BELFAST, Maine (NEWS CENTER)--Luke Bryant took the stand to defend himself against charges of manslaughter at the Waldo County Superior Courthouse.
In a taped interview three days after Tyler Seaney was shot, Bryant told detectives he did in fact shoot Seaney accidentally while trying to scare him. On the witness stand Bryant said his remarks that day were a lie.
He said he was worn down emotionally and physically after being questioned for several hours and he only said those things to stop police from bothering him further. Officers told Bryant many times he was free to leave and stop the interview at any point.
While on the stand Luke Bryant also stated that he was only about five feet from Seaney when Seaney was shot and he knew guns could miss fire so he normally would never point one in the direction of a person if it was loaded.
Bryant did not explain why he was pointing the rifle at Seaney when he said he was attempting to clear the 12 gage of ammunition.