Rifleman1776
New member
The incident I am posting about happened last week. I am not a first hand party to the events but they were related to me by the defendant. He is a friend. For this discussion, I will call him 'Jim', not his real name. This happened in Federal Court in Arkansas.
An individual we will call 'Harry' is/was obviously not a level headed individual and a hothead government hater. For reasons unclear, he planted a bomb in a church being used as a polling place during the last election. Good fortune intervened and the bomb did not go off. He was arrested and is currently in jail.
Later 'Harry's' live-in girlfriend asked my friend, 'Jim' if she could store some of 'Harry's' belongings in a spare shed he has outside his house. 'Jim' being a good guy agreed.
As it turned out the 'belongings' contained some NFA firearms and other prohibited items. This was unknown to 'Jim' who only thought the items were 'stuff'. And, the girl was a paid FBI informant.
The recently ended trial found 'Jim' guilty on nine counts of Federal violations.
Good guy that 'Jim' is he told me the jury did exactly as they had to do under the law. He bears no animosity towards the jurors.
Here is the kicker that has me really upset. Knowledge that those items were illegal was not a requirement for guilt. Intent to hide or use them for illegal purposes was not a requirement for guilt.
The only requirement for guilt is "possession".
Most laws, of all kinds, require intent to commit a crime to establish guilt. Not so, apparently, with Federal firearms laws and ATF regulations.
'Jim' is a military hero with 34 years service and honorable discharge. He has stepped in front of bullets for friends and would do it again. He is one of the most honorable people I have ever known.
He is 70 years old and faces time in a Federal prison. His lawer believes three years will be the minimum. His health is not good. He could die in there.
The laws need to be changed to include proof of knowledge and intent. I am going to start my own letter writing campaign. Law has been misapplied. I took some law classes many years ago. One tenant of legal principals is that the law should never be used as a sword, only as a shield. In this case, IMHO, the Feds used the law as a sword against a great and loyal American with no outcome that will protect society.
An individual we will call 'Harry' is/was obviously not a level headed individual and a hothead government hater. For reasons unclear, he planted a bomb in a church being used as a polling place during the last election. Good fortune intervened and the bomb did not go off. He was arrested and is currently in jail.
Later 'Harry's' live-in girlfriend asked my friend, 'Jim' if she could store some of 'Harry's' belongings in a spare shed he has outside his house. 'Jim' being a good guy agreed.
As it turned out the 'belongings' contained some NFA firearms and other prohibited items. This was unknown to 'Jim' who only thought the items were 'stuff'. And, the girl was a paid FBI informant.
The recently ended trial found 'Jim' guilty on nine counts of Federal violations.
Good guy that 'Jim' is he told me the jury did exactly as they had to do under the law. He bears no animosity towards the jurors.
Here is the kicker that has me really upset. Knowledge that those items were illegal was not a requirement for guilt. Intent to hide or use them for illegal purposes was not a requirement for guilt.
The only requirement for guilt is "possession".
Most laws, of all kinds, require intent to commit a crime to establish guilt. Not so, apparently, with Federal firearms laws and ATF regulations.
'Jim' is a military hero with 34 years service and honorable discharge. He has stepped in front of bullets for friends and would do it again. He is one of the most honorable people I have ever known.
He is 70 years old and faces time in a Federal prison. His lawer believes three years will be the minimum. His health is not good. He could die in there.
The laws need to be changed to include proof of knowledge and intent. I am going to start my own letter writing campaign. Law has been misapplied. I took some law classes many years ago. One tenant of legal principals is that the law should never be used as a sword, only as a shield. In this case, IMHO, the Feds used the law as a sword against a great and loyal American with no outcome that will protect society.