Racine County deputy charged in hunting accident appears in court
Racine County deputy charged in hunting accident resigns, appears in court
The Racine County deputy charged with accidentally shooting his coworker and the man's 7-year-old son in a hunting accident appeared in court for the first time on Thursday, Sept. 17.
RACINE COUNTY, Wis. - The Racine County deputy charged with accidentally shooting his coworker and the man's 7-year-old son in a hunting accident appeared in court for the first time on Thursday, Sept. 17.
James Lehman
Deputy resigns
What we know:
The Racine County Sheriff’s Office said that James Lehman, the deputy being charged, resigned just over a week ago.
The sheriff's office could not speak on Lehman's exact thought process in this resignation, but pointed out he did this while he was put on administrative leave, being criminally prosecuted and facing an administrative investigation.
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April incident
The backstory:
Back in April, Lehman let his 3-year-old daughter pull the trigger of the shotgun pointed at what they thought was a turkey. That was the shot that hit the other deputy and that deputy’s 7-year-old son from 39 yards away.
In court
What we know:
The Racine County District Attorney handed the case off to the Walworth County District Attorney, Zeke Wiedenfeld, to avoid any conflict of interest.
Lehman’s bail was set at a $10,000 signature bond. He was ordered to not have any contact with the victims or their family and to not use any firearms or hunt.
James Lehman in court
Lehman is being charged with two counts of second-degree reckless injury, use of a dangerous weapon. Those combined carry up to 25 years in prison. He is also charged with two counts of injury by negligent use of a weapon. That combined would be up to seven years.
Lehman’s attorney declined FOX6's request to speak with Lehman.
The 7-year-old who was shot had surgery in June, but doctors could not remove pellets from his skull, brain or near his spinal cord. Neither the Walworth County District Attorney nor the Racine County Sheriff’s Office could provide updates on that child's health.
James Lehman
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The Racine County deputy, that 7-year-old's father, was hit in multiple places on his body, but he was released from the hospital the night of the incident. He still had significant swelling and numbness in his left arm during a follow-up 12 days later.
Lehman is expected back in court for his preliminary hearing on Oct. 7.
Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Ben Hanson and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from the Racine County Sheriff’s Office and past FOX6 News reporting.