The jury determining Nathan Richard Campbell’s fate has been offered an alternative charge on the final day of the trial.
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Mr Campbell has pleaded not guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to Phoenix Newitt on August 29, 2017.
On Thursday, the jury was given the option for a secondary charge of recklessly discharging a firearm.
Justice Robert Pearce told the jury the alternative charge was not a compromise to the primary charge, but it was to be considered if the accused was found not guilty of grievous bodily harm.
It was not disputed that Phoenix suffered grievous bodily harm as a result of the gunshot wound, instead the state was required to prove Mr Campbell was able to foresee the risk of someone being hurt when he fired a gun towards a car full of people.
In Crown Prosecutor John Ransom’s closing address he highlighted that Mr Campbell did not fire in the air or above the car, he chose to fire his unregistered rifle at a car 80-metres away.
Phoenix was in the car with her mother Sarah Newitt, her uncle Zachery Newitt and his son.
Defence lawyer Evan Hughes told the jury if his client foresaw the risk he would not have fired the gun.
Mr Hughes argued the case was not about hypothetical scenarios, instead it was about what was in his client’s mind at the time of firing the gun.
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Mr Campbell found it difficult to describe his feelings when he took the stand on the trial’s third day, Mr Hughes said.
His lawyer said Mr Campbell struggled to express himself when giving evidence because he was not a sophisticated human being, but he approached his evidence in an honest, open and clear way.
A neighbour had previously told the court the Newitts were yelling obscenities from their car that was parked at the entrance to Stagg Court, the street which the accused lived with his girlfriend Brearna Mansell and their young daughter.
It was alleged that Ms Newitt threatened to have the accused’s daughter raped and this made him “see red”.
Mr Campbell retrieved an unregistered rifle from inside his home, walked to his front yard, used the scope to aim the gun at the driver’s side tyre and fired.
When police told the accused the gunshot injured 11-year-old Phoenix, Mr Campbell said he shut down because he believed the firearm had missed the vehicle.
He also told police he was just hoping to scare the Newitts off with a warning shot, but he did not think someone would get hurt as a result of his actions.
Mr Ransom told the jury it was a simple case about a man making a poor decision in anger.
“People do things when they’re angry and often regret it later … but rage was not a defence,” he said.
Mr Campbell also told police he was able to see the risk associated with firing a gun at a car full of people, but Mr Hughes told the jury not to confuse Mr Campbell’s remorse with guilt.
“At the time of discharging the weapon he did not see the risk,” Mr Hughes said.
The jury started deliberating just after 3pm on Thursday and will continue on Friday.
