Jury finds man accused of shooting brother not guilty

POCATELLO — Not guilty of aggravated battery and use of a deadly weapon.

The Idaho State Journal reports that was the verdict of the seven-woman, five-man jury that heard testimony in the trial of Dustin Sweeney this week.

Sweeney, 32, was accused of shooting his older brother, Ryan Sweeney, on Feb. 8. The defendant didn’t deny the act during the day-and-a-half-long trial in Bannock County.

Sixth District Judge David C. Nye instructed the jury to consider all sworn testimony and exhibits presented as evidence during the trial. However, he told them to disregard excluded evidence and testimony stricken from the record.

Nye told the jury that to convict Sweeney of aggravated battery, they must believe that he acted with intent or used force of violence, or used a deadly weapon against his brother.

To rule the shooting was self-defense, Nye said the jury had to conclude that Sweeney believed he was in imminent danger, that the action was necessary to keep him from being harmed and that the degree of force was equal to the threat.

“Once there is no longer a threat, self-defense ends,” Nye said.

During the second day of the trial Thursday, Tina Dunn, the mother of both Dustin and Ryan, testified that there was sibling rivalry between her sons, and she said they were not close growing up because of the five-year age difference between them.

However, Dunn said that when Dustin, a former U.S. Marine, returned from deployment in Iraq, the brothers became friends and they spent a lot of time together.

“I think maybe Ryan realized that he could have lost his brother over there,” Dunn said.

Dunn said the trial had been emotionally exhausting for her entire family.

“They are both my sons, and I love them both,” Dunn said following her testimony.

Dustin appeared in court wearing a red shirt and tie, and he seemed upbeat, visiting with his defense team during all three breaks called Thursday. But he looked pensive, and at times maybe a little nervous as attorneys presented their closing arguments.

The jury took notes and studied the judge’s instructions.

During her testimony, Dunn described Ryan as a caring and loving son and father. But she admitted that he had a quick temper and she said Ryan could be argumentative.

On Wednesday, Ryan testified that on the night he was shot, he and Dustin had argued over money. He said he also returned a .32 caliber handgun that Dustin had kept at his house. He said he shoved the gun into Dustin’s chest.

As he headed back inside his apartment on South Lincoln Avenue, Dustin allegedly threw a piece of wood, breaking a window in the apartment, and Ryan said that’s when he charged his brother. That’s when the first shot was fired.

Dustin was standing at the top of the stairs, and in spite of being shot at, Ryan continued to charge up that stairs after his brother.

Ryan said Wednesday that he intended to take the gun away from Dustin, and he admitted that he was very angry.

“If I was charging at you, you would be scared, too,” Ryan told the court Wednesday.

That’s when a second shot was fired, striking Ryan in the leg. On Wednesday, Ryan displayed a long incision, the result of a vascular bypass performed to save his leg following the shooting.

His wife, Mariah Sweeney, told the court Wednesday that she was sleeping in the apartment, and she awoke to the sound of breaking glass. Then she heard gunshots.

Mariah testified that she heard Dustin say, “I told you that I was going to (expletive) shoot you,” as he fled the scene. He was arrested the following day.

Dustin was represented by Kelly Kumm and Shane Reichert of Kumm and Reichert PLLC. in Pocatello.

Kumm maintained that Dustin shot in self-defense and that he intended to scare his big brother away. He also said the case should never have gone to trial.

“In this case, you had the victim claiming that he attacked the shooter,” Kumm said.

Following the first shot, Dustin warned his brother to stay back, according to Ryan’s testimony.

The jury deliberated for about one hour and 10 minutes before rendering their verdict.

Bannock County deputy prosecutors Ryan Godfrey and Brian Trammell argued the state’s case against Sweeney.

During closing arguments, prosecutors noted that Ryan was unarmed in the early morning hours of Feb. 8.

Trammell said Ryan was heading back into the apartment when Dustin threw the wood, breaking the window and escalating the argument.

Godfrey argued that if anyone was in fear of for their life at the scene that morning, it was Ryan, not Dustin.

Neither prosecutor could be reached for comment following the verdict on Thursday.

Dustin remains incarcerated at the Bannock County jail. He is also set to be sentenced for two counts of delivery of methamphetamine and malicious injury to jail property, all felonies. A combined bond in those cases is set at $25,000. Sentencing on those charges has not yet been scheduled.

Kumm said the not guilty verdict clears the way for Dustin to enter a diversionary court program and be eligible for a rider program.

When Dustin’s former commanding officer and fellow Marines heard about his legal issues since being honorably discharged, they launched a fundraising campaign and hired Kumm and Reichert to represent Dustin.

His mother said she signed for Dustin to join the Marines when he was 17 years old.

“That’s what he always wanted to do,” Dunn said. “That’s all he talked about since he was a little kid.”

This story originally appeared in the Idaho State Journal. It is posted here with permission.