Little Canada Man Convicted Of Manslaughter
LITTLE CANADA, Minn. (AP) -- A jury has convicted a Little Canada man of first-degree manslaughter for fatally pushing another man into oncoming traffic.
Forty-one-year-old Michael Merten III was acquitted of two more serious second-degree murder charges in Ramsey County court Wednesday after the jury began deliberating Monday afternoon. Merten pushed 47-year-old Robert Hilgren of Vadnais Heights in front of an approaching SUV during an argument in August. Hilgren died of traumatic injuries.
Merten's attorney proposed the manslaughter count at the close of testimony Friday. It carries a sentence of about six to eight years. His attorney had argued Merten was acting in self-defense when he pushed Hilgren during the fight.
Two witnesses testified that Merten timed the push so the SUV would hit Hilgren. Another says Hilgren was about to punch Merten.
Merten's sentencing is in December.
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