press@gunsafe.org wrote:
A good decision, but this won't keep the law from being used again.
Thank goodness the judge had the backbone to issue this decision despite
the serious charges against Avery.
http://courant.ctnow.com/news/apwire/Dec6-APwire_25718.stm
> Judge says seizure of former deputy's
guns was illegal
> DANIELSON, Conn. (AP) A Superior Court judge has ruled
> that weapons seized from the home of a former Windham County deputy sheriff must be returned to him because police violated one
of the state's newest gun control laws.
Judge Francis J. Foley III on Friday ruled that state police did not
explore all alternatives last month before removing seven guns and
ammunition from the Canterbury home of special deputy sheriff David Avery, who later resigned from the sheriff's department.
Avery, 43, was arrested Oct. 31 in Foster, R.I., after allegedly terrorizing and shooting at a black Hartford school
> teacher and her passenger during a 28-mile chase through Windham County.
Heather Washington told police that Avery, who is white,
shouted racist slurs and repeatedly rammed her car during the chase.
Avery, who reportedly shot out Washington's back tire
during the chase, is being held at the Adult Correctional Facility in Rhode Island while awaiting trial.
>
The weapons were seized under legislation passed by the Connecticut General Assembly in June.
The new law permits police to seize firearms from the home of a person they believe could be mentally unstable and a threat to himself or others.
The measure, which was passed in response to the April 1998 Connecticut Lottery shootings in Newington, stipulates
> that police only execute the warrant when all other options have been exhausted.
In his decision, Foley ruled that police failed to explore possibilities such as a consensual search, in which Avery or his legal representative could have voluntarily surrendered the weapons.
''This aspect of the legislation was critical to its passage,'' Foley wrote. ''The police were duty bound to explore alternate measures.''
The seizure of Avery's weapons represented the first time state police had enforced the law, which had been used by eight local police forces as of Nov. 17, according to the state Office of Legislative Research.
''This may be a learning experience for us as to what other avenues we might take in the future,'' state police spokesman Lt.
Ralph Carpenter said. ''But by no means should that be interpreted as we don't think what we did was right thing at the time. The
warrant was signed, so somebody aside from us had to agree.''
[This message has been edited by ernest2 (edited December 07, 1999).]