Kenneth Barrett sentenced to 30 years in prison

<br>SALLISAW, Okla. (AP) _ A Sequoyah County man who shot and killed an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper during a methamphetamine raid on his home was sentenced to 30 years in state prison Monday. <br><br>District

Monday, April 19th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SALLISAW, Okla. (AP) _ A Sequoyah County man who shot and killed an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper during a methamphetamine raid on his home was sentenced to 30 years in state prison Monday.

District Judge John Garrett sentenced Kenneth Eugene Barrett to 20 years for manslaughter and 10 years for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon _ sentences that will run consecutively and were in line with recommendations from the jury.

``The way the verdict came down the judge gave out the maximum punishment,'' said District Attorney Richard Gray. ``We would have preferred a different outcome from the jury, but we'll live with what we were given.''

In his second trial, Barrett, 42, was convicted Feb. 6. Jurors reduced the first-degree murder and shooting with intent to kill counts prosecutors had sought. Gray also had sought the death penalty.

Barrett fatally shot trooper David ``Rocky'' Eales Sept. 24, 1999 when a law enforcement tactical team was serving a legal ``no-knock'' warrant on Barrett's rural home near Sallisaw. Trooper John Hamilton survived a gunshot wound in the back.

The Sequoyah County jury also found Barrett innocent of two counts of discharging a firearm for allegedly shooting at troopers Rick Manion and Raymond Greninger, who were not injured in the gun battle.

Manion eventually shot Barrett three times in the leg, allowing troopers to arrest him in their midnight raid in search of methamphetamine.

Prosecutors alleged Barrett opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle as the patrol team approached his home with sirens blaring and lights flashing in marked patrol cars.

Eales, 49, a passenger in the lead car of the five-car caravan, was shot three times despite wearing body armor.

The defense argued Barrett was defending his home from unknown attackers whom he could not see in the dark night.

Barrett's first trial ended in a hung jury in October 2002. Nine jurors then voted to convict him of first-degree murder, two wanted a conviction on second-degree murder and one wanted acquittal, jurors say.