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Carthern v. State

The defendant recklessly endangered a human life within the meaning of O.C.G.A. § 16-7-22 a when he fired a gun at night into an inhabited home where residents were likely to be present.

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A jury convicted Taylor Christopher Carthern of criminal damage to property in the first degree for shooting a gun into the house of a neighbor.1 The Court of Appeals of Georgia affirmed.2 The issue on appeal is whether the act of firing a gun into a residence when no one is physically present interferes with property “in a manner so as to endanger human life.” Construing the phrase “endanger human life” to mean reckless endangerment of another, we hold that a person who fires gunshots into an inhabited dwelling where people are likely to be present endangers human life within the meaning of the statute. Therefore, we affirm.

The evidence at trial shows that Carthern fired a nine-millimeter semi-automatic handgun as he walked down his street at four o’clock one morning. The sound of repeated gunfire woke up a resident who opened his garage door to find Carthern standing in front of him with the pistol in his hand. This resident watched Carthern as he went next door to the home of Steve Watts, shot at the back glass door, walked through the door, and fired another shot from inside the house. Although the Watts’ family was on vacation, there is no evidence that Carthern knew that no one was at home when he shot into the house. A jury found Carthern guilty of five crimes, including criminal damage to property in the first degree. He was sentenced to five years probation and a $1,500 fine for that crime and a total of eight years imprisonment, seven years probation, and $3,000 fine for all five charges.

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