The executive director of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternal organization expressed mixed feelings over the outcome of a recent civil suit charging the fraternity with negligence.

Dennis Sanderson sued the national organization of Alpha Gamma Rho and the local chapter for damages suffered on Oct. 14, 2006, when Josh Grimes, then an Oregon State University student and AGR member, shot him in the leg with a .22-caliber rifle. Sanderson, who was homeless, was scrounging for cans in an alley behind the AGR house at 331 N.W. 26th St. at the time.

Grimes was arrested for the shooting Nov. 9, 2006.

After a four-day civil trial, a jury decided Monday that the national organization was not negligent, but that OSU's Association of Alpha Beta chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho and Grimes were responsible for $41,000 in economic and non-economic damages.

"While AGR is pleased the jury found no negligence against the national fraternity, we are very disappointed the local nonprofit alumni association was found to be responsible," Philip Josephson, the national director, wrote in an e-mail. "Claims were allowed to go to the jury that we felt were not justified by the facts, the evidence or the law."

Although Grimes maintains to this day that he was only trying to hit the Dumpster that Sanderson was searching through, he pleaded guilty in 2006 to unlawful use of a weapon and third-degree assault. He was sentenced to 150 days in jail, 400 hours of community service at a homeless shelter, three years of supervised probation and fined $3,000.

Sanderson, who now lives in an apartment in Portland, did not respond to requests for an interview.

During the trial, Sanderson said he was grateful to the Corvallis and Oregon State police and the Benton County District Attorney's Office for their work during the criminal trial.

Josephson expressed dismay that "the jury was not allowed to apportion the damages between the local alumni association and the actual perpetrator, Mr. Grimes."

Sanderson's attorney, Mark McDougal, had argued that the national organization allowed "an environment of animosity towards the homeless" to foster in the house. During the trial, Josephson testified that the 2006 shooting was the first and only in the organization's history.

"The acts of a few are not representative of the AGR fraternity, which has been a positive force in our society for over 105 years," Josephson wrote.

The fraternity is aimed at fostering young men who seek careers in agriculture. Many of the past and current members come from rural backgrounds, including Grimes, who is from Glide. He is now a senior at Western Oregon State University, majoring in political science.

McDougal claimed the local chapter's volunteer adviser, Clay Torset, improperly supervised the members.

AGR's attorney, Derek Ashton, said Torset had limited authority over the fraternity and never saw anything - such as guns lying out unattended - that would have prompted action.

Torset did not return a message left on his voicemail seeking comment.