City man found innocent of attempted murder but guilty of 1st-degree assault

Defense attorney Mark Sisti, left, and Jason Levesque hug after were announced today in a Dover court. (CourtTV screen capture)

DOVER - The jury in the Jason Levesque attempted murder trial announced their verdict today around 3:15 p.m., finding the 45-year-old Rochester man not guilty of attempted murder but guilty on the lesser charge of 1st-degree assault.

Levesque drew a breath of relief as the jury foreperson announced he had been found not guilty on the attempted murder count, which could've landed him in a New Hampshire state prison for life.

Upon the news defense attorney Mark Sisti patted him on the back and they hugged. Levesque still faces a maximum sentence of 15 years.

Sisti immediately asked for a bail hearing which was granted by Superior Court Judge Andrew Livernois.

It appears that Levesque's decision to take the stand in his own defense may have played a role.

Levesque, 45, said during his testimony on Thursday that exhaustion from being up plowing snow for 38 hours and his fear that the man he shot, Kyle Violette, was going to harm his family, led him to shoot his neighbor.

He told the jury he blacked out after the first shot from his Glock handgun and didn't remember the additional five shots he pumped into Violette as he lay on the ground with blood spewing from his throat from the first bullet.

The incident began when Violette confronted Levesque while he was plowing his driveway on April 4 of last year.

Violette told Levesque that if he plowed snow on his driveway he would kill him and his family.

Levesque's bail hearing is set for April 4, exactly one year after the shooting occurred.

Sentencings usually occur about three months after a verdict.