Jury seated in Viens trial

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A jury was seated today to hear the case of a young hunter who mistakenly shot a farmer sitting in his tractor.

Jurors got conflicting views of the incident in opening statements.

His lawyer says 20-year-old Collin Viens had no way of knowing that Rejean Lussier was sitting in the cab of his tractor that day in 2005.

The lawyer says that’s because the windows were fogged up.

Prosecutors say Viens must be held accountable for breaking hunting safety rules in firing the shot at the tractor.

Viens’ first trial ended in a hung jury last October. The re-trial was moved to Vermont District Court in Burlington after Judge Ben Joseph determined that pretrial publicity would make it impossible to find an impartial jury.

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