NY: Justified Shooting Saves Lives, Shooter gets Jail Time

Jaqueline Kegan, the woman in the love triangle.

In New York, a defense of self and others shooting case has been resolved after nearly two and a half years.   Jaqueline Kegan had a son with, and apparently had been living with Paul J. Wells for a considerable time.  The son was 18 years old.  She became romantically involved with Ralph C. Runnalls and they were married weeks before the shooting.   Jaqueline was 43, Wells was 55, and Runnalls was 67.  The son convinced Kegan to return home.  The father, Wells, became concerned and borrowed two pistols, a .22 and a .32.  Runnalls showed up in the driveway with a .357 magnum.

The family ran into Wells house, which is isolated at the end of a wooded drive. 

Runnalls fired three shots, hitting Kegan twice, and almost killed her.  A metal reinforcement in her body from a previous surgery deflected a bullet and likely saved her life.   Wells was grazed on the neck, once.  Wells fired between 16 and 19 shots, hitting Runnalls eight times, killing him.

Wells had a shotgun, which he could apparently legally possess, but under New York's Byzantine gun laws, he did not have a permit for the pistols.  From August, 2012 poststar.com:

Neither man had a pistol permit, York said. While that could leave Wells liable to be charged, York said the investigation is indicating he acted in justifiable self-defense.
“If it continues going the way it appears, he’s justified under the penal law to defend himself,” York said. “But that determination will be made by the district attorney.”

The lack of a pistol permit, which often takes months or years to obtain in New York, at the discretion of the authorities, created a serious problem for Wells.  The DA charged him with illegal possession of the pistols.   From 2015  poststar.com:

A Warren County grand jury heard evidence in the case and decided not to file charges against Wells, concluding his actions in shooting Runnalls were justified.
Wells, though, was charged with felony criminal possession of a weapon because he could not possess the handguns without a permit. He also has a criminal conviction from 1976, and that conviction elevated the charge from a misdemeanor to a felony

Wells criminal conviction from 36 years previous was a nonviolent misdemeanor; but under New York State gun law, according to the article, that upped the misdemeanor pistol permit violation to a felony.  From 2014  poststar.com:

He did not have permits for the guns, and he had a 1976 misdemeanor conspiracy conviction. Having handguns without a permit when you have a criminal record is a felony.

The DA, Kate Hogan, seems to have a problem with guns and self defense. She admits that Wells was justified, but was determined to convict him on the gun charges.

Warren County District Attorney Kate Hogan said the evidence seemed to show that Wells was justified in defending himself from an attack at his home.

“I felt very strongly that a felony conviction was important and a period of incarceration with probation was important,” Hogan said.

Even in New York, most of the commenters are outraged at the obvious injustice.  It is clear that if Wells had not had the pistols, all three family members would likely be dead, as well as Runnalls.  Runnalls had told his brother that he would not be seeing him again.  Murder/suicide is often the result of these deadly romantic triangles.  From the comments:

Damn sorry day when you get jailed for defending your son and a lady from some person who comes on your property armed, shooting and probably with the intent of killing everyone there.

Thank goodness he had the weapons, also pathetic that a BS misdemeanor impinges on your right to bear arms.

Kate Hogan has been the DA since 2001.

It is not clear how the latest infringements on the second amendment in the New York "Safe Act" would have played out in this case.  We will likely see examples in the future, as the "Safe Act" is meeting with massive civil disobedience.


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