2014 - 06 - 06

District Attorney will pay to transport shooting victim to trial

SAN BERNARDINO >> Army Spec. Christopher Sullivan has one wish to find some closure in the http://www.cheapjerseys11.com/ December 2011 homecoming party shooting that left him a quadriplegic.

The Purple Heart recipient hopes to face his alleged attacker, Ruben Ray Jurado, in a courtroom.

After his mother reached out to television stations and pleaded with the San Bernardino County District Attorney Office for help, prosecutors agreed to finance Sullivan travel from San Antonio via medical flight. The trial is scheduled to begin in November.

did basically what I had to do, Suzanne Sullivan said. he going to have his say. 23 party to mark his return from the war in Afghanistan. He had been recovering for about a year at Fort Campbell, Ky. due to injuries he received in a suicide bombing.

Attorneys representing Jurado argued in court during the preliminary hearing that the 21 year old opened fire because he was attacked by a group of people at the party. The fight occurred during an argument over the Green Bay Packers.

But other witnesses say Jurado initiated the fight, fired a warning shot and when Sullivan wrestled with him over control of the gun, more shots were fired, including the two that wounded Sullivan.

Since the shooting, Sullivan has faced a number of setbacks to his health and is hospitalized now due to intestinal issues.

His mother didn want to risk driving him from Texas to California or taking him on a commercial flight. She had hoped prosecutors would allow Sullivan to testify via video conferencing, but she says that idea didn fly.

law doesn allow for it, said San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney William Lee, the prosecutor handling the case.

The other alternative a medical flight with nurses on board isn cheap. One company who agreed to the transport quoted her about $38,000 for the round trip.

But she received a call Wednesday from the District Attorney Office, saying they pick up the tab.

long as he stable enough to travel and the doctor says he can go, Christopher will be able to travel, Suzanne Sullivan said.

The District Attorney Office is also attempting to conduct a conditional examination of Sullivan in Texas, just in case he too ill to make the trip.

Christopher Sullivan is unsure what impact his testimony will have on the trial, but said it important to him to describe cheap jerseys the impact the shooting has had.