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Manslaughter Charge Stands In Boy's Death

Judge Denies Defense Motion To Dismiss

POSTED: Friday, December 14, 2007

A judge has rejected a motion to dismiss the manslaughter charge against a man accused of selling a handgun to a 12-year-old boy who prosecutors said fatally shot himself while playing with the loaded weapon in late July.

Derrick Glover, 24, has been held since the day Tony Youmans' body was found on a charge of providing a gun to a minor. Last month, he was also charged with manslaughter.

Glover's public defender, Ann Finnell, had asked that the manslaughter charge be thrown out, arguing that the state could not prove that Glover's actions caused Youmans' death.

"There is no evidence in this case that Derrick Glover either knew the victim would hold a loaded gun to his own head and pull the trigger, nor is there any evidence that Derrick Glover was present when those events transpired," Finnell wrote.

In a hearing on Thursday, Circuit Judge Charles Arnold denied the defense motion. In his ruling, Arnold found that Florida case law allows the state to make a case of manslaughter by culpable negligence and let the jury decide.

"It becomes the responsibility of the jury to determine the foreseeable results of providing a loaded weapon to a 12-year-old boy," Arnold wrote.

The circumstances of the boy's death were kept a secret for months after the judge issued an order that prevented public disclosure of many public records after his lawyer contended that Glover could not get a fair trial because of the amount of media coverage.

Because of a gag order in the case, prosecutors and defense attorneys will not discuss the case.

Court documents obtained by shed light on the case the state is likely to make against Glover:
"A child that was with Anthony Youmans during the shooting brought the firearm back to the defendant ... defendant took the firearm and told the child not to tell anyone about what happened."

Channel 4 also obtained dozens of images of guns that police said were on the computer seized during a search of Glover's home. One of those images is of a silver revolver similar to the one investigators believe Glover sold to Youmans.

Glover's trial is scheduled for late January.

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