No problem. It can be hard to tell humor from actual ire, for both of us, evidently.
Latest story from Arkansas:
Fayetteville : Militia’s Fincher to fight verdicts on gun charges --- BY SHARON C. FITZGERALD
Posted on Saturday, January 13, 2007
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/178705/
FAYETTEVILLE — A Washington County man faces up to 20 years in federal prison after a jury convicted him Friday on illegal weapons charges.
Hollis Wayne Fincher, 60, smiled at relatives and supporters after the verdict was read in U. S. District Court in Fayetteville. He will remain in the Sebastian County jail in Fort Smith and will be sentenced within 45 to 60 days.
The jury deliberated more than four hours Friday before convicting Fincher on charges of possessing machine guns and possession of a firearm not registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.
Wendy Johnson, assistant U. S. attorney, said the investigation of the Militia of Washington County continues.
“[Fincher and his supporters ] are good people, and they believe very strongly,” Johnson said. “Those beliefs are just contrary to the laws of the land.”
Defense attorney Oscar Stilley said he plans to appeal the case “until we get a not-guilty verdict.” He said jurors appeared to have wrestled with the law as they deliberated.
The jury sent three questions to U. S. District Judge Jimm L. Hendren, including one asking how they could reconcile being unable to make a unanimous decision on the registration charge. They concluded deliberations two hours later.
“I don’t feel like they were happy about this [decision ],” Stilley said. “There were no smiles on their faces and no laughing.”
Fincher is the lieutenant commander in the Militia of Washington County and never denied owning the guns. Other militia members expect to be arrested on federal gun charges, Stilley said.
The U. S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began investigating Fincher in May, several months after he appeared on the front page of a newspaper holding a machine gun.
“[Mr. Fincher’s ] beliefs are so strong, and it’s in his heart and in his soul,” Stilley said. “”Why else would you stand in front of a camera holding a machine gun ?”
The defense is planning to ask Hendren to sentence Fincher to 30 months in federal prison, the sentence prosecutors offered Fincher if he would plead guilty, Stilley said. “There are a lot of prices you have to pay to have your day in court,” Stilley said. The defense put no witnesses on the stand. Hendren barred Stilley from introducing evidence that Fincher believes the U. S. Constitution allows him to build and own machine guns and sawed-off shotguns. Fincher was arrested Nov. 9 after federal agents seized 15 illegal machine guns and sawed-off shotguns during a search of his Washington County home. All of the guns were examined and found to be in working order. “Our strong belief in God will get us through this,” said Wanda Walker, Fincher’s sister. “This isn’t the last of Hollis Wayne Fincher. We believe that justice will be done in his case.”
To contact this reporter: sfitzgerald@arkansasonline. com
True, but his stupidity is unmistakable.