NEPHI — A man accused of shooting his own brother will have to wait a while before learning if he'll stand trial. A judge decided Wednesday evening to take the case under advisement.

Eric Charlton, 27, broke down and sobbed many times during the hearing. Prosecutors want him to be held accountable for the shooting while his attorney says it's not manslaughter, but rather a tragic accident involving two brothers who were best friends.

"Cameron (Charlton) would not want him to go through this," said defense Susanne Gustin. "He loved his brother and he does not want to see his brother go to prison."

Charlton kept his head down and wept during testimony from Juab County Sheriff's Deputy, Andrew Davidson. When Davidson responded to the shooting at Yuba Lake on May 28, he said Charlton repeatedly told him the shooting was an accident and that he had the gun for protection.

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<i>Heart wrenching. And perhaps there does need to be a societal consequence in addition to the loss he's already suffered. But not prison. </i> -- <b>Chippewa Jones</b>

Charlton told him he unloaded it before showing it to his brother. He said he took the gun out again later, put the magazine back in, but said he didn't remember much after that.

The deputy says Eric told him, "I just remember all of a sudden, the firearm went off."

Eric admitted to drinking. A detective said Eric's blood alcohol level was .06 percent.

Cameron's best friend, John Hummel, was sitting around the campfire with the brothers. In court, he said, when the gun went off, Eric was in sheer terror and pain. He was doing everything he could to save Cameron.

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Moments before, Eric had told Cameron, "You know you're my brother if you can trust me with this," referring to the gun.

Prosecutors argue Eric was reckless, pointing the gun at his brother's head. But Eric's attorney says, the gun could have malfunctioned. She says Eric, who was a mortar man in the Marines, was not an expert with guns.

"This is an expert gun," Gustin said. "He had no training on this gun and when you slam the magazine like that, it shoots a round into the chamber and it can cause a misfire."

Prosecutors say they're not surprised the judge decided to wait on the case. They want the judge to consider the case carefully.

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