J. Claytor | LIB | 3 | 1.85% | |
| ----------- | ||||
| Race Total | 162 | |||
| ---------------------------------------- | ||||
| Railroad Commissioner | ||||
| Victor G. Carrillo | REP | 61 | 44.52% | |
| Bob Scarborough | DEM | 69 | 50.36% | |
| Anthony Garcia | LIB | 7 | 5.10% | |
| ----------- | ||||
| Race Total | 137 | |||
| ---------------------------------------- | ||||
| Justice, Supreme Court, Place 3 | ||||
| Harriet O'Neill | REP | 83 | 100.00% | |
| ----------- | ||||
| Race Total | 83 | |||
| ---------------------------------------- | ||||
| Justice, Supreme Court, Place 5 | ||||
| Paul Green | REP | 80 | 100.00% | |
| ----------- | ||||
| Race Total | 80 | |||
| ---------------------------------------- | ||||
| Justice, Supreme Court, Place 9 | ||||
| Scott Brister | REP | 62 | 49.60% | |
| David Van Os | DEM | 63 | 50.40% | |
| ----------- | ||||
| Race Total | 125 | |||
| ---------------------------------------- | ||||
| Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals Place 2 | ||||
| Lawrence "Larry" Meyers | REP | 72 | 76.59% | |
| Quanah Parker | LIB | 22 | 23.40% | |
| ----------- | ||||
| Race Total | 94 | |||
| ---------------------------------------- | ||||
| Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals Place 5 | ||||
| Cheryl Johnson | REP | 80 | 87.91% | |
| Tom Oxford | LIB | 11 | 12.08% | |
| ----------- | ||||
| Race Total | 91 | |||
| ---------------------------------------- | ||||
| Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals Place 6 | ||||
| Michael E. Keasler | REP | 55 | 41.04% | |
| J.R. Molina | DEM | 79 | 58.95% | |
| ----------- | ||||
| Race Total | 134 | |||
| ---------------------------------------- | ||||
| Member, State Board of Education, District 2 | ||||
| Mary Helen Berlanga | DEM | 103 | 100.00% | |
| ----------- | ||||
| Race Total | 103 | |||
| ---------------------------------------- | ||||
| State Senator, District 27 | ||||
| Eddie Lucio, Jr. | DEM | 96 | 100.00% | |
| ----------- | ||||
| Race Total | 96 | |||
| ---------------------------------------- | ||||
| State Representative District 43 | ||||
| John T. Hubert | REP | 85 | 52.46% | |
| Juan M. Escobar | DEM | 77 | 47.53% | |
| ----------- | ||||
| Race Total | 162 | |||
| ---------------------------------------- | ||||
| Justice, 13th Court of Appeals District, Place 3 | ||||
| Alicia Cuellar | REP | 66 | 47.48% | |
| Linda Yañez | DEM | 73 | 52.51% | |
| ----------- | ||||
| Race Total | 139 | |||
| ---------------------------------------- | ||||
| District Attorney, 105th Judicial District | ||||
| Guy Williams | REP | 58 | 38.92% | |
| Carlos Valdez | DEM | 91 | 61.07% | |
| ----------- | ||||
| Race Total | 149 | |||
Did the twins or their friends have guns?
Did you see the VP say this, or did Brit relate Cheney's words to the viewing audience?
It's very likely that Teddy was drunk at the time of the accident, as that is the only reasonable explanation for his failure to seek help while Mary Jo might have still been rescued alive. He claimed to have had only three rum and Cokes before the drive...but for all we know they were in 32 oz. containers.
Great minds think alike ; )
Does anyone know where to obtain the "I'd rather hunt with Cheney" bumper stickers?
I was actually thinking of that FBI guy who revealed what Clinton's security detail was letting slip by - but now that you ask, I remember thinking after the fact that the Secret Service foolishly allowed the President to remain a target in that school on 9/11 . . .
Now, had it been Cheney accidentally shot by Harry, I would be concerned about a 14-hour delay in reporting - do you agree with that?
Isn't it amazing that they want Cheney to be charged for this accident but Teddy and Chappaquidick are under the rug for years now.
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