Last winter, DH was working in his basement when local police crashed through the door. The officers informed him that they had a search warrant for narcotics. DH was brought up to his living room where his mother and teenage cousin were being detained. Ultimately, a handgun and cocaine were recovered in an upstairs bedroom.
The tactical officers then approached DH with an ultimatum; “Take the weight for the gun or your mother goes to jail.” Although the gun wasn’t his, DH did the right thing and said it was. He was arrested and charged with Unlawful use of Weapons by a Felon. He hired us a short time thereafter.
As previously stated, the gun was found in a bedroom on the first floor. DH was nowhere near that room either prior to or during the discovery of the weapon. We also obtained and dissected the related police reports. Two of the reports had extremely different wording with regard to DH’s statement that the gun was his.
During cross examination, one of the officers stated that DH told him that the bedroom where the gun was located was his. Another officer testified that the bedroom was DH’s mother’s. We showed different photographs of the scene to the judge. It was clear through the photos that the bedroom was DH’s mother’s and not his.
After reviewing all the evidence the judge found that the Prosecutors had not met there burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. FINDING OF NOT GUILTY
