MIDDLEBURY — An Addison County District Court jury this week is scheduled to decide the fate of a Goshen man accused one year ago of shooting and wounding the estranged husband of a woman with whom he had become involved.
The jury on Thursday, April 22, was set to begin hearing the case of Jeffrey H. Young, 41, of Goshen, who on April 8, 2009, was alleged to have shot a man twice — once in each foot — during a confrontation on Dutton Brook Road in Goshen.
Young was charged with a felony count of aggravated assault with a weapon and unlawful mischief in connection with the incident, which resulted in injuries that the shooting victim — Pedro E. Magana, 43 — continues to suffer from to this day, according to Addison County State’s Attorney David Fenster.
“He has not recovered from his injuries; he still has lasting consequences from his injuries,” said Fenster, who is prosecuting the case before Judge Cortland Corsones.
Young’s attorney, Michael Straub of Burlington, declined to comment on the case on Monday.
Court records indicate that Young was at Kendra Magana’s home on Dutton Brook Road during the morning of April 8 when Pedro Magana — from whom she had been seeking a divorce — showed up, allegedly unannounced. Pedro Magana, according to Vermont State Police investigators, had flown in from Utah and had sought to speak with his wife about the split and retrieve some paperwork from the home.
Young was preparing to take Kendra Magana to Middlebury to get a restraining order against Pedro Magana when he showed up at the Goshen residence and asked to come inside and talk, according to court documents.
Kendra Magana and Young told Pedro Magana that he was not welcome on the property and had to leave, according to court records. He did not leave, according to police.
“Young indicated that he continued to yell at Pedro to leave and he (Young) then went for his gun as it was the last thing he had,” VSP Sgt. Robert Patten wrote in his investigation affidavit.
Young told police he was unsure whether Pedro Magana was armed, according to court records.
Young’s gun was a 9mm Sig Sauer handgun, according to authorities.
Young told authorities that he opened the door “to communicate a little better,” according to police, and “advised that Pedro didn’t back off, so he fired a warning shot into the ground to show Pedro how serious he was.”
Police said Young claimed that Pedro Magana didn’t back off, but rather “came at him,” whereupon he fired two additional shots, one of which he said caused Magana to fall.
Young told police that he asked Kendra Magana and her daughter to go to her mother’s home to call for an ambulance and police, because the phone at the Dutton Brook Road residence was not working.
Pedro Magana, according to Young, was at this point crawling to his rented vehicle. Young told police he was unsure if Magana was going to retrieve a weapon out of the vehicle. Young took the keys out of the car’s ignition and shot out one of its tires, according to court records.
After shooting out the tire, Young told police that he went to his own home to get phone service, then returned to the Dutton Brook Road residence about 20 minutes later with Kendra Magana and her father.
Pedro Magana gave authorities his account of the incident from his bed at Rutland Regional Medical Center, where he was being treated on April 8 for gunshot wounds in both feet.
Magana said he had gone to the Dutton Brook Road residence to retrieve a copy of his marriage certificate. He was unable to call his estranged wife by phone because he himself had disconnected the service (because the bill was in his name).
Magana told police that when no one answered the door, he called for Kendra Magana to talk to him.
“Pedro advised that the front door then opened and a male subject, who he later identified as Jeff from Goshen, was standing there with a gun,” the police affidavit reads. “Pedro advised that he was startled by the gun. Jeff then shot him in the left foot first, followed by a shot into Pedro’s right foot.”
Magana said he tried to crawl to his vehicle and alleged that “Jeff stood over him and pointed the gun at him, threatening to shoot him in the head,” according to court records. “Pedro advised that someone then took his keys out of the car and shot out one of his tires.”
Magana told police he did not have a weapon, “nor did he say anything to Jeff prior to him getting shot.”
“We do not agree that it was self defense,” Fenster said of the shooting.
If convicted of the aggravated assault charge, Young faces up to 15 years in jail and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
The trial was expected to take two days.
This story was compiled by Addison Independent staff.