Man Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Lawfully-owned Guns(NJ)

The New American ^ | 31 January, 2011 | Patrick Krey

[marktwain]

The Philadelphia Daily News reported on a disturbing story that should horrify every gun owner in this nation. Brian Aitken, a 25-year-old successful media consultant who was going through a separation with his wife, was in the process of selling his home in Colorado and moving to a suburban New Jersey apartment to be closer to his two-year-old son when he was arrested in an odd series of events.

On January 2, 2009, Brian was visiting his parents in Mount Laurel while taking a break from moving to nearby Hoboken. After Brian’s former wife canceled his scheduled visit with his son, he became distraught and said something to the effect of “life’s not worth living anymore” to his mother and drove away. His mother, a trained social worker, became worried about a possible suicide risk and called 9-1-1 but hung up after having second thoughts. Law enforcement traced the call and soon arrived at the scene. The police called Brian, who was on his way to his new residence in Hoboken, and asked him to return to his parents’ home because they were worried. When he returned, the cops searched his vehicle and found two handguns, both locked and unloaded as New Jersey law requires, inside the trunk, in a box stuffed into a duffel bag with clothes. Brian was arrested and, according to his attorney, the subsequent trial and conviction were the “perfect storm of injustice.”

[supercat]

It is a sad state of affairs when after being denied the ability to see the law they had requested to see there there wasn't even one juror out of twelve who had the intelligence and/or fortitude to give the defendant the benefit of the doubt due to him, and at least produce a hung jury.

If the judge refused to say whether there were any exemptions that applied, the jury should have refused to convict without being informed of the exact and complete law the defendant was accused of violating. If, however, the judge claimed falsely that there were no applicable exemptions, I'm not sure how a jury should have known he was lying.

I do hope some people come to power before the statute of limitations expires, who can put prosecute criminals like the judge in this case. Judges may be immune for actions performed in the line of duty, but illegitimate actions form no part of a government agent's legitimate duties.