news-record.com

GRAHAM (MCT) — A jury found the man who shot two women at a Burlington VFW hall last summer not guilty of attempted murder.

Neal Douglas White III, 31, was acquitted of two counts of attempted first-degree murder for shooting 25-year-old Jessica Stephens four times and 78-year-old Betty Garner once during a bingo game July 12, 2009, at VFW Post 10607 on West Webb Avenue.

However, the jury found White guilty of assaulting the women with a handgun and inflicting serious injuries, a lesser crime than the two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury that he was tried on.

The jury spent nearly two hours deliberating the verdict Thursday morning following a day and a half of testimony from victims, witnesses, law enforcement and White himself.

White was sentenced to a minimum of 11 years, nine months, and a maximum of 15 years, eight months, in prison for the shooting.

Throughout the trial, defense attorney David Remington argued that White was guilty of the shooting but never intended to kill Stephens. Garner was shot after White attempted to unjam a misfiring of the pistol. White took the stand Wednesday and said he wanted to paralyze or cripple Stephens by shooting her legs and arms. He testified that he was angry at Stephens because she wouldn't allow him to see their two sons and "wanted her to feel the pain" he felt.

Alamance County Assistant District Attorney Craig Thompson tried to convince jurors that White planned the shooting and was avenging Stephens for taking out assault charges on him. The number of shots, the cold-blooded nature of the crime and Stephens' testimony that she welcomed White's presence in their children's lives, supported the state's charges of attempted first-degree murder and assault with intent to kill, Thompson argued.

During sentencing, Thompson told Superior Court Judge Orlando F. Hudson that White's criminal record proved he needed to spend the maximum amount of time in prison.

White has been convicted of assault for his part in two previous shootings, including one case involving his father. White also was convicted of assault on a female five times. One of those instances involved Stephens.

Remington told the judge that White cooperated with police by turning himself in and leading them to the weapon, and never denied his role in the shooting. He asked that White's sentence for pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon be run concurrently to one of the assault charges, and also asked Hudson to request psychological assessment and counseling for White while he is incarcerated. White has anger-management issues and "blacks out" when he becomes enraged, Remington said.

Hudson weighed one aggravating factor — the risk of death to one or more persons — and two mitigating factors — both regarding White's cooperation with police — in sentencing. Hudson found the aggravating factor to outweigh the mitigating factors and sentenced White to three consecutive prison terms for two counts of assault and possession of a firearm by a felon. White will also receive a psychological assessment.