Charges have been dropped against all three parties involved in an altercation caused by a racial slur on a residential street in September in Glenwood.
Hurl Beechum III, 42, of Queen Creek, Arizona, no longer faces charges for the incident or subsequent shooting, the Mills County Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday. Beechum is a former Iowa State University basketball player who played in the early 1990s.
Prosecutors dropped charges against Colton McDaniel, 21, of Pacific Junction, and Denver Cook, 19, of Glenwood, last week.
The charges stemmed from a fight involving several people on Sept. 27, 2015. Along with Beechum, McDaniel and Cook, Glenwood High School Principal Richard Hutchinson – Beechum’s stepfather – was involved.
The county attorney’s office said in a release the charges were dropped because, “there is reasonable doubt as to who was the primary physical aggressor of the incident.”
Cook and McDaniel were among a group of young adults who walked by Hutchinson’s home in the 200 block of North Myrtle Street when one of the group members used a racial slur. Hutchinson, who is black, took exception, and an altercation eventually occurred.
Hutchinson was knocked unconscious and suffered a fractured bone in his face. Beechum later shot McDaniel in his left thigh and right ankle.
The county attorney’s office said when Beechum entered the house to retrieve the gun, he returned to the scene of the physical altercation and saw Hutchinson lying on the ground surrounded by other parties involved.
“It is reasonable to believe that Mr. Beechum acted with justification at that time,
Therefore, it is the opinion of the state that continued prosecution of the case was not in the interest of justice,” the county attorney’s office said in the release.
http://www.nonpareilonline.com/news...cle_3b34935a-becf-11e5-a513-9fc93576b2fd.html
Hurl Beechum III, 42, of Queen Creek, Arizona, no longer faces charges for the incident or subsequent shooting, the Mills County Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday. Beechum is a former Iowa State University basketball player who played in the early 1990s.
Prosecutors dropped charges against Colton McDaniel, 21, of Pacific Junction, and Denver Cook, 19, of Glenwood, last week.
The charges stemmed from a fight involving several people on Sept. 27, 2015. Along with Beechum, McDaniel and Cook, Glenwood High School Principal Richard Hutchinson – Beechum’s stepfather – was involved.
The county attorney’s office said in a release the charges were dropped because, “there is reasonable doubt as to who was the primary physical aggressor of the incident.”
Cook and McDaniel were among a group of young adults who walked by Hutchinson’s home in the 200 block of North Myrtle Street when one of the group members used a racial slur. Hutchinson, who is black, took exception, and an altercation eventually occurred.
Hutchinson was knocked unconscious and suffered a fractured bone in his face. Beechum later shot McDaniel in his left thigh and right ankle.
The county attorney’s office said when Beechum entered the house to retrieve the gun, he returned to the scene of the physical altercation and saw Hutchinson lying on the ground surrounded by other parties involved.
“It is reasonable to believe that Mr. Beechum acted with justification at that time,
Therefore, it is the opinion of the state that continued prosecution of the case was not in the interest of justice,” the county attorney’s office said in the release.
http://www.nonpareilonline.com/news...cle_3b34935a-becf-11e5-a513-9fc93576b2fd.html
