A young hunter convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the 2005 shooting of a St. Albans farmer wants the Vermont Supreme Court to throw out his conviction.
Collins Viens’ attorney told justices in Montpelier yesterday that the state didn’t prove Viens intended to shoot Rejean Lussier and that intent is an essential element for the crime alleged.
The 21-year-old Viens served nine months in jail for the Nov. 23, 2005 shooting, which occurred as Lussier was sitting in his tractor in a farm field on his own property.
Marcy Lussier, one of Lussier’s daughters, says the appeal is rubbing salt in the wound of her family. She hopes the state’s high court upholds Viens’ conviction, so her father can rest in peace.