A 23-year-old Hutchinson man charged with criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied vehicle and criminal use of a weapon was in court Monday for a hearing over the defense contention that this is a case of self defense and should be dissmissed.
Dustin Rock is accused of firing a gun at a vehicle near a car wash on East 30th. This after the victim may have pointed a pellet gun, that looked like a real military style weapon at the defendant and others standing in the area. This allegedly occurring in the early hours of June 14, 2013.
The alleged victim, Brandon Hudson admitted that he had driven by Rock and others who were standing in the parking lot of a car wash and at one point stopped and fired the pellet gun, but says it was toward the ground and never meant to hurt anyone. He claims that three individuals came to the passenger side of his vehicle and one to the drivers side. He says he was then struck by the individual on the drivers side on his arm and he became scared, so he picked up his pellet gun and pointed it at the ones on the passenger side. He says as he pressed the gas and was pulling away in his truck when he heard a gun shot. He went west on 30th, and stopped at K-Mart. It was then that he discovered the bullet hole in the back fender of his silver F-150.
He says he was angry and went after Rock and another man, Dustin Law. He says he caught up with them just west of 30th & Plum. He says he then fired pellets at the vehicle striking Rock 4-5 times. They then began to follow Hudson who ended up at the Law Enforcement Center.
Dustin Law took the stand for the defense and remembered things differently and talked of the truck driving by them several times then stopped. He told the court that they then walked toward the truck to see if the individual inside was okay. He says that’s when they saw what appeared to be a military weapon pointed at them. He says he then heard a gunshot and the pickup left.
Later is when the alleged victim was firing at their vehicle. Law says it wasn’t until Rock was struck with pellets that they knew it wasn’t a real gun that Hudson had.
Defense Attorney Sarah McKinnon argues this was self defense and that Rock should be immune from prosecution, while the state argues that he shouldn’t have fired a real gun at Hudson’s truck. Senior Assistant District Attorney Steve Maxwell says it should be decided by a jury on whether he was justified in firing at Hudson’s vehicle.
Judge Tim Chambers said he would look into the matter further and issue a written opinion on the two sides arguments at some future point.