Posted on 02/18/2009 8:45:45 AM PST by baldeagle390
West Allis - As Brad Krause planted a tree in his yard last summer, a neighbor noticed that in addition to a shovel, Krause had a tool not usually required for yard work - a gun in a holster.
Police arrived and gave Krause a ticket alleging disorderly conduct, launching a case that a national gun-rights group has been watching for months.
On Tuesday, Krause won acquittal in what some advocates say is one of the first so-called open-carry gun cases heard in a Wisconsin court.
Municipal Judge Paul Murphy said he had reviewed several state statutes and court cases related to the right to keep and bear arms. "There being no law whatsoever dealing with the issue of an unconcealed weapon or the so-called open carry is why we're here today," Murphy said.
In the end, he determined Krause's actions did not rise to disorderly conduct and found him not guilty.
City Attorney Scott Post declined to comment Tuesday.
Police responded to Krause's home in August after the neighbor called. They arrested Krause, gave him a disorderly conduct ticket and seized his gun.
Krause hired an attorney, Steven Cain, and fought the charge during a court trial in December.
After Murphy's ruling Tuesday, Krause said the significance of the case extends beyond gun rights.
"The reason people are upset about this is it's not about guns. It's about civil liberties. And we obviously have a property issue. There was no warrant issued, no exigent circumstances, no permission to enter the property, yet the police stormed in with guns drawn and put my life at risk," Krause said. Asked why he was carrying a gun to plant a tree, Krause said, "There's no requirement to justify why you're able to exercise constitutional rights. I and everyone else are able to go to church, they're able to vote, they're able to speak their mind. Even though the city might not like it, we have that right."
His attorney said the overarching issue in the case was whether it is legal to openly carry a gun.
"The law in Wisconsin really only limits concealed carry," Cain said. Cain argued that the U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that found Washington, D.C.'s gun ban unconstitutional concluded that open carry is "an individual right that shouldn't be abridged by law enforcement. That's what the case is generally all about."
West Allis Deputy Chief Rick Balistrieri said Tuesday's verdict will not change the way his officers respond to similar calls, noting they must assess all calls on a case-by-case basis, particularly when a gun is involved.
Krause's case had been one of several around the country followed closely and promoted by Virginia-based OpenCarry.org.
"Really, the larger issue is not even a gun rights issue," said organization co-founder John Pierce. "It's the issue of having a disorderly conduct statute that is a catch-all statute for otherwise legal behavior."
I routinely dismiss or refuse to prosecute the cases my cops bring in where they pull a drunk passenger out of a car, then arrest the person for public intox. Bravo Sierra far as I’m concerned.
Colonel, USAFR
He’s certifiable. I know this from a speech he gave to the local ASIS chapter back in the early 1990’s that I attended.
(ASIS is to security professionals what the AMA is to doctors).
His ‘speech’ was about how he had fired a deputy, and had just come from Columbus (state capital) where his decision to terminate the deputy was found to be completely and totally discredited.
The deputy’s ‘offense’?
His SISTER had written a letter to the editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer critical of the Sheriff’s claim that his personal demand all deputies wear ‘chucka boots’ was not part of the uniform, and therefore on the deputies to provide at their own expense.
He fired a deputy because of a letter to the editor the deputy didn’t send in.....
Its open admissions of this kind of insanity that are the reason he never is quoted in his campaign commercials, and never, EVER, would agree to a open debate with an opponent.
Complete and total nutcase, in short.
“This should serve as a lesson to us all.”
Never, ever trust law enforcement officers. The instant you say anything they are trying to figure out what to charge you with and how to get a conviction regardless of the circumstances.
Wow - just wow...I guess the good citizens of Cincinnati deserve what they vote for?
I moved my family and business out of that insane asylum in 2000.
Took eight fairly high paying jobs with me.
Rick Balistrieri should be held in contempt of court. And maybe charged with conspiracy to kidnap.
I doubt it. They like to hang on to guns as long as they can. Some places make you sue to get it back.
Bet that doesn't happen to SVS cooks very often. ;) Of course, I never said no to cops that wanted a late-night snack at the dining hall, either.
/johnny
That’s an acceptable level of back-scratching, I’d say. ‘Course, I made use of it on occasion while briefing ACs during mobility exercises...
I certainly hope they do not repeat their felonious aggravated assault (pointing a weapon at a person w/o just cause).
The officer(s) need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Also, sue the city for the same and/or civil rights abuse. Enough of this cr*p.
Sheriff Leis is not Cincinnati, he is the Sheriff of Hamilton County, in which Cincinnati is located.
Cincinnati has its own police force, which has made great strides in public relations due to outreach efforts of various types due to (IMHO) consent agreements with the Justice Department.
Simon has been just about everything you can be in Cincinnati, which as you know (but others might not) is the county seat of Hamilton County.
And sorry, the only ‘great strides’ realized by the drunk judge Dlott (And I post that with personal eyewitness evidence she’s a drunken POS btw) have been made by the criminal element in Cincinnati.
Since that ridiculous ruling, homicides in Cincinnati have been annually the highest in the City’s history, the white flight has decimated the tax base, and my city of my birth has become DETRIOT. The only thing missing is board up windows on the Fifth Third Tower, and thats coming.
Hey Badeye, how’s that AR-10 flattop of yours?
Sold it three months or so ago. Great rifle, but way too heavy. Gettin a bit older, and simply don’t have the strength I once did.
It really sucks....(chuckle)
So, I ‘roll’ as the kids say, with a M1 Carbine.
It worked in Korea, it will work in Brown County Ohio, if necessary.
Remember that police property room tend to misplace a lot of stuff, money, guns, narcotics, etc.
Thus far they've refused, but he is fighting them. (He was interviewed on radio that's broadcast locally.) The host of the show says that she regularly open carries in Madison & has never had a problem. He says that the police told him that they would have charged him with felony if he'd stepped one foot off of his property.
I’m certain that, at this very moment, any number of state legislators across the nation are working to determine whether their state has a similar “problem” which needs “fixing.”
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