Not exactly New Jersey, but worth reading

[Rgrdocstud 6]

http://www.dnainfo.com/20110224/upper-east-side/florida-man-aquitted-of-carrying-gun-glove-compartment

 

MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A jury has acquitted a Florida man of carrying a legally-registered gun in the glove compartment of his pickup truck during a road trip to New York City last year, after he argued he forgot it was in there.

 

Jonathan Ryan, 29, and his family burst into tears and thanked God as the verdict was read Thursday. He would have gone to prison for at least three and a half years if he had been convicted.

 

"Everybody back home they said, 'Well what do you mean they're trying to put you in prison?'" Ryan told reporters after the verdict.

 

"We had a hard time even comprehending the law to begin with," he added.

 

Ryan was at the end of a 24-hour road trip to help his girlfriend move when he was pulled over by police on Feb. 21, 2010 for making an illegal right turn on the Upper East Side. He had forgotten he left his registered 9 mm revolver in his glove compartment, which he said is commonplace where he's from.

 

He insisted that would have told the officers that he had a gun in the car if he'd remembered it was there, but added he hadn't touched the gun since he put it in a holster and tucked it away in his glove box in October 2007.

 

"I'm not the type of guy to lie and hide things," Ryan said.

 

Ryan had been in New York to pick up his girlfriend, Ashley Shewey, who was working as a temporary page at the Late Show with David Letterman and living in Sunnyside, Queens.

 

Ryan added that the acquittal is an extra round of good news for him and his girlfriend — saying he had been waiting to ask her to marry him for the past year for fear he might end up in prison, he said.

 

"I'll tell you guys this now — I have a ring!" the elated man told reporters.

 

Ryan insisted he never intended to cause trouble in New York. He wasn't even supposed to go through Manhattan on his way to Sunnyside but his portable GPS sent him in the wrong direction.

 

He had made a right turn on red at Park Avenue and 65th Street, and was pulled over into a no standing zone in Manhattan while he tried to figure out the route to Shewey's apartment when he was approached by police, he said during his trial.

 

When he reached into his glove compartment to retrieve his registration documents, police spotted the revolver he said he forgot was packed away in the glove box of his 2005 Chevy Silverado.

 

He said his GPS had led him in the wrong direction and that he'd been hoping to avoid Manhattan entirely during the trip.

 

"This case was over-prosecuted from day one," said Ryan's attorney Mark Peterow.

 

Manhattan DA Cy Vance stood behind the charges said possession of a loaded firearm is illegal for "residents and visitors alike."

 

"Guns brought illegally into New York City – for any reason – violate well-established state law and are a threat to our public safety," Vance said in a statement.

 

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20110224/upper-east-side/florida-man-aquitted-of-carrying-gun-glove-compartment#ixzz1EwyeaeRw

[1563621 388]

Where I work we have recently released felons, Some gangbangers only serve 18 months for illegal firearms possesion

[Nick S 2]

Glad to hear he was acquitted of the charges. He could have really gotten into a jam by forgetting his legally registered firearm (in FLA) was in the glove compartment.

[Malsua 1,422]

Florida has no gun registration, so what are they talking about "legally registered"?

[n4p226r 105]

idiot got lucky

[djg0770 481]

Florida has no gun registration, so what are they talking about "legally registered"?

 

It's such a foreign concept to them that firearms in other states don't need to be registered... that people carry them on their person, legally, all the time.

 

They probably mean "legally owned".

[Dan 177]

Wait, what happened here? A jury acquitted someone of charges that were blatantly in violation of the law. If the story is true, and he did have a gun in the glovebox, he is downright guilty of illegal possession in NYC. Oh how did this happen?

 

Perhaps this is the concept of "jury nullification" at work? The jury issued "not guilty" when he was so clearly in violation of the letter of the law. Are the jurors wrong for so obviously and deliberately pushing aside the law, and letting this should-be-felon go free? Why is this guy so special that the jury decided to push logic aside (have gun without license, go to jail), and let him go?

 

This is excellent news, and hopefully a lesson is to be learned by NYC and other anti gun rights lawmakers that even the general population is becoming fed up with ludicrous and harsh gun control laws.

[I saw nothing 3]

Wait, what happened here? A jury acquitted someone of charges that were blatantly in violation of the law. If the story is true, and he did have a gun in the glovebox, he is downright guilty of illegal possession in NYC. Oh how did this happen?

 

Perhaps this is the concept of "jury nullification" at work? The jury issued "not guilty" when he was so clearly in violation of the letter of the law. Are the jurors wrong for so obviously and deliberately pushing aside the law, and letting this should-be-felon go free? Why is this guy so special that the jury decided to push logic aside (have gun without license, go to jail), and let him go?

 

This is excellent news, and hopefully a lesson is to be learned by NYC and other anti gun rights lawmakers that even the general population is becoming fed up with ludicrous and harsh gun control laws.

 

Maybe they looked at the "McDonald vs Chicago case" and used that as a reference? But you are correct, I was thinking the same thing.

[Bob B 103]

Wait, what happened here? A jury acquitted someone of charges that were blatantly in violation of the law. If the story is true, and he did have a gun in the glovebox, he is downright guilty of illegal possession in NYC. Oh how did this happen?

 

Perhaps this is the concept of "jury nullification" at work? The jury issued "not guilty" when he was so clearly in violation of the letter of the law. Are the jurors wrong for so obviously and deliberately pushing aside the law, and letting this should-be-felon go free? Why is this guy so special that the jury decided to push logic aside (have gun without license, go to jail), and let him go?

 

This is excellent news, and hopefully a lesson is to be learned by NYC and other anti gun rights lawmakers that even the general population is becoming fed up with ludicrous and harsh gun control laws.

 

 

Dan, you're officially my hero!

[Rgrdocstud 6]

Why is this guy so special that the jury decided to push logic aside (have gun without license, go to jail), and let him go?

 

This is excellent news, and hopefully a lesson is to be learned by NYC and other anti gun rights lawmakers that even the general population is becoming fed up with ludicrous and harsh gun control laws.

 

I was thinking the same thing. It seems like the jury could not in good conscience convict a polite young man with a good courtroom presence and no criminal record who seems to have simply made an honest mistake. By the letter of the law, he has no excuse, but jurors are only human.

 

So is this a sign that the general population is fed up with ludicrous gun control laws? Is there hope for change?

[BRaptor 68]

I apologize to anyone claiming jury nullification or some other form of mass common-sense sweeping over the tri-state, but I fear that may not be the situation, here.

 

I'll bet that the violation for which he was being tried required him to "knowingly" possess the firearm in his car. I'm also willing to bet that his attorney managed to convince the jury that this man "forgot" that his pistol was in his glove box and, therefore, did not "knowingly" possess the weapon.

 

I don't believe for one second that this guy forgot the gun was in his glove box. However, I am proud that the jury looked to this argument as a way to tell Cy Vance to f*ck off. So, it might not be the jury bringing back a verdict that is contrary to what the law directs them to do, it is a step in the right direction.

[Dan 177]

I apologize to anyone claiming jury nullification or some other form of mass common-sense sweeping over the tri-state, but I fear that may not be the situation, here.

 

I'll bet that the violation for which he was being tried required him to "knowingly" possess the firearm in his car. I'm also willing to bet that his attorney managed to convince the jury that this man "forgot" that his pistol was in his glove box and, therefore, did not "knowingly" possess the weapon.

 

I don't believe for one second that this guy forgot the gun was in his glove box. However, I am proud that the jury looked to this argument as a way to tell Cy Vance to f*ck off. So, it might not be the jury bringing back a verdict that is contrary to what the law directs them to do, it is a step in the right direction.

 

Its pretty clear cut. There is no "knowingly" clause that I could find....

NYC Penal Code:

§ 265.03 Criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.

A person is guilty of criminal possession of a weapon in the second

degree when:

(1) with intent to use the same unlawfully against another, such

person:

(a) possesses a machine-gun; or

b possesses a loaded firearm; or

c possesses a disguised gun; or

(2) such person possesses five or more firearms; or

(3) such person possesses any loaded firearm. Such possession shall

not, except as provided in subdivision one or seven of section 265.02 of

this article, constitute a violation of this subdivision if such

possession takes place in such person's home or place of business.

Criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree is a class C felony.

 

I couldn't find a single exemption that would fit the case up to the details that we have, as in loaded handgun in the glovebox.

 

If you care to look here's the link to the exemptions. We thought we had it bad in NJ!

My link

[mrjam2jab 9]

Psst...how do you think he got into NY? :ph34r:

 

another article

 

His mad-cap, all-day, all-night journey began early in the morning in Lake City, Fla., with plans to come up the New Jersey Turnpike, cross into Staten Island and Brooklyn before reaching Shewey’s apartment in Sunnyside, Queens.

 

[hd2000fxdl 422]

I apologize to anyone claiming jury nullification or some other form of mass common-sense sweeping over the tri-state, but I fear that may not be the situation, here.

 

I'll bet that the violation for which he was being tried required him to "knowingly" possess the firearm in his car. I'm also willing to bet that his attorney managed to convince the jury that this man "forgot" that his pistol was in his glove box and, therefore, did not "knowingly" possess the weapon.

 

I don't believe for one second that this guy forgot the gun was in his glove box. However, I am proud that the jury looked to this argument as a way to tell Cy Vance to f*ck off. So, it might not be the jury bringing back a verdict that is contrary to what the law directs them to do, it is a step in the right direction.

 

Very good chance depending on where he origionally from. May not be as common in FL but my friends in WY, MT, TX and AZ as well as a few others it's ingrained in them to keep a gun with them. I remember being with friends out in MT, they were showing me around while we were visiting there folks. We were about to leave the house and I got yelled at my my friends mother. I was wondering what was up, but was told never ever go out of the house with out a gun and no pee shooter either. I was handed a gun and told to use it if I had to. Gound out it was for protection not from people but Bear and Lions. They grew up that way from the time they were little kids, so take a transpant from places like that and put them on a drive through NJ, NY someplace.

 

What we have to do and know isn't close to what a lot of other people in the country need to know or even know about.

 

By the way my friends house was in Phillipsburg WY, no open container law, and I'll bet 99.9999% of the people out there ae packing not just 1 but moe than 2 or 3 guns in any of their vehicles at any given time.

 

Just a little insite to other places out there in the FREE USA, I know it's a shock but it's out there

 

Harry