Wednesday - December 01, 2010

A Gross Miscarriage of Justice

The Brian Aitken story bubbled up on Drudge yesterday, so lots of people are talking about it. It’s been going on for some time now, and it’s pretty disgusting. I’ve spent all morning reading every post and every comment I can find on the situation, and it stinks.

Brian Aitken was wrongfully arrested and wrongfully charged with firearms violations by the wonderful state of New Jersey. He was then subjected to more than a year and half of pressure to accept a lesser guilty plea by an overzealous DA. He refused, and went to trial. The trial was rigged: the judge, who is now off the bench, and who has some damn strange views (ie that an adult female teacher is not a sex predator when she seduces 16 year old boys, and that no crime is committed when an plainclothes policeman has repeated, videotaped, “oral sex” with cattle. That same cop is also accused of being a serial child rapist and is currently pending 48 other charges.) created a kangaroo court by suppressing evidence and repeatedly evading the jury’s request to hear the fine points of certain laws during their deliberation ... with the result that Mr. Aitken has been sent to jail for 7 years for the terrible crime of illegally possessing a couple of handguns he legally possessed, and for illegally transporting them in his car while moving from one home to another by complying completely with the New Jersey law. And also for illegally possessing hollow point ammunition, which is entirely legal to possess in New Jersey.

This is an absolute Nazi-level travesty of “justice” and indirectly points out just how blatantly unconstitutional New Jersey’s gun laws are*.

Please read all about it, have your RCOB moment, then email NJ’s wonderful governor and ask that this man be pardoned, given clemency, and have the conviction expunged.

overview from philly.com.

overview from Examiner.com.

The story from a Libertarian web site.

More at the Brian Aitkens web site.

Evan Nappen’s highlights of the facts and improprieties. Nappen is the best firearms lawyer in NJ, period.

NJ Assemblyman Carroll writes Governor Christie asking for a pardon for Aitkens.

The former judge cries Boo Hoo that the Governor didn’t reappoint him.

Too “busy” to follow the links? Here’s the story in really short form:

• Aitkens bought the guns legally in Colorado, with full background checks


• He moved to NJ, and made the effort to contact the NJ State Police to find out the proper legal way to transport his guns. He complied with those instructions.


• For an unrelated reason, his mother called 911 on him, changed her mind, and hung up. The cops showed up anyway.


• After calling Aitkens on his cell phone and getting him to return to his mother’s house, police searched his car. Debatable whether the search was under duress, but probably was.


• AFTER determining that Aitkens is no threat to himself or others, cops search car and find guns unloaded and locked in cases underneath piles of clothing and household stuff. HP ammo and “hi-cap” magazines are found elsewhere in the car, as law requires. Aitkens is arrested.


• 18 months of pressure from DA for him to cop a plea to lesser charges. Aitkens refuses.


• Judge denies large amounts of evidence and multiple witness statements that Aitkens was indeed moving at the time. Judge denies multiple jury requests for clarification on points of law (NJ’s “moving” exemption).


• Not understanding their right of nullification and unaware of the “moving” exemption, jury finally returns guilty verdict.


• Sentencing done by second judge after first judge loses job. Judge #2 is not privy to trail transcripts, he just metes out the punishment. Aitkens gets 7 years.

* In NJ, all firearms are illegal. Period. Even the ones that the citizens have state issued Firearms ID cards and purchase permits for. It does not matter. NJ law ASSUMES GUILT and forces the gun owner to prove innocence (ie legal possession) based on a very small set of situational exceptions. It was one of these exceptions - moving your belongings from one abode to another - that the jury requested, and was denied by the judge, 3 times during their deliberations. In NJ, thanks to efforts by former Governor and rabid anti-gun elitist Goldman Sachs zealot “seat belts” Jon Corzine, “illegal” possession of a firearm carries the same penalty as using one in the commission of a felony. There is no Second Amendment in NJ, Heller and McDonald be damned.

NJ still has the “voluntary firearms registration” form that allows people who already own guns who are moving (or bringing them) to NJ to register them IF THEY CHOSE TO DO SO. So if the act of registration is voluntary, how can someone moving their legally owned guns to NJ be convicted of illegal possession? Forget moving, if it is indeed voluntary, and the owner voluntarily decides not to volunteer, how can any firearm legally purchased out of state be illegally possessed?

Posted by Drew458     on 12/01/2010 at 11:47 AM   
Filed Under: • Government • Guns and Gun Control • Judges-Courts-Lawyers • Justice - LACK OF •  
• Comments (4) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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