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He was convicted of knowingly shooting a gun inside a building with others present.
By CARY DAVIS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 30, 2002
NEW PORT RICHEY -- Patrick Dinsmore might not have intended to shoot his wife last November, but it was no accident that he pulled the trigger, a jury decided late Friday.
Dinsmore, 32, of Port Richey was convicted of shooting within an occupied dwelling, a second-degree felony that carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. State guidelines call for a minimum sentence of three years in prison, prosecutor George Kezemides said Monday.
The jury deliberated just 20 minutes before reaching a verdict about 11:30 p.m. Friday.
Circuit Judge William Webb set a June 14 sentencing date for Dinsmore.
The shooting occurred on Nov. 4 at Patrick and Vicky Dinsmore's apartment on Keller Drive. Dinsmore had been arguing with his wife because she lied to him about going to work that day, authorities said.
Dinsmore, who had consumed about 15 beers that afternoon, pulled out a .25-caliber handgun. The couple's 9-year-old son was sitting 10 feet from his mother when the gun went off. The bullet struck Vicky Dinsmore, 40, in the chest.
She was flown to a St. Petersburg hospital in critical condition. She recovered and testified at the trial.
Dinsmore was convicted under a Florida law that makes it a crime to knowingly shoot a gun inside a building when others are present, regardless of whether you intend to hurt someone.
Kezemides, the prosecutor, pointed out that Dinsmore had given authorities conflicting accounts of the shooting. When Dinsmore called 911 to report the shooting, he told a dispatcher, "I was messing with my wife." Later, he told authorities that he had been cleaning his gun when it went off. At another point, he said he couldn't remember the shooting.
Dinsmore's public defenders argued that the shooting was a terrible accident, not a crime.
Said Kezemides: "The jury didn't buy it."