Lawyer hit in hunting accident defends Cheney

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Texas lawyer Harry Whittington, bearing bruises and pockmarks from birdshot but considering himself lucky, prepared to leave the hospital today and said the hunting incident in which Vice President Dick Cheney shot him was just an accident.

Whittington, 78, said he was sorry for all the trouble the incident had caused Cheney, as he spoke with reporters at the hospital for the first time since the Saturday shooting.

Doctors said Whittington was in "excellent health" and would be discharged today from Christus Spohn Hospital, where he was taken after Cheney shot him during a quail hunt on a southern Texas ranch.

Wearing a coat and tie and standing at a podium filled with microphones, the tall, dignified Whittington's voice broke as he praised the medical care he has received. He took no questions because doctors said he was still not at full strength.

"We all assume certain risks in whatever we do. Regardless of how experienced, careful and dedicated we are, accidents do and will happen. And that's what happened last Friday," Whittington said, meaning on Saturday.

"I regret that I couldn't meet you earlier but you can see what a lucky person I am," he said, apparently referring to the bruises and marks on his face and neck.

Whittington said he had been hunting at the 50,000-acre Armstrong Ranch for 25 years and had many "pleasant memories."

"This past weekend encompassed all of us in a cloud of misfortune and sadness that's not easy to explain, especially to those not familiar with the great sport of quail hunting," he said.

"My family and I are deeply sorry for all that Vice President Cheney and his family have had to go through this past week," Whittington said. "We hope that he will continue to come to Texas and seek the relaxation that he deserves.

Whittington suffered a minor heart attack on Tuesday when one of the metal birdshot pellets in his body lodged near his heart.

Cheney was in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on Friday and received a standing ovation from members of the state legislature as he prepared to address them. He alluded only briefly to the shooting, telling the assembled group that he appreciated the warm welcome.

"It's especially true when you've had a very long week," Cheney said. "Thankfully, Harry Whittington is on the mend and doing very well."

The hunting mishap developed into a political furor after Cheney did not disclose it until the next day when he had ranch owner Katharine Armstrong call the Corpus Christi Caller-Times with the news on Sunday. The press complained the White House had tried to hide the incident and Democrats charged it showed the secretiveness of the Bush administration.

Cheney finally spoke about it on Wednesday in an interview with Fox News Channel in which he described the shooting and said it as "one of the worst days of my life." He rejected criticism he waited too long to make it public.

Yesterday, the Kenedy County Sheriff's office issued a final report, clearing Cheney of wrongdoing and saying no charges would be filed because the shooting was an accident.

- REUTERS