Free Republic

SALEM, Mass. -- A jury deliberated just two hours Thursday before finding an Iraq war veteran acted in self-defense when he fired a shotgun into a group of club-goers outside his Lawrence home, injuring two people. The Salem Superior Court jury acquitted Marine Sgt. Daniel Cotnoir, a 34-year-old reservist named last year's "Marine of the Year," of two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in the shooting last August.

Marine of the Year Daniel Cotnoir remains a hero in the eyes of some Lawrence residents, despite being charged with attempted murder for shooting into a crowd early Saturday. ``Somebody had to step up to the plate,'' said Bruce Reynolds, owner of the Longhorn Gas Station on Broadway Avenue, who, like other residents is exasperated by late-night carousing and violence in Lawrence.

LAWRENCE, Mass. (AP) - A decorated Marine accused of firing a shotgun at a crowd of club-goers pleaded not guilty Monday to attempted murder and other charges and was ordered to be evaluated at a state psychiatric hospital. Daniel Cotnoir was named ``Marine of the Year'' last month for his service as a military mortician in Iraq. A mortician by trade, he prepared the bodies of U.S. soldiers for burial and says the job took a heavy psychological toll. Police said he pointed a 12-gauge shotgun out the window of his second-floor apartment and fired a shot at a crowd...

Massachusetts officials are considering mandatory mental health screenings for National Guardsmen returning from Iraq, the BOSTON GLOBE is reporting on Tuesday. Mandatory mental-health screening nationwide currently applies only to full-service soldiers and usually involves only answering a questionnaire. The key concern is post-traumatic stress disorder, which occurs following the witnessing of a life-threatening experience such as military combat. Symptoms include nightmares, flashbacks, depression and estrangement. Post-traumatic stress disorder, as the condition is commonly known, is one of the theories being weighed in the case of Daniel Cotnoir, the 33-year-old Marine sergeant charged with attempted murder in Lawrence for firing a...

Daniel B. Cotnoir, a decorated Marine and military mortician, cracked under post-war stress early Saturday, responding with shotgun fire when someone threw a bottle through a window in his Lawrence home, his attorney said yesterday. Alerts Cotnoir had already complained to police about a crowd of almost 30 people in the street outside a nearby nightclub and restaurant about 2:45 a.m. Saturday. When someone threw a bottle that shattered his bedroom window, Cotnoir fired ''a warning shot" that hit a 15-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man, said his lawyer, Robert F. Kelley. ''He shot into what he thought was a...