Judge to rule on charges in Bremerton school shooting
May 14, 2012, 5:18 PM | Updated: 6:37 pm
Prosecutors in Kitsap County believe Jamie Lee Chaffin and her boyfriend, Douglas Bauer, are to blame for the Feb. 22 shooting at Armin Jahr Elementary that left eight-year-old Amina Kocer-Bowman critically wounded.
A court hearing Tuesday in Port Orchard could determine whether assault charges will stand against the couple prosecutors say are to blame for a school shooting that nearly killed a Bremerton girl.
Jamie Lee Chaffin and her boyfriend, Douglas Bauer, have been charged with illegal possession of a firearm and assault in the Feb. 22 shooting at Armin Jahr Elementary that left 8-year-old Amina Kocer-Bowman critically wounded.
Chaffin’s 9-year-old son brought a .45 caliber handgun to the school in his backpack, where it accidentally discharged, according to the Bremerton Police Department. The weapon belonged to Bauer.
Defense attorneys for Chaffin and Bauer have asked that the assault charges be dismissed.
“They are definitely novel,” Wayne Fricke, Bauer’s attorney, said of the charges. “And I truly believe that whether it’s in Superior Court or Court of Appeals, that this case will not see a jury.”
But the prosecution argues that the shooting was due to “extreme negligence” on the part of Chaffin and Bauer.
Both sides are expected to present oral arguments to Judge M. Karlynn Haberly Tuesday, who will decide whether the charges should be thrown out.
The 9-year-old boy in the case pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment, unlawful possession of a firearm and bringing a weapon to school in March. If the case moves forward to trial, he is expected to testify against his mother as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
