Photo: Christopher Alan Whitman
A Mountain Home man charged with two shooting incidents in less than seven months was sentenced to six years in prison during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
When 30-year-old Christopher Alan Whitman was arrested for the second shooting in early June, he was already on probation after pleading guilty to the initial incident taking place in November last year.
In March, Whitman pled guilty to an aggravated assault charge filed in the first shooting case and was put on probation for four years.
The new crime resulted in a petition to revoke that probation.
Because of the guilty plea in the shooting case last year, Whitman was a convicted felon and not allowed to be around firearms.
A hearing was held Thursday on the revocation petition. At the end of the proceeding, Circuit Judge John Putman handed down the prison sentence.
Deputy Public Defender Sam Pasthing, who represented Whitman, told the court his client contended the shooting in the early morning hours of June 2 had been accidental.
Whitman has claimed the gun belonged to the 21-year-old victim, and he was attempting to show the young man how to use the pistol, when it accidentally went off.
Deputy Prosecutor Kerry Chism said the investigation into the incident showed the gun belonged to a Mountain Home woman, and Whitman had gotten it from her on the night the shooting took place.
He said it was Whitman who shot the victim and had fled the scene leaving the wounded young man stranded on the side of the road.
Prior to his sentencing, Whitman told the court he had never been in trouble before the first of the two shootings. He said the second shooting happened, “because I was stuck in a bad situation and got scared.”
In passing sentence, Judge Putman said, “Firearms keep getting you in trouble, and you need to stay away from them.”
The judge said the state had proven the major element in the revocation petition — that Whitman had been in possession of a weapon on the night of the shooting.
While in jail following his arrest on the second shooting incident, Whitman is alleged to have been the cause of a mini-riot.
He was accused of attacking another inmate July 8, according to an incident report from the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office.
Tape from surveillance cameras show Whitman knee another prisoner, causing the victim’s head to hit a brick wall. The tape also showed Whitman hitting the victim.
At one point, a number of other inmates rushed past a jailer in an attempt to “get at Whitman” to “beat him up” for what he had done to the victim.
As the lone jailer was attempting to push the avenging inmates back, he was hit in the head.
The inmates were finally brought under control.
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