Charges reduced against man in shooting

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

By MARMIAN L. GRIMES and MARGARET FRIEDENAUER, Staff Writers

State prosecutors on Monday reduced charges against the 28-year-old Tanana man accused of shooting his friend at a camp on the Yukon River early Saturday morning.

Carl Erhart faces a single count of manslaughter in connection with the death of 18-year-old Lawrence Kennedy. Erhart was originally arrested on second-degree murder charges on Saturday.

Charging documents released Monday give the following account of the events leading up to Kennedy's death:

Kennedy, Erhart and another man, Christopher Grant, went to Erhart's father's cabin to cut brush on Friday. When they arrived, they each did a line of cocaine and drank alcohol. They set to work cutting brush and after they finished, went back inside the cabin and snorted more cocaine and continued drinking.

The three men were sitting around a table talking about bears and Bigfoot and Kennedy was holding a .457-caliber rifle. Erhart told Kennedy that he shouldn't handle the rifle and Kennedy gave the rifle to Erhart. Later, Erhart picked up the rifle and headed to the bedroom.

"Lawrence asked Carl what he would do if a bear or Bigfoot showed up," documents state. "At this point Carl turned around with the rifle in his hand in an overhand motion and said, 'This is what I would do,' and pointed the rifle toward the window. Carl stated in essence that when the rifle barrel came down, the rifle discharged."

The account continues: "Kennedy stood up and went to the door of the cabin saying something to the effect of 'I think you shot me.' Erhart and Grant tried to attend to his wounds, carried him to the boat and began heading back to Tanana. Rough waters forced them to shore about two miles upriver of Tanana. Grant ran to Tanana for help while Erhart stayed with Kennedy and tried to keep him warm."

Court documents state that Kennedy appeared to have been shot in the chest and died.

Erhart had his first court appearance on Monday afternoon.

More than three dozen somber people filed into a Fairbanks courtroom, filling most of the five rows of seats as they awaited Erhart's appearance via video from Fairbanks Correctional Center.

When he did, his face was clenched in a pained grimace and his eyes remained lowered during the entire short proceeding. He didn't enter a plea to the crime, as felony defendants generally enter pleas only after a grand jury indicts them on charges. He is, however, scheduled to have a bail hearing today.

"He is interested in attending the proceedings in Tanana upon Mr. Kennedy's return," said defense attorney Ken Covell. "This is clearly a tragic event ... It appears to be an accidental event."

Magistrate Ron Smith spoke briefly to Erhart during the afternoon hearing, advising him to put away guns when alcohol or drugs are being used.

Accidents happen, Smith said, "If you are using drugs and handling guns, they are likely to occur."

Smith's comments echoed those of the stunned village.

Community leaders in Tanana on Monday said the incident has drawn residents together and that leaders hope the cooperation will continue as they try to address what they say is a prevalent alcohol problem.

The Rev. Ginny Doctor is an Episcopal minister who regularly travels to Tanana and was there when the incident occurred this weekend.

"I'm very proud of the community," Doctor said. "They have really rallied together. And I'm hopeful that this indicates there will be change."

She said the community of 600, about 130 miles from Fairbanks, supported both the Kennedy and Erhart families, because they consider both people victims of the tragedy.

"They're not angry with him," Doctor said of Erhart. "They understand that these kind of things happen when people are abusing alcohol."

Doctor has been ministering in Tanana for more than 10 years and has seen the effects alcohol can have on small communities.

"I've been in and out of there since 1993 and I don't know how many people I've helped bury because of alcohol abuse," she said. "It's just nasty, nasty stuff. If I could stop it, I would."

Lester Erhart, Carl's father and a member of the city and tribal councils, asked Monday that the city-run liquor store be closed. He said the city can decide to close the doors without a council vote and expects the city may do so on his request. He said as tribal judge, he sees how alcohol abuse affects the community.

"It causes a lot of problems, I can tell you that," he said.

City council member Pat Moore said alcohol isn't the only problem in the small community. He is also concerned with illicit drug use in the village, an even harder problem than alcohol to confront he said.

"Just dealing with alcohol is the easiest thing to deal with," he said of Erhart's request to shut the liquor store. "There's no quick easy fix to shut down the drug dealers."