Newnan Georgia defense lawyers win murder trial in Coweta County
A Coweta jury found Jason Veitch of Newman not guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm while in the commission of a felony. The charges stem from an incident in June of last year in which Veitch shot a man to death near a house Veitch was building. Veitch was represented by Newnan attorneys Mike Kam and Ron Harwell.
The Newnan, Georgia Times-Herald has the story.
In the weeks leading up to the shooting, Veitch had reported theft of copper wire and pipe from homes he was building. The day before the shooting he realized four more homes had been hit with losses of up to $6,000 per house. He met with a Coweta deputy who told him he needed to catch the thieves in the act. Veitch claims the deputy told him to make a citizen’s arrest and hold the thieves until law enforcement could arrive. The deputy also allegedly told Veitch that he should not shoot or injure the thieves. That night Veitch waited in the woods next to his job site with a 12 gauge shotgun and .22 caliber pistol.
In the early morning, Veitch saw an unfamiliar van park in front of a house under construction. Three drywall workers that had been assigned to work on Veitch’s homes by a drywall company were inside the van. The workers claim that they were going to sleep in the van and start work in the morning instead of driving back to their home in Norcross. Veitch called 911 and reported a robbery. He then called his father-in-law who came to the scene before the police could arrive. Upon arriving, his father-in-law ordered the men to exit the van.
Veitch, fearing for his father-in-law’s safety, came out of the woods and fired a shot from the shotgun in the air. Two of the men got on the ground and put their hands behind their heads. The third man, Gaston Gonzalez, got on the ground but kept trying to get back up. Veitch claims he began poking Gonzalez with the shotgun to keep him down. Veitch says that the shotgun went off on the second poke which resulted in a wound to the back of the neck. Veitch then called 911 and asked for an ambulance; however, his father-in-law drove Gonzalez to Piedmont Newnan Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Veitch claimed that he had never seen the van before and that he did not recognize the three men. Veitch also argued that workers never sleep on a job-site. The overall theme of the defense was that Veitch was acting within the law, since he feared there was a threat to himself and his father-in-law. The prosecution contended that Veitch was responsible for what happened, because he was the one who initiated the confrontation and the actions which led to the death of Gonzalez.
The owner of the drywall company that employed the three men felt the jury outcome would have been different if Gonzalez had been white or black.
Pate & Brody is an accomplished Georgia law firm with offices in Atlanta, Macon and Madison. Our lawyers are dedicated to pursuing justice for people charged with serious crimes. We have successfully represented clients facing serious federal criminal charges and state criminal charges in courts across Georgia. Our lawyers have been recognized on the list of Georgia’s “Super Lawyers”, and included among Georgia’s “Legal Elite” by Georgia Trend Magazine.
