Posted on 12/21/2010 7:13:02 AM PST by SeekAndFind
We haven’t covered Aitken’s case (except for a lone Headline item a few weeks ago), but he’s a cause celebre among libertarians and Second Amendment fans — for good reason. In a nutshell: He bought three guns, entirely legally, when he was living in Colorado and brought them back to New Jersey with him when he moved home to be closer to his son. To make sure he had his i’s dotted and t’s crossed, he called New Jersey police for guidance on how to transport them. He had the guns in the trunk of his car, unloaded and safely locked in a case, and was allegedly en route to his new home in Hoboken when he got a call from New Jersey police asking him to drive to his mother’s home. She had phoned them because she was worried that Aitken was suicidal; when he arrived, the cops arrested him for possessing handguns without a permit. But wait, you say — isn’t it legal to drive your guns from one residence to another? Radley Balko at Reason wondered the same thing:
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 a telephone interview, Morley (who lost his job when Gov. Christie declined to reappoint him in June because of rulings in unrelated cases) says he didn’t allow the jury to consider the moving exception because “it wasn’t relevant.” Echoing the prosecutor’s office, Morley says: “There was no evidence that Mr. Aitken was moving. He was trying to argue that the law should give him this broad window extending over several weeks to justify driving around with guns in his car. There was also some evidence that Mr. Aitken wasn’t moving at all when he was arrested, but had stored the guns in his car because his roommate was throwing a party, and he didn’t want the guns in the apartment while guests were there drinking.”
As Balko notes, whether Aitken was driving home or just driving around with guns is a question of fact, not of law; there’s no reason not to inform the jury of the exemption and let them decide what happened. But then, Morley also didn’t let the jury know that Aitken had called police in advance to make sure he was transporting his guns properly. (For more on the judge, read down to the end of this piece on Aitken to see which ruling led Christie to dump him from the bench.) Left with no grounds to acquit the guy, the jury convicted him of unlawful possession and sentenced him … to seven years in prison. A perfect ending to a perfectly Kafkaesque story.
Brian Aitken, who was convicted of illegally possessing two handguns that he had legally purchased in Colorado, will be spending Christmas out of prison.
Gov. Chris Christie commuted Aitken’s sentence, from seven years to time served, according to an order the governor signed today.
Aitken had appealed to Christie for commutation after being sentenced in August. According to the commutation order, Aitken will be released as “soon administratively possible.”
Good politics and good policy. Conservatives will love him for it, and blue-state voters get a lesson on what can happen when gun laws turn draconian. Here’s a segment from NRA News recorded 10 days ago marveling at just ridiculous the case is. Exit question: Why commute his sentence instead of pardoning him outright?
Pardon him completely!
....NJ101.5 radio has been one of many behind the effort to contact Christie about this case, seems to have worked.
may that be a lesson to you.
NEVER speak to the “Authorities”
Justice at last. Big thanks to Chris Christie.
NJ Freepers who own guns: Be very, very careful. Read the facts of this case and understand what they did to Aitken and why. It could happen to anyone who lets his guard down.
Know the law, know the narrow exceptions for gun possession in NJ, and fear the Government.
Bump to the top.
Christie ticks up few more points in my book from this. But the fact a man can be sentenced for keeping LEGAL guns is a absolute travesty. If I am ever on a jury, I will have a much harder time EVER convicting anyone when dealing with the government of scum leftists as we are so plagued. So much of evidence is chucked out by dirty judges.
Why not a full pardon? The Governor is saying, in effect, that this guy is guilty by not giving him a full pardon. If I was this guy I would be out of NJ so fast all you would see is a streak of light.
Although I completely agree that he should be released. The laws in NJ are retarded. But, ignorance of the law isn’t an excuse to break it.
I am an avid gun owner and do some travelling. You better believe i look up each State’s laws before i travel through that State.
The justice here, would be to change these unconstitutional laws.
Pardon/commute ... we don’t know all the ramifications of the two actions.
What we DO know is that Gov. Christie rid New Jersey of an idiot judge and he righted a wrong.
Chris Christie is one of the very rarest of government officials: he will do the right thing, regardless of the political consequences.
God bless you, Governor, and Merry Christmas!
I guess you missed the part where he called the police of NJ and asked about transporting the weapons and was abiding by what they told him? The judge simply threw that testimony out and wouldn't let it be mentioned to the jury.
I’m even a bit uncomfortable with a Pardon. That still implies that he was guilty of something.
In a perfect world, I’d like to see Aitken be found not guilty in a retrial.
Still, I give Christie a lot of credit for what he did. It would have been very easy for him to keep Aitken imprisoned, and claim it’s a “public safety” issue.
Somebody get this man a personal trainer so he’s in shape for 2012.
This judge needs to be impeached.
Damn straight. "SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED"... This is not rocket surgery.
hmmm.. i believe you are right, and i missed that part.
but i would also add that simply calling the police is not good enough. Most police are actually instructed to not give advice on current laws and what they mean. It is your duty to look up the law itself.
I’m not trying debate anything but simply state that even though the law is wrong, it isnt an excuse to break it. It doesn’t matter what the police told him.
“But, ignorance of the law isn’t an excuse to break it.”
> I guess you missed the part where he called the police of NJ and asked about transporting the weapons and was abiding by what they told him? The judge simply threw that testimony out and wouldn’t let it be mentioned to the jury.
Exactly right and not only did he ask and comply with NJ law, he asked and complied with transporting from Colorado, checked the airlines, etc. and properly stored them unloaded and in their cases in his trunk.
A complete pardon would have been better but it looks like the guy is going to appeal the conviction too.
Good news but a full pardon was in order.
common sense is not so common. It amazes me to see just how many people interpret the constitution differently.
or maybe they just read the 2nd amendment and simply stop before it gets to the part of “shall not be infringed”
Sounds like a jury not well-informed as to their rights and responsibilities as citizens.
Every juror has the right not only to pass judgment on the accused but also the law.
We’ve got so many pages of laws on the books right now — Federal, State, City and Municipal, that even LAWYERS themselves and LEGISLATORS don’t know what they are.
Nancy Pelosi doesn’t even know what’s in the Healthcare Bill her congress crafted and tells us to pass it so that we would know what’s in it.
You and I are probably violating some law right now without knowing it. Yet, it’s not an excuse to break the law....
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