Cole Hopper is Guilty

It didn't take long. The jury was out for only a little over three and a half hours.

Arianna Pickard of the Norman Transcript is now reporting that Cole Hopper was found guilty of first degree manslaughter in the death of Kelsey Bransby. She writes that the state is seeking a 19 year sentence.

According to Pickard, Christy Miller, the prosecutor told jurors in her final argument that Hopper was "reckless" with his gun, that witnesses had testified that he'd, "playfully pointed his weapons at friends and that one person had said he'd accidentally fired off a round into the floor of his apartment while cleaning it. Pickard quotes Miller as saying, "This time his recklessness went too far. He must be held accountable."

Pickard wrote that Miller also told the jury, whether it was an accident or not he must be "disciplined" for being careless with his firearm and not seeking medical help for Kelsey Bransby after she was shot.

Pickard's story says that defense attorney David Smith, in his final address to the jury, contended that Ms. Bransby could have shot herself and that no one looked for gun residue on her hands.

He also told the jury that no one could prevent the sorrow of Kelsey Bransby's family for her loss, but at the same time they could prevent the sorrow Cole Hopper's family will feel if he is sentenced to two decades in jail for a crime he might not have committed.

Obviously twelve men and women good and true weren't having any of that.

The defining moments probably came when Danielle Cooley's testimony put Hopper in the apartment and then when the jury was shown videos of him telling the police he wasn't there at all. Yes, once you've been caught in a lie that blatant, no one believes anything else you say, no matter if it is true or not. You are, in that awful moment, screwed, glued, and tattooed. Especially when people know you ran out on one of your best friends and left her bleeding, with a hole in her head, to die alone.

So this tragedy comes to an end. It was, in the final analysis, about drugs, guns, and stupidity. Unfortunately, the city, state, and nation are awash in all three.

Kelsey Bransby is dead. Danielle Cooley was hit with a 25 year suspended sentence that she is on the verge of having revoked. Cole Hopper is going away for a long, long time.

Someone will say justice has been served.

However, justice won't bring back Kelsey Bransby, or even Danielle Cooley and Cole Hopper. The three of them are, forever, lost.

We should mourn them all.


6-18-13