## Facts

- On January 1, 1973, a Vermont state trooper responded to a call at Charles Cushman’s home.
- A dispute arose between Cushman and the trooper during the trooper’s visit.
- The State’s evidence showed Cushman took a firearm from a kitchen rack and pointed it in the direction of the trooper.
- Cushman testified the firearm was an antique and was not loaded.

## Issues

1. Whether, under 13 V.S.A. § 1025, the State must prove the firearm was loaded (or the defendant believed it was loaded) to convict for reckless endangerment when the defendant knowingly points a firearm at another person.
2. Whether jury instructions were erroneous for permitting conviction without a finding that the firearm was loaded.

## Decision

- The Vermont Supreme Court affirmed the conviction.
- The court held that § 1025 presumes “recklessness and danger” when a person knowingly points a firearm at or in the direction of another, whether or not the actor believed the firearm to be loaded.
- Because the statute makes loading (and belief about loading) irrelevant to the presumption, the trial court did not err by instructing the jury that it need not find the firearm was loaded.

## Legal Principles

- Under 13 V.S.A. § 1025, a person commits reckless endangerment by recklessly engaging in conduct that places or may place another in danger of death or serious bodily injury.
- “Recklessness and danger” are presumed when a person knowingly points a firearm at or in the direction of another.
- The statutory presumption applies regardless of whether the firearm is actually loaded or whether the actor believed it to be loaded.
- Jury instructions that track § 1025’s presumption are not erroneous merely because they do not require a finding that the firearm was loaded.

## Conclusion

The court upheld Cushman’s conviction because § 1025 treats the knowing act of pointing a firearm at another person as sufficient to establish presumptive recklessness and serious danger, without requiring proof that the weapon was loaded or that the defendant believed it was loaded.


State v. Cushman, 133 Vt. 121, 329 A.2d 648 (Vt. 1974)