COQUILLE - A judge will decide if Dr. William David Hosack is guilty of assault or acted reasonably on Feb. 7 to protect himself and his family when he shot a Coos Bay man during an altercation near his Coos River property.

Curry County Circuit Court Judge Richard Mickelson, who is presiding over the case, agreed to Hosack's last-minute formal request to waive his option for a jury trial. The outcome of the trial, which began Monday morning in a Coos County courtroom, is now in Mickelson's hands.

In April, the state charged Hosack with two counts of second-degree assault after an incident near his property between Allegany and Golden and Silver Falls State Park. He has pleaded innocent.

Erik Wasmann from the Oregon Attorney General's Office is prosecuting the case, and a Curry County judge is hearing it, to avoid a local conflict of interest. Hosack sometimes testifies as an expert medical witness at local trials.

In its case, the state maintains Hosack knowingly caused physical injury to Coos Bay resident Josh Andrade by means of a dangerous weapon and that he acted recklessly by causing serious physical injury to Coos Bay resident Justus Cloud by means of a deadly and dangerous weapon. The state also is trying to prove that Hosack committed the acts with extreme indifference, according to Wasmann.

Hosack's lawyers, Robert McCrea of Eugene, and Steve Wilgers and Roger Gould of Coos Bay, maintain that Hosack acted reasonably to protect himself and others from trespassers on his property.

Monday, a steady stream of witnesses called by the state outlined a story that changed slightly with each testimony.

Andrade, 19, and Cloud, 21, were with Corydon Stillwell, 21, and Dustin Evanow, 19, along with their girlfriends and an 8-month-old baby, were standing outside their car near Coos River on Feb. 7 when a black truck went by. According to some witnesses called Monday, the truck swerved intentionally to hit a beer can in the middle of the road, then swerved back, spraying gravel on the group.

Andrade, Cloud, Stillwell and Evanow followed the truck and eventually found it up a side road. There, the group exchanged words, many of them obscenities, with Sam Upchurch, who had been driving the truck, and Don Wyatt, Upchurch's father-in-law and Hosack's close friend. Hosack wasn't in the truck.

A fight ensued, according to witnesses, between Wyatt and Andrade. Testimony indicated that Hosack tried to stop the fight with words before he fired an undetermined amount of shots in the air from a 44-caliber semi-automatic pistol.

Each witness' account of what happened next was different. Andrade said as he was scuffling with Wyatt, Hosack hit him in the face with the gun and the gun fired. He said when he looked up, he saw his friend, Cloud, holding his bleeding chest. Evanow testified he saw Hosack shoot into the air, hit Andrade in the face with his gun, then walk over to Cloud and shoot him directly in the chest. Stillwell said he only heard the shots and realized his friend was hurt when Cloud began walking quickly away from the scene.

"I heard shots and then Justus was holding his chest, saying 'let's go,' and everyone started freaking out," Stillwell testified.

When asked by McCrea why the group had followed the truck to Hosack's property, Stillwell said he was angry but not looking for a fight.

"My intention was to explain to him that there was a baby in the car and I went up there to get an apology, and for them to say they wouldn't do it again," Stillwell said.

Andrade, a 5-foot, 2-inch man who said he weighs about 110 pounds, said he also was angry about the gravel spraying but that he didn't intentionally look for the truck. He said after he and his friends came upon the truck and the group of four or five at Hosack's property, that Wyatt was the first one to start the physical fight after a heated verbal exchange.

Wyatt testified that he had been drinking during the day and Andrade said he had three to four beers before he traveled up the river. Stillwell said he had one beer prior to the incident. Police have testified that Hosack also had been drinking prior to and after the incident.

On the stand, Wyatt, 55, 6 feet tall and weighing about 220 pounds, said he couldn't recall much of the incident when questioned by Wasmann.

Wyatt said his son-in-law was driving the truck when the group threw a beer can at them as they passed. At Hosack's property, Wyatt testified, he was attacked from behind by Andrade and broke his arm during the fight. After the fight, Wyatt called 911, saying he was Bill Hosack and that he and Hosack had been assaulted, but didn't mention that a shooting had occurred. Wasmann played the 911 tapes of the incident at the trial.

When asked why he hadn't disclosed the shootings, Wyatt said he wasn't sure.

"I was upset and under the influence," he said. "I can't recall exactly what I said."

Wyatt also testified he felt he was "fighting for his life," with Andrade and that Andrade pulled a knife on him. Andrade, Stillwell and Evanow said none of their group had weapons that day.

During Wyatt's testimony, Wasmann asked Mickelson to declare him a hostile witness because of his close ties to Hosack and his indifferent attitude toward the trial. Wyatt admitted that he had a sign saying "Bill Hosack for sheriff" on his property and that he doesn't believe Hosack should be on trial.

Mickelson granted the request, which will be recorded in the trial's transcripts.

Others who testified Monday included Kim Jacobsen, a 911 operator who answered Wyatt's call that night; Dr. Stephen Giss, a general surgeon who treated Cloud for his gunshot wound and said his toxicology report indicated amphetamine in his blood; Kris Karcher, Coos County Deputy chief medical examiner, who responded to the hospital after the shooting; and Coos County Sheriff's deputies Jeff Zabada and Rod Roberts, who both responded to the 911 call up Coos River Highway.

Hosack did not testify and appeared collected during the trial, wearing a brown jacket, tie and white shirt. Several friends and some family members of Hosack were in the courtroom, as well as Andrade's mother and two of his friends.

Cloud is scheduled to testify today and the state will question several more witnesses before the defendant's lawyers begin their case. The trial is scheduled to continue at least through Wednesday, according to Wasmann.