a friend of mine is in Colorado right now and had an accidental discharge at his friends place. He is a long time gun owner and feels really bad about what happened, and of course embarrassed. Thankfully no one was hurt or hit.
My question for you guys. What should he do now? The cops came, didn’t arrest him nor take a statement, but he has a court date in early June.
What are the usual penalties on something like this? Should he get a lawyer? If so, should he call GOA or the NRA and get a name of a pro gun lawyer in the area?
Usually, can he leave the State and go back for his court date?
Sorry for all the questions, I’m worried about him and told him I would help. Thanks guys1
My friend currently has a some what similar problem, my advise, get a really good lawyer and pray that there aren’t any prosecutors that are really anti-gun.
If he has a court date then I would assume he has a citation of some sort from the police. Step one would be to look up the cited violation of code, the potential penalties for being found guilty, and then to take all of that to a good lawyer.
The penalties are going to be entirely dependent upon the citation. If he was cited for discharge of a firearm within city limits, for instance, the possible penalties could be different than discharge of a firearm in an occupied dwelling, etc. Without knowing the charge it’s impossible to give any reasonable guess as to how much trouble he’s in.
This is a court case for a negligent discharge in the Colorado…hopefully you can sort through the legallese and find the charges. Page 6 seems to state, state statutes on the issue.
That is a federal case involving a negligent homicide basically, no bearing on this situation at all.
I was quickly able to find that recklessly discharging a firearm in Colorado is a misdemeanor, while knowingly or recklessly discharging a firearm into an occupied structure (driveby shooting law maybe?) is a felony. Check the citation as previously suggested for exactly what is involved and good luck.