PORT ANGELES — A 54-year-old man who was sentenced Thursday to nearly 13 years in prison for shooting and wounding his roommate plans to appeal his conviction.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge George Wood, after sentencing Keith R. Berlin to 153 months in prison, granted a motion authorizing Berlin to pursue an appeal at public expense.
Berlin doesn’t have enough money to cover the cost, according to the motion filed by Berlin’s attorney, Loren Oakley of the Clallam Public Defender’s Office.
A jury in September found Berlin guilty of first-degree assault in the shooting of his roommate, Jacob Griffith, in the face with a .22-caliber rifle at their home on Alder Lane east of Port Angeles.
The shooting occurred in February after Griffith said he was moving out.
Griffith, who was 33 years old at the time, recovered after spending about a day at Olympic Medical Center.
The appeal, according to court documents, would say the defense was not allowed to cross-examine Griffith on an alleged offer he made to change his testimony in exchange for money, and would ask for review of the denial of the defense’s request for a jury instruction addressing the lesser offense of fourth-degree assault, as well as the court allowing a Port Angeles police detective to testify as an expert on the shooting wound.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.