By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com
A North Highlands man has been sentenced to one year in county jail and five years probation for accidentally shooting his friend and roommate to death with a shotgun last year.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Joseph Orr imposed the term Wednesday on Jason Batalla, 24, in the Nov. 21, 2009, death of Thomas Conrad Kruger, 21, in a plea agreement worked out between Deputy District Attorney Dawn Bladet and defense attorney Eric Hintz, according to court records.
Batalla pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
Batalla's probation report said that he and Kruger were "good friends" who had just moved into an apartment together in the 6700 block of Medora Drive. The two had been drinking beer and watching a basketball game on television when Batalla showed his .12-gauge Mossburg shotgun to Kruger, according to the report.
The report said that Batalla accidentally chambered a round into the gun and that the weapon went off when he was putting it away.
Batalla pleaded guilty on May 26.
According to the report, Batalla did not have a measureable blood-alcohol level when he was tested after the shooting. He did have a minimal level of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana in his system, the report said, but his lawyer said the amount was so low that it suggested it had been well more than a day since Batalla had ingested it.
Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.









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