Conviction overturned for felon in possesion of firearm

[Maxpower]

If this was already posted, please delete. I did a quick search and did not find it.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/06/conviction_overturned_for_mich.html

Conviction overturned for Michael Crooker of Agawam, accused of being felon in possession of firearm

SPRINGFIELD – A panel of federal Appeals Court judges has thrown out a 2006 criminal conviction for a former Agawam man, negating a 22-year prison sentence

A jury found Michael A. Crooker, 56, guilty of illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. However, the “firearm” in question was a silencer for an air rifle which Crooker was attempting to send through the mail to a collector in the Midwest.

MichaelCrooker2004.jpgView full sizeMichael A. Crooker

The rub for the government at trial was proving Crooker, a self-styled firearms scholar, could have fashioned the silencer for a real gun because air rifles are legal for felons or anyone else to possess. The defense argued that many household items – such as a potato, a soda bottle or even a pillow – could theoretically act as a makeshift silencer and that Crooker never intended to use the silencer on a real gun.

He was sentenced to 22 years based, in part, on his lengthy criminal record.

Crooker has objected to the constitutional soundness of his conviction since the day the verdict came down, and was validated on June 18 when the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals rendered its decision.

The panel ruled the government’s case and judge’s instructions were flawed; but, the decision essentially hinged on one of the simplest words in the English language: for.

The Court of Appeals said the government did not prove Crooker intended the silencer to be used for a real gun.

“The statute does not refer either to capability or adaptation,” the ruling reads, referring to federal laws regulating firearms and silencers. “It speaks of a device ‘for’ silencing or muffling. The ordinary connotation of the word is one of purpose.”

Crooker’s trial lawyer, Vincent A. Bongiorni, said he was nothing less than stunned at the ruling but applauded the appeals court’s logic.

“There’s got to be that guilty mind,” he said, referring to what the appeals court decided was the government’s failure to prove Crooker’s intent to fit the silencer for a conventional rifle.

As for his client, “I’m sure he’s already looking at the law to see how money much the government owes him for wrongful incarceration,” Bongiorni said.

The local U.S. Attorney’s office would not comment on the ruling. They may appeal it to the full appeals court.

But, the prison doors will not immediately swing open for Crooker. He was indicted in early 2008 for possessing ingredients to make weapons of mass destruction; he pleaded innocent to the charges.

During a 2004 search of his apartment, investigators said they discovered ricin and abrin, two biological toxins, in the form of castor beans and rosary peas. The natural poisons are found in these legumes, according to the Center for Disease Control.

If convicted in that case, Crooker faces up to life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. The case is active, but prosecutors never moved to detain him pending trial because he was already behind bars. A bail hearing may be scheduled to probe whether Crooker can be released while awaiting trial on the chemical toxins charges.

 

[HooVooLoo]

Geez Louise.

First of all...A silencer for an air rifle? What could that possibly do? Make the *poot* sound of the air rifle go *poo(t)*?

Second, this line is rich...

During a 2004 search of his apartment, investigators said they discovered ricin and abrin, two biological toxins, in the form of castor beans and rosary peas. The natural poisons are found in these legumes, according to the Center for Disease Control.

OK then. So the practicing Catholic wanted to have a bean burrito. He's a terrorist because of that? WTF is going on here in the USA? Is it still the USA? I dunno man.

 

[TomH]

“The statute does not refer either to capability or adaptation,” the ruling reads, referring to federal laws regulating firearms and silencers. “It speaks of a device ‘for’ silencing or muffling. The ordinary connotation of the word is one of purpose.”

Very interesting ruling, that could put holes in many BS cases I'm sure.

 

[theGringo]

OK then. So the practicing Catholic wanted to have a bean burrito.

That's pure sedition, right there.

 

[45collector]

“The statute does not refer either to capability or adaptation,” the ruling reads, referring to federal laws regulating firearms and silencers. “It speaks of a device ‘for’ silencing or muffling. The ordinary connotation of the word is one of purpose.”

Hmmm. I used a silencer just the other day. I put ear plugs in my dumbos at the range so I wouldn't hurt me precious little eardrums.

 

[Climbnsink]

Some of the higher powered airguns are louder than standard powered 22s. There are quite a few airguns that come with 'shrouds' mostly permanently installed but the possibility of getting nailed for one is always there. The bean poison bit is bleeping ridiculous. Someone should swing from a lamppost for that.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

My how times change. When I was in the 7th grade (early 1970's), the science teacher handed everyone in his class an envelope with about a dozen castor beans in it. Our assignment was to do some sort of experiment and write a report (I grew half of mine in the dark and compared them to ones grown in the light). He also cautioned the class not to eat them since they were poisonous.

 

[theGringo]

My how times change. When I was in the 7th grade (early 1970's), the science teacher handed everyone in his class an envelope with about a dozen castor beans in it. Our assignment was to do some sort of experiment and write a report (I grew half of mine in the dark and compared them to ones grown in the light). He also cautioned the class not to eat them since they were poisonous.

I would have extracted and purified some ricin, and killed something with it. But then, I once set my house on fire with a chemistry set, and made gunpowder from charcoal bricquets when I was 12.

 

[cekim]

Well, another fine example of how some of the worst defendants shape some of the best of our laws...

“There’s got to be that guilty mind,”

This...

The burden so many of our laws are missing today... Particularly our gun laws.

Given the other crap he plead to, I question whether or not he had a guilty mind, but the burden of our Constitution is high for a reason - to prevent the wrongful conviction of the innocent.

I'd go one step further and say that things like silencers should require "intent" to use it for something bad as well. We should all be able to go to the range and use silenced firearms as we see fit. If some dirtbag uses one in a crime - NAIL THEM TO THE WALL. Until then, its a shovel.

There can and should be enhanced punishment for bad people using things to extend their criminal reach, but the things themselves are just that - things...

 

[Skald]

Well, another fine example of how some of the worst defendants shape some of the best of our laws...


This...

The burden so many of our laws are missing today... Particularly our gun laws.

Given the other crap he plead to, I question whether or not he had a guilty mind, but the burden of our Constitution is high for a reason - to prevent the wrongful conviction of the innocent.

I'd go one step further and say that things like silencers should require "intent" to use it for something bad as well. We should all be able to go to the range and use silenced firearms as we see fit. If some dirtbag uses one in a crime - NAIL THEM TO THE WALL. Until then, its a shovel.

There can and should be enhanced punishment for bad people using things to extend their criminal reach, but the things themselves are just that - things...

I agree, but the interesting part about silencers here in the states is that the law had to deal more with its use in the poaching trade than actual violent criminal aspect.

Well put post.

 

[seanc]

The silencer laws just defy all logic.
Muffler on a car= mandatory and good. Silencer on a gun= illegal (well, regulated nfa) bad. car radio too loud= illegal. Gun too quiet= illegal.



If every shooting club in the state required silencers, the neighbors would be a lot more happy.

 

[MisterHappy]

There can and should be enhanced punishment for bad people using things to extend their criminal reach, but the things themselves are just that - things...

It's easier to regulate (control) "things". Things don't vote. This way, "things" that are "bad" can be used to control those that posess and/or use them.

That's why EBRs are just that - evil - and, therfore, so too, those that use them.

 

[KMaurer]

During a 2004 search of his apartment, investigators said they discovered ricin and abrin, two biological toxins, in the form of castor beans and rosary peas. The natural poisons are found in these legumes, according to the Center for Disease Control.

OK then. So the practicing Catholic wanted to have a bean burrito. He's a terrorist because of that? WTF is going on here in the USA? Is it still the USA? I dunno man.

I'm not sure whether it's being a practicing Catholic or eating bean burritos that makes one a terrorist. OTOH, if you were to give me a warrant to search the prosecutor's or judge's homes, I'd be willing to bet just about anything that I could find the makings of both bombs and poison gas. As to the last question, the answer is a definite "No". This country doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to the former United States of America, i.e., the one that had a Constitution and laws. Welcome to the People's Republic of Obama.

Ken

 

[HooVooLoo]

...OTOH, if you were to give me a warrant to search the prosecutor's or judge's homes, I'd be willing to bet just about anything that I could find the makings of both bombs and poison gas...

Ken

Yep yep. You have any household ammonia? You have any fertilizer with ammonium nitrate? You have any bleach?

Mr(s) prosecutor and Mr(s) judge, you are guilty on both counts. Down to the dungeon with you!

 

[01SVTvert]

So if I have some night sights maybe I was trying to make a nuclear bomb with the radioactive material?

I could care less about his criminal past. If he had at least some sort of detailed plans and the material to convert the evil beans (they must be black and have either bayonet lugs or a flash hider) then I could MAYBE understand some conspiracy charge but a WMD charge for having friggin beans? They find some benadryl and say he was cooking meth too?

 

[cekim]

This country doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to the former United States of America, i.e., the one that had a Constitution and laws. Welcome to the People's Republic of Obama.

Ken

For the sake of treating the disease this goes back to prohibition, the formation of the DEA, the war on drugs, FDR, etc. and includes many Republican Presidents since then...

The press/television aggregated all the world's crime into our living rooms and people demanded "they do something about it" and the government responded in the only way they know how - getting bigger, more expensive and less effective.

Liberty = 1/Government

ALWAYS.

 

[dfranke]

Liberty = 1/Government

Liberty = f(x), where x is the labor, hardship, and danger you're willing to endure and f() is a monotonic function describing what can be obtained through that level of adversity. Hence my signature: man is free at the instant he wants to be [badly enough]. A perfectly free society still has thugs. Government is just an extraordinarily effective gang of them.

 

[terraformer]

Liberty = 1/Government

ALWAYS.

Liberty = f(x), where x is the labor, hardship, and danger you're willing to endure and f() is a monotonic function describing what can be obtained through that level of adversity. Hence my signature: man is free at the instant he wants to be [badly enough]. A perfectly free society still has thugs. Government is just an extraordinarily effective gang of them.

Two engineers debating the mathematical nature of liberty. Thomas Aquinas would be proud.

 

[KMaurer]

For the sake of treating the disease this goes back to prohibition, the formation of the DEA, the war on drugs, FDR, etc. and includes many Republican Presidents since then...

Even earlier. Skipping the eternal debate over Lincoln, the Wilson administration would be a good starting point.

1. The 16th Amendment and the beginning of federal income tax (starting out as a 1% tax on income over the ridiculously high level of $20,000 with a maximum rate of 7%, and growing to a rate of 2% on income over $2,000 with a maximum rate of 67% in only 4 years!)
2. The 17th Amendment and the end of any pre;tense of state control of Congress;
3. Wilson's policy that war gives the President the power, even though not the Constitutional authority, to trample the civil rights of any and all opponents, including imprisoning without trial, suspension of habeus corpus, control of the press, sending out SEIU/ACORN-like goon squads to beat up protesters, etc. (shades of Lincoln).

Prohibition was an admitted disaster, but at least politicians accepted that it required a Constitutional Amendment to give the federal government the authority to implement it. Within 15 years, the perception had changed so that people accepted that the same federal government somehow (magically?) now had the authority to regulate drugs, firearms, and almost anything else. It took less than another 15 years to expand that to cover absolutely anything that could possibly be bartered or sold, regardless of whether it actually was.

Ken

 

[Rob Boudrie]

Prohibition was an admitted disaster, but at least politicians accepted that it required a Constitutional Amendment to give the federal government the authority to implement it. Within 15 years, the perception had changed so that people accepted that the same federal government somehow (magically?) now had the authority to regulate drugs, firearms, and almost anything else.

The reason for the $200 NFA transfer tax is that it was "obvious" to congress at the time that they did not have the power to ban such weaponry, and used taxation as the method for a de-factor prohibition.

 

[KBCraig]

Even earlier. Skipping the eternal debate over Lincoln, the Wilson administration would be a good starting point.

1. 
   
   I would start with George Washington and the Whiskey Rebellion.

 

[cekim]

The reason for the $200 NFA transfer tax is that it was "obvious" to congress at the time that they did not have the power to ban such weaponry, and used taxation as the method for a de-factor prohibition.

This.

The loss of this understanding may have been the final death blow to the Constitution - time will tell and its up to us to decide...

 

[wj11]

Agawam man guilty of threatening prosecutor, possessing ricin

An Agawam man with a lengthy criminal record pleaded guilty yesterday to possessing a deadly toxin and threatening a federal prosecutor, officials said.

Michael Crooker, 57, entered his plea in US District Court in Boston to one count of mailing a letter containing a threat to injure an officer or employee of the United States, and one count of possessing the toxin, ricin, without the required registration, US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz said.

Full story at Globe

 

[cekim]

Agawam man guilty of threatening prosecutor, possessing ricin

An Agawam man with a lengthy criminal record pleaded guilty yesterday to possessing a deadly toxin and threatening a federal prosecutor, officials said.

Michael Crooker, 57, entered his plea in US District Court in Boston to one count of mailing a letter containing a threat to injure an officer or employee of the United States, and one count of possessing the toxin, ricin, without the required registration, US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz said.

Full story at Globe

Some people just don't know how to get out of their own way...

 

[drgrant]

Very interesting ruling, that could put holes in many BS cases I'm sure.

Keep in mind that ruling's efficacy would only will be valid in this district. Not to mention BATFE can still destroy someone's life trumping up charges. It doesn't "cost" them anything if their case fails, but it will always cost you lots fighting it, even if they are clearly in the wrong.

The posture has to be that the government will get punished / lose instantly whenever they bring up this crap.

One of the major problems with federal gun laws is the lack of strict definitions. Outside of the obvious problem of the stupid laws existing to begin wtih, the other obvious problem is many of them don't have clauses which STRICTLY define the standard of evidence for a prosecution. All of that crap is left "up to" BATFE, which results in bogus prosecutions like this one. Of course, the ulterior motives by not being specific are obvious here- it gives the feds lots of latitude to harass gun owners. It also fluffs up the whole "guns are bad" mantra by creating more circumstances under which an individual can be prosecuted.

Another bag of fun is the straw purchase laws. The intent of those laws was to stop felons from doing proxy buys of guns- the reality is the law is written so poorly and allows so much subjectivity that it could ensnare virtually anyone, even two individuals conducting a transaction who are not prohibited persons.

-Mike

 

[drgrant]

The reason for the $200 NFA transfer tax is that it was "obvious" to congress at the time that they did not have the power to ban such weaponry, and used taxation as the method for a de-factor prohibition.

And that facade is the biggest lie running in federal law.

I could have an income tax liability of $10,000 to owe the IRS, and I'll probably get a nasty letter in the mail from them first, and maybe a visit from an agent, or an audit. None of those things will involve dogs getting shot, etc, unless I don't respond to the IRS for many years.

On the other hand, if I (hypothetically, of course) don't pay a $200 tax on an NFA device, and BATFE finds out about it, my door is probably getting smashed in, a few dogs/cats getting capped, and I'll be held at gunpoint while my house is destroyed.

If it was really about the taxes the feds would come and just ask you to pay the $200 fee plus interest and penalties, perhaps. Or they would allow you to do an NFA registration via an FFL and the dealer collects the tax and sends the paperwork and the money to BATFE. It's obviously nothing to do with taxation and everything to do with control. Of course, we all know this.

-Mike

 

[drgrant]

For the sake of treating the disease this goes back to prohibition, the formation of the DEA, the war on drugs, FDR, etc. and includes many Republican Presidents since then...

IMO it goes back to Shay's Rebellion or thereabouts, quite frankly. Even when this country was more or less born, there were serious disagreements about the role of the government.

-Mike

 

[cekim]

IMO it goes back to Shay's Rebellion or thereabouts, quite frankly. Even when this country was more or less born, there were serious disagreements about the role of the government.

-Mike

True, but what changed was the consensus amongst the pols was about how far they could push the envelope of their power without risking a rebellion...

The legislative shenanigans pulled to "ban" things prior to the DEA/ATF showed that Congress did not believe as a whole that it had the power to ban things... It had to accomplish it through other means... (as was discussed some time ago in this thread).

People have disagreed since day one, what helped until recently was that at least one side understood they did not have the power to do it no matter what they thought the right answer might be.

That's gone. It's only a debate about do we violate the constitution this way or that way?

 

[center442]

I would have extracted and purified some ricin, and killed something with it. But then, I once set my house on fire with a chemistry set, and made gunpowder from charcoal bricquets when I was 12.

See, that right there is why we have to have have more laws and regulations banning things that could be dangerous. If we let kids play with things like that you never know how they'll end up.

Some might even go on to become science teachers.

 

[theGringo]

See, that right there is why we have to have have more laws and regulations banning things that could be dangerous. If we let kids play with things like that you never know how they'll end up.

Some might even go on to become science teachers.

One of the first questions I typically get at the beginning of the year is, "Are we gonna blow stuff up?".