Posted on 11/23/2010 4:15:42 AM PST by marktwain
A web page headlined by radio personalities Dennis & Michele on New Jersey 101.5 FM Radio has posted an appeal to Gov. Chris Christie to grant clemency to gun owner Brian Aitken, who was imprisoned for gun possession while moving between residences—something supposedly legal under both federal and New Jersey laws.
CALL TO ACTION!
Brian's lawyer is requesting Gov. Christie to commute Brian's sentence. The more letters he gets requesting clemency, the better! Please show your support and ask Gov. Christie to Free Brian Aitken, via e-mail or snail mail:
http://www.state.nj.us/governor/contact/
Office of the Governor PO Box 001 Trenton, NJ 08625
Click here to see more, including to see a brief sample letter you can copy and paste. And while you’re at it, click here and scroll down to “General Email/Comments” to thank the station for providing not just coverage, but advocacy—that’s the kind of thing we gun owners should encourage more of.
A parallel petition effort is also underway at the New Jersey Second Amendment Society. Click here for more information, and click here to print out copies of their petition, designed to obtain multiple signatures.
To learn more about Brian Aitken’s case see:
* How can New Jersey imprison a gun owner who broke no laws?
* Family says judge made horrible mistake in giving Mount Lauren's Brian Aitken 7 years for having locked guns
* BrianDAitken.com (Includes donation click-through)
* ‘Free Brian Aitken’ Facebook page
* Brian Aitken’s Mistake
BREAKING NEWS:
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
my trip is around 45 minutes less time if I travel through New Jersey then PA. the NJ trip is legal on paper, as I lock my handguns in the back separate from ammo. but I KNOW NJ. and I know they do not abide by national laws, and I worry every minute of the hour I drive through NJ until I am in gun friendly PA, and then once back in NY.
It is legal to transport your firearms through every state of the Union if done correctly, but NJ (and to a lesser extent NY), whose Politicians deride those states that exercise their 10th amendment rights....do just that in crushing the 2nd amendment.
What was his “mistake”?
New Jersey is ridiculous. The laws are so stringent that nearly anything you do is wrong. They really do not want you to have a gun. It’s the CRIMINALS that have ALL the rights that LEGAL gun owners should have.
he made no mistake.
did I say he made a mistake or was your question rhetorical?
NJ is ridiculous as is Mass, NY, CA, and a handful of other leftist states...
His mistake?
...
Aitken’s legal troubles began in January 2009, when he drove to his parents’ house to pick up some of his belongings. He had grown distraught over tensions with his ex-wife, who according to Aitken had been refusing to let him see his son. When Aitken visited his parents’ house, his mother, Sue Aitken, grew worried about his mental state. In an interview with a New Jersey radio program last week, she said she works with children who have mental health problems, and she has always been taught to call police as a precaution when someone appears despondent and shows any sign that he might harm himself. Concerned about her son, she called 911 but then thought better of it and hung up the phone. The police responded anyway. When they arrived at her home, Sue Aitken told them her concerns about her son, and the police called Brian Aitken, who was then en route to Hoboken, on his cell phone. They asked him to turn around and come back to his parents’ house. He complied.
It was there that the police confronted Aitken. Although they determined he wasn’t a threat to himself or anyone else, they searched his car, where they found his handguns. They were locked, unloaded, and stored in the trunk, as federal and New Jersey law require for guns in transport. The police arrested Aitken anyway, charging him with unlawful possession of a weapon.
To buy a gun in New Jersey, you must go through a laborious process to obtain a “purchaser’s permit.” But that permit doesn’t entitle you to possess a gun. A few select groups of people, mostly off-duty police officers and security personnel, can obtain carry permits. But anyone else with a gun is presumed to be violating state law and must defend against the charge of illegal gun possession by claiming one of the state’s exemptions.
...
The exemptions allow New Jersey residents to have guns in their homes, while hunting or at a shooting range, while traveling to or from hunting grounds or a shooting range, and when traveling between residences. Brian Aitken claimed he was moving between residences, and there is pretty strong evidence that he was. Sue Aitken testified that her son was moving his belongings from her house to his. So did Aitken’s roommate. One of the police officers at the scene testified that Aitken’s car was filled with personal belongings.
Yet Judge Morley wouldn’t allow Aitken to claim the exemption for transporting guns between residences. He wouldn’t even let the jury know about it. During deliberations, the jurors asked three times about exceptions to the law, which suggests they weren’t comfortable convicting Aitken. Morley refused to answer them all three times. Gilbert and Nappen, Aitken’s lawyers, say he also should have been protected by a federal law that forbids states from prosecuting gun owners who are transporting guns between residences. Morley would not let Aitken cite that provision either.
In response to a query about why Aitken wasn’t granted the moving exception ...
...
“There was no evidence produced at the trial by the defendant that warranted such a defense.” Gilbert says that isn’t true. “We put on plenty of evidence that Brian was moving,” he says, “including testimony from his mother, his roommate, even the police officer who arrested him.”
...
This is totally nuts!
Corzine was a sleazy nightmare.
...
“New Jersey gun laws are insane,” Nappen says. “It makes a criminal of every gun owner and forces him to prove his innocence.” Worse, in 2008 the New Jersey legislature and then-Gov. John Corzine changed the law to make the penalty for possessing a gun the same as the penalty for using it to commit a separate crime. That means someone like Aitken gets the same punishment as someone who assaults another person with a gun. In November 2008, New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram issued a directive (PDF) urging the state’s prosecutors to apply the new law “vigorously,” “strictly,” and “uniformly.”
Corzine also got rid of capital punishment, quietly of course. At least with that on the table, there might be HOPE of properly punishimg someone but no, Corzine wanted it gone so it was. Corzine ran through our surplus with a last minute spending spree leaving us in dire straights which Christie is dealing with now. The spending spreewas strictly revenge for not winning the election. Corzine is a b-tard.
Brian Aitken’s Mistake
A New Jersey man gets seven years for being a responsible gun owner.
Radley Balko | November 15, 2010
http://reason.com/archives/2010/11/15/brian-aitkens-mistake/
There is nothing wrong with what he did. Its’ the judge that made am intentional mistake and didn't allow him the benefit of the LAW.
This is one reason why people are flocking to NJ in droves. /sarc off
More details: "Sue Aitken called the police because she was worried about her son, Brian. She now lives with the guilt of knowing that her phone call is the reason Brian spent his 27th birthday in a New Jersey prison last month. If the state gets its way, he will be there for the next seven years."
being intentional means it was NOT a mistake...the Judge is legislating from the bench and needs an attitude adjustment.
She violated rule number 1; never, ever, never call the police for problems involving your own family unless it’s a life or death situation. Chances are it will not end well.
I believe the judge was bannned from practice since then for some kind of altercation. .I think Christie did him in !
Yes, it was an INTENTIONAL “mistake” by the Judge.
New Jersey is very ANTI gun. This judge is ANTI GUN.
This judge was making his own personal statement by denying this huy his rights and explaining the circumstances for having the gun. This needs to be appealed.
I don’t understand how it has NOT been appealed. Heck, I would think that gun rights organizations would be chomping at the bit to take this case.
“I don’t understand how it has NOT been appealed. Heck, I would think that gun rights organizations would be chomping at the bit to take this case.”
I don’t either.
This is a no brainer.
I always get suspicious when they ask for “donations” too. Most likely he had a public defender and his appeal will also be a public defender.
Yeah, where is the NRA?
The Judge should be impeached and brought up on charges. Let that evil Judge serve the sentence he imposed upon a good and innocent man.
And remember, that when you do call them, it BECOMES a “life or death situation.”
The report I read about it last week, the lawyer’s strategy was to try for a pardon before taking the case as appeal, because it would clear him without the added cost.
If that didnt work, they would appeal.
Gov. Christie let him go.
His name is James Morley:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/06/former_superior_court_judge_no.html
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