PTSD on Trial:Iraq veteran's gunfire at Thurston Road exit

At least, if nothing else, this will be considered when the final verdict comes down. When they have a flashback, they are not really "there" but back in danger all over again. I just hope that his history, his deployment and medical evidence is all considered.

Iraq veteran's gunfire at Thurston Road exit is called 'reasonable'
Defense attorney cites stress in the road-rage incident, but the prosecutor says it's not a "flashback"Tuesday, October 07, 2008 HOLLEY GILBERT The Oregonian VANCOUVER -- A road-rage shooting was "reasonable," considering the experiences U.S. Army Reserve veteran Christopher P. Partridge had as a combat truck driver in Iraq, Partridge's attorney told a Clark County Superior Court jury Monday.The Oregonian
Partridge, 26, faces two counts of first-degree assault stemming from the incident on Sept. 18, 2007.

During opening statements at his trial, attorney Edward L. Dunkerly of Vancouver told the jury that Partridge suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. He watched his best friend die, then worked from 2003-04 near Baghdad as a driver in convoys where U.S. soldiers were under the threat of improvised explosive devices or ambush, Dunkerly said.

Partridge does not deny he shot once into a car after its driver cut him off at the Thurston Road exit from State Route 500, Dunkerly said. But he said it was self-defense.

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