Man guilty of shooting Temple student

A Montgomery County man was found guilty Friday of aggravated assault in the 2010 shooting of a Temple University student following an altercation at an off-campus Halloween party in North Philadelphia.

The Common Pleas Court jury deliberated about 17 hours, starting Tuesday, before returning the verdict against Richard Dodds, 23, of Audubon, in the Oct. 31, 2010, shooting of Ian Hirst-Hermans. The jury acquitted Dodds of the more serious charge of attempted murder.

Judge Nina N. Wright Padilla set sentencing for Sept. 30 and sent Dodds immediately into custody.

Assistant District Attorney Allison Worysz said Dodds faced a mandatory five to 10 years in prison because he used a gun in the incident. She said he faced a maximum of 121/2 to 25 years in prison.

Defense attorney Christopher Phillips could not be reached for comment.

Dodds, then a student at Montgomery County Community College, had attended the party with a girlfriend and others at a house on 17th Street near Diamond Street, on the edge of Temple's campus.

About 2 a.m., Dodds got into an argument with Hirst-Hermans, 20, and others that erupted in fisticuffs, and Dodds was ejected from the building.

About 30 minutes later, as Hirst-Hermans and friends were leaving the building, police said, Dodds appeared, pointed his licensed 9mm Glock, and shot Hirst-Hermans once in the chest.

Phillips argued that Dodds feared for his life after getting beaten inside and that he shot in self-defense.

Worysz maintained that the shooting was not self-defense because Dodds had time to walk to his car for the pistol and then return to the house to wait for the partygoers to leave.