Bremerton man goes to prison for wife's guns

[marksiwel]

Plea the 5th or Say I own no guns. You are not responsible for your wife properties are you?

Apparently if I'm this guy, I'll go to jail for it.

[joe817]

If I report a robbery, the cops come to the door and say "Do you have any guns in the house" amI legally required to tell them "Yes officer" or can I say "None of your business"?

You are asking me for legal advice, so I can't comment other than to say "do the right thing" what ever it is.

We've strayed to far off topic, and I'll not continue this circular discussion. QRT

[marksiwel]

If I report a robbery, the cops come to the door and say "Do you have any guns in the house" amI legally required to tell them "Yes officer" or can I say "None of your business"?

You are asking me for legal advice, so I can't comment other than to say "do the right thing" what ever it is.

We've strayed to far off topic, and I'll not continue this circular discussion. QRT

I didnt mean to come off as so combative, I'm sorry. I was just looking for information

[Charles L. Cotton]

Plea the 5th or Say I own no guns. You are not responsible for your wife properties are you?

You can only "plead the 5th" if your answer may tend to incriminate you of a crime. Doing so would indicate he knew he was committing a crime which, according to his testimony, he didn't realize.

Chas.

[rm9792]

Which in reality is a confession. As soon as someone says that then the cops are all over it.

[mymojo]

Which in reality is a confession. As soon as someone says that then the cops are all over it.

Taking the 5this not the same as a confession. "MAY incriminate" is not the same as "will incriminate". There was a really good link posted last week (I'm pretty sure it was on this board) about not talking to the police without a lawyer because what you say, however innocent , can be twisted and used against you. It was really informative.

And maybe I'm just feeling cynical this week, but this IS a story about a felon in possession of guns. Seriously, no one ever mentioned to him that he wasnt allowed around guns? I just find that kind of hard to believe. And "the guns belonging to his wife" defense reminds me of a driver handing his beer to his buddy in the passenger seat.

[C-dub]

Unfortunately, as we can see by the result, one can. It has been discussed here several times and the answer has always been that they must not be accessible to the felon. I don't see him winning an appeal, so I hope the judge or jury, whoever decides the sentence, is lenient. I know the article said between 31-41 months, but I wonder if that's a mandatory sentence or typical one. If it's not mandatory, I seriously hope he gets probation or something without jail time.

I think lying about it when the LEO asked if there were any weapons in the house would have been a crime because their questioning at that time would have been part of an investigation. Even though they were not investigating you they were still conducting an investigation.

[rm9792]

Which in reality is a confession. As soon as someone says that then the cops are all over it.

Taking the 5this not the same as a confession. "MAY incriminate" is not the same as "will incriminate". There was a really good link posted last week (I'm pretty sure it was on this board) about not talking to the police without a lawyer because what you say, however innocent , can be twisted and used against you. It was really informative.

And maybe I'm just feeling cynical this week, but this IS a story about a felon in possession of guns. Seriously, no one ever mentioned to him that he wasnt allowed around guns? I just find that kind of hard to believe. And "the guns belonging to his wife" defense reminds me of a driver handing his beer to his buddy in the passenger seat.

I dont mean legally but realistically. If a cop is at his door and asks about guns and he pleads the fifth then what else would the cop think? I am willing to bet that a warrant will be enroute soon. Its the same as when someone wont answer a question directly, it tends to make the questioner believe there is something to hide.

[FAAPOD]

Plea the 5th or Say I own no guns. You are not responsible for your wife properties are you?

Interesting question in a community-property state such as Texas.

[srothstein]

Actually, in Texas, he would not own the guns, his wife would. As I understand the laws on community property, if she owned them before the marriage (her claim in the article), they are hers and not part of the communal estate.

The problem here is not the law, per se. It is the police invented and court accepted concept of constructive possession. He did not own the guns and at no point was he physically touching them or carrying them. They were not even in the same room as him until he took the cops in there to them. this idea that I am in possession of anything that might be available to me is bad case law in my opinion. It came out of the drug war when the cops were trying to prove that people who were in the area of the drugs and knew about them were also in possession. How else would you arrest people when they drop the drugs on the ground as you approach, right? And when applied improperly (if there could be a proper application is a separate debate) you end up with travesties like this one.

This is why I believe that all rights should be returned to every criminal when their sentence is complete. If they are safe to walk around in public and they have "paid their debt to society", why restrict them any further? And if they are to safe enough to be trusted yet, why let them out of jail to begin with? It is also the basis for some other opinions of mine on our penal laws that would drag this subject way too far off topic.

[wheelgun1958]

"Do you have any guns in the house"

What does that have to do with why I called? Someone broke into my house.

[03Lightningrocks]

On a difference note. Do any of you legal minded folks know how this would shake out legally in Texas??? I read some opinions but I would like to hear from one of the lawyer types on this. I ask because I know someone with the exact same situation. He screwed up at 17 years old...spent his 18th B-Day in prison...non-violent offense...and 30 years later, still can't have a firearm for hunting or even teaching his kids how to shoot. These kinds of laws are just absurd. Anyway...how would this apply in Texas???

[rm9792]

I was told by an attorney that felons can be around guns but cant have control, ie I have a couple friends with NV felonys and they can be with me and ride in my car but cant be alone with the firearms. It doesnt seem to be much of an issue.

[03Lightningrocks]

I was told by an attorney that felons can be around guns but cant have control, ie I have a couple friends with NV felonys and they can be with me and ride in my car but cant be alone with the firearms. It doesnt seem to be much of an issue.

That situation would make sense. But if a felon lives in the house....do all in the house lose the right to have a weapon in the house? He or she is going to be alone with the guns at some point. It seems the answer is yes in the case posted above. I wonder what the law is in Texas regarding this issue.

[Bart]

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=i8z7NC5sgik[/youtube]