BOSTON, Oct. 22, 2014—A gunman bested by a 50-year-old man with a cane will serve at least five years in prison following his conviction in Suffolk Superior Court today, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

A Suffolk Superior Court jury found WILLIAM RIVERA (D.O.B. 8/18/70) of Mattapan guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm, discharging a firearm within 500’ of a dwelling, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, all in connection with an incident last year on Dudley Street in Roxbury.

At the request of Assistant District Attorney Nicole Rimar of the DA’s Major Felony Bureau, Judge Elizabeth Fahey sentenced him to five years in state prison for possessing the firearm and pointing it at the victim, plus a concurrent house of correction term for firing it, followed by three years of probation for carrying it while loaded and using it to hit the victim. During that time, Fahey ordered, Rivera must obtain a GED, remain employed, and stay away from the victim. If he fails to comply with those orders, or if he re-offends in any way, he faces up to 10 additional years in state prison.

Rimar proved that Rivera encountered the victim, whom he knew, near the intersection of Dudley Street and Mt. Pleasant Avenue in Roxbury on the night of July 21, 2013. The two became involved in a verbal altercation that became physical. During that altercation, Rivera pulled a handgun from his waistband and used it to strike the victim in the head. Rivera then fired one shot, which struck no one but caused the gun to jam. While Rivera was trying to clear the jam, the evidence showed, the victim struck Rivera in the head with a cane he used because of an injury. Rivera dropped the gun, recovered it, and ran away.

“I didn’t run away and I didn’t back down,” the victim testified yesterday. He declined to make a victim impact statement today.

Jillian Quigley and Michael Coffey were the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocates. Rivera was represented by attorney Michael Doolin.

–30–

All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.