Appeal denied in Everett shooting

Published 10:05 pm Wednesday, July 23, 2008

EVERETT — A man who fatally shot his friend during a drunken dispute was jailed this week after he lost an appeal to overturn his manslaughter conviction.

Ronald Bowen has been free on bail since he was initially arrested in the shooting death of his friend Kurt Schroeder on Sept. 30, 2006. On Monday, he reported to the Snohomish County Jail to begin serving his 11-year sentence. Bowen eventually will be moved to a state prison.

He had no criminal record before the deadly shooting.

Bowen testified that the shooting was an accident. He pulled out the gun to scare Schroeder, who had refused to leave Bowen’s Everett house. The two men had been at a party earlier in the night to celebrate Bowen’s 48th birthday.

Bowen told investigators Schroeder was drunk and was being destructive and aggressive toward him. He testified that the gun accidentally went off when he told Schroeder to leave.

Prosecutors charged him with first-degree manslaughter with a deadly weapon.

During the trial, Bowen’s attorney argued that jurors should be allowed to consider the lesser charge of reckless endangerment. Instead, Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Gerald Knight ruled they could consider other lesser charges, including second-degree manslaughter and excusable homicide.

The jury convicted Bowen of the original manslaughter charge.

Knight imposed the lowest prison sentence under the law and allowed Bowen to remain free on bail while he appealed his conviction.

Bowen argued that the judge erred when he didn’t allow jurors to be instructed to consider that he was guilty of reckless endangerment, not manslaughter.

The state Court of Appeals disagreed with the argument and upheld the conviction.

Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.