http://reason.com/archives/2010/11/15/brian-aitkens-mistake
i cannot find any other info on this guy- any of you New Jersey members up on this guy’s conviction?
summary-
brian lived in colorado with his wife and son… wife left him and moved back to new jersey. brian sold the house and began moving his shit to a new apartment in NJ to be closer to his son. he owned three handguns, which he unloaded, locked, and put into locked hard-cases… i’m not exactly clear on what all went down with the guns- but he apparently stored them, along with a lot of his other shit, with his mother in NJ. after leaving his mother’s with the guns and a lot of other shit (clear evidence of a move), his mother called the police to talk to them about his mental state, being concerned that he may try to harm himself. the article articulates that she’s a social-worker, and is trained to do this any time anybody she’s dealing with seems, in her estimation, like they may try to commit suicide. who knows how she defines her own criteria. she re-thinks, hangs up the 911 call before answered, police respond to the 911 hangup. after they’re there and she explains why she’d made the call, they call Brian and ask him to come back. he complies (fatal error). once back, they search him, search his car, dig through all his shit (the article doesn’t talk about consent or why they searched- but they’re NJ cops, so one can only imagine how it all went down [glare at me all you want]), and find the cased, locked, and emptied pistols. he’s arrested and prosecuted for unlawful possession of firearms under NJ law. the jury is not allowed to hear about exceptions to NJ’s ultra strict handgun laws, nor is Brian allowed to use the exception about transporting firearms between residences- the Judge’s ruling. the jury reluctantly convicts Brian, after asking numerous times about exceptions and being told by the judge that none apply to this case.
the judge’s reasoning for not allowing the exception to be presented:
“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.”
despite testimony from his friends and family that he was, in fact, moving.
anybody have any other info/links/heard anything, especially regarding opposing side?
