The hunter has been charged criminally. Depending on which source I look at, he faces five years loss of his hunting license, or loss of license plus up to 6 months jail plus permanent loss of right to carry a firearm. There will be a series of court hearings at which point the exact charges and possible penalties will be clearer.
Hunter faces charge in accidental Norton shooting

BOSTON—State environmental police are seeking criminal charges against a state trooper who was hunting on New Year's Eve when he accidentally shot his neighbor walking her dog.
Authorities say they filed a complaint against Trooper John Bergeron last week on one count of careless or negligent use of a weapon causing injury or death.

Meanwhile, the woman who was shot, 66-year-old Cheryl Blair of Norton, has sued Bergeron and the owner of wooded property where the incident occurred seeking damages and compensation for medical bills.

Blair spent two months in the hospital and required multiple surgeries.

Police have said that the off-duty Bergeron mistook Blair's dog for a deer and shot Blair once in the leg.

Bergeron denies negligence and has previously expressed remorse for the shooting. http://www.boston.com/news/local/mas...rton_shooting/


Cheryl Blair, 66, was walking her two golden retrievers in the woods behind her Oak Street house on Dec. 31 when a bullet from a black-powder rifle struck her hip, shattering her pelvis, damaging muscle tissue and lodging fragments in her body. The Norton woman’s injuries required 10 surgeries and a two-month hospital stay.

She is seeking unspecified damages in a civil complaint against Bergeron. The suit alleges the actions of Bergeron, who said he fired his gun when he mistook one of Blair’s dogs for a deer, were negligent and led to the woman’s injuries.


“Blair has incurred and will incur medicals bills, suffered and will suffer great pain of body and mind and significant deterioration in her physical well-being, has been and will continue to suffer lost wages and/or lost earning capacity, and has been and will continue to be prevented from engaging in her usual activities,” the lawsuit states.

http://www.patriotledger.com/news/co...#ixzz1xsLnIoyR