Lawyer Who Narrowly Lost AG Race Is Charged in Shooting Case, Cites Castle Doctrine
A West Virginia lawyer who narrowly lost a race to become the state attorney general in 2008 has been charged with malicious wounding and wanton endangerment with a firearm in the Wednesday shooting of a man at the lawyer’s home in Procious.
State police say attorney Hiram Lewis, 41, claimed the wounded man, Stephen Bogart, had tried to break into his home. However, Bogart, who was shot in the leg, said he lived at Lewis’ house and hence was not breaking in, according to the State Journal.
Lewis, who was arrested Wednesday in the Clay County case, is being held in lieu of $100,000 bond.
WDTV reports that Lewis said in an interview with WCHS: “I was totally within my rights. I was in my home when I made the, when I shot him, after he barged in my residence and busted the door down. It’s in God’s hands now, but we are a Castle Doctrine state.”
Lewis said Bogart was not a roommate but a homeless veteran he had allowed to live for a week at his camp while he looked for work, the West Virginia Record reports.
