West Virginia: Man not guilty in slaying: "Three years, four months, 18 days and about an hour later, John W. Jenkins Jr. lifted his eyes skyward, then closed them after a court clerk read aloud these two words: 'Not guilty.' A Berkeley County jury of nine women and three men deliberated for less than two hours Tuesday before acquitting Jenkins in the shooting death of his second cousin, Steven Cole, 37, of Martinsburg, on April 12, 2002. ... Jenkins has maintained he shot Cole in self-defense after Cole pulled a gun on him and fired one bullet toward him. Jenkins was the first and only witness to testify Tuesday -- the fifth day of the trial. He testified about his family, violent outbursts from Cole and the shooting. ... Jurors had five options -- finding Jenkins innocent or finding him guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter. They deliberated for an hour and 38 minutes."


Washington: Watchman fires at car: "What was initially reported as a 'drive-by shooting' early Monday morning turned out to be a shot fired in a quite different circumstance. Longview police were dispatched a few minutes after midnight after a young man called from his home in Longview, reporting that someone in a brown van shot at his vehicle when he and two passengers were driving around in the area of the Mint Farm. 'There wasn't any warning,' the 22-year-old driver said Monday evening. 'There aren't any 'no trespassing' signs out there.' ... Police checked out the Mint Farm area and spoke with the night watchman of a truck-driving school, Duscha said. The watchman told police that he saw a vehicle driving recklessly in the parking lot and cutting cookies on the property. He said he thought the vehicle was going to run him over, so he fired his handgun, Duscha said. No one was injured."