Jurors Convict Cda Man Of Shooting Friend Jury Decides On Lesser Charge Of Attempted Second-Degree Murder

A Coeur d’Alene man accused of attempted first-degree murder was instead found guilty of a lesser charge Wednesday.

After five hours of deliberation, a jury found Daniel W. Buckley guilty of attempted second-degree murder for shooting his friend in the neck with a hunting rifle.

“I feel justice has been served,” said Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas, as the accused man’s girlfriend left the courtroom in tears.

On Dec. 10, Buckley and his girlfriend, Katherine Reheiser, went to Michael Byrnes’ Coeur d’Alene house. Buckley, 30, and Byrnes, 37 had been friends for about three years.

That night the two began arguing about $100 that Byrnes owed Buckley. Byrnes ordered Buckley out of his house, but Buckley came back a short time later.

Byrnes walked out of his house toward Buckley who was across the street. Buckley fired his .30-30 caliber rifle twice, the second time hitting Byrnes in the neck.

Byrnes lived through the incident but now bears the scars where the bullet pierced his neck.

“This defendant decided to take matters in his own hand and carry out his own brand of vigilante justice,” Douglas told a jury of five men and seven women during closing arguments.

But Buckley contends that he feared for the safety of himself and his girlfriend as Byrnes stormed across his lawn and at the two of them.

He fired the first shot as a warning and then cocked the gun a second time only to have it accidentally go off, Buckley’s attorney, Jonathan Hull, told the jury Wednesday.

Although Douglas asked the jury to convict Buckley of attempted firstdegree murder, they instead found him guilty of the lesser crime of attempted second-degree murder.

To be found guilty of attempted first-degree murder, the jury would have had to believe that Buckley deliberately planned the shooting. However, Douglas said both attempted first- and attempted seconddegree murder carry the same maximum penalty - 15 years in prison.

On Wednesday, the jury also found Buckley guilty of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a crime. He faces a maximum of 30 years in prison for the two convictions.

Buckley is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 11.

, DataTimes