Edward Fleury Trial Continues

As a big believer in shared responsibility, as apparently the courts in MA are, I'm enjoying the arguments in the trial of Edward Fleury.  He's been charged with manslaughter because he sponsored the event and is considered by some to be ultimately responsible for the safety.  The two guys who owned the machine guns have been charged.  The teenager who supervised the actual shooting and proved to be unfit for that very important job, has not been charged but is a witness at trial.  And finally there's Mr. Charles Bizilj, father of the dead boy, who's not been charged either.

[Fleury's lawyer Rosemary] Scapicchio has repeatedly argued that some of the responsibility for Christopher's death falls on his father. Prosecutors have said that Charles Bizilj was not charged because he based his decision to allow his sons to fire the gun on information from others who should have known it was too dangerous.

Bizilj testified Thursday he thought the event would be safe and well-supervised. When asked by prosecutor William Bennett if he had thought about safety, Bizilj said, "You can imagine this has gone through my head a thousand times."

Bizilj acknowledged under cross-examination that he signed a liability waiver before the shooting and told reporters shortly afterward he believed it was a tragic accident. Bizilj later filed a lawsuit for negligence against the Westfield Sportsman's Club, Fleury and two others. It was settled last month for about $700,000, but Fleury wasn't part of the settlement, Scapicchio said.

Michael Spano also said under cross-examination Thursday that several police officers saw children shooting machine guns at the event and never told anyone to stop or that it was illegal.

The boy was 8 years old. Surely, even the most stubborn individual-responsibility believer must admit someone else was responsible.  Wouldn't you say?

I say they're all to blame, even the ones who saw it and said nothing.  How long are we going to tolerate pro-gun folks who mind their own business and turn a blind eye to things or who insist it was the other guy's fault? 

What do you say? Where do you draw the responsibility line?

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