arrested for open carry in police station

[deepdiver]

That arraignment was interesting. If that is the judge for the trial I think they are going to have big problems. He made his opinion of the situation pretty clear.

 

[Evil Creamsicle]

That arraignment was interesting. If that is the judge for the trial I think they are going to have big problems. He made his opinion of the situation pretty clear.

I have a huge issue with that. Clearly they are supposed to be able to have an unbiased officiator, and when you have a guy like that raising bonds of his own volition beyond what is asked for by the prosecution and making clear opinionated statements against their alleged actions, you have clear grounds for a motion to relocate the trial, at least in my opinion, and I am not a lawyer.

 

[2OLD2W8]

March 31st, 9am
Downtown Detroit... I think its 3rd district court.

Updates??

 

[Evil Creamsicle]

Updates??

Still going through court. Nothing to report yet.

 

[Evil Creamsicle]

a week from Friday [5/26] is pretrial. trial is set for June 5th I think. I'll confirm when I know.

 

[Glock9mmOldStyle]

a week from Friday [5/26] is pretrial. trial is set for June 5th I think. I'll confirm when I know.

Any news. Let's hope it's good.

 

[Evil Creamsicle]

Any news. Let's hope it's good.

The armed gentleman was able to get his CCW felony dropped.
The evidence that led to that charge getting dropped pretty much make it impossible for the cameraman's CCW to result in a conviction so it should be dropped as well.

That will leave a couple misdemeanors for the armed guy and nothing but a 'resisting arrest' felony for the cameraman, which *should* never be a charge that is capable of standing on its own.

EDIT: Forgot to add that even though his only felony charge was dropped, they refused to let him off of his GPS tether.
Think about that... 50,000 dollar personal bond and a GPS tether for a couple misdemeanors.

 

[Evil Creamsicle]

Oh G9OS.... you jinxed it.

Direct update from James:

Update on my case:
After I was arrested on Feb 5th, the prosecution dropped the three misdemeanors they originally charged me with. They replaced those three charges with a felony and two misdemeanor charges, up to nearly 6 years in prison. All of my guns were ordered to be confiscated, I was ordered to have a GPS tether on that keeps me in the house, and I was locked up pending paying the $50,000 cash surety bond for my release.
My first court date thereafter that arraignment, the prosecution attempted to lock me back up and take my $50,000 cash bond, all because I apparently did not turn in any firearms (all of which were sold lawfully well-ahead of time. The judge let me stay out, under the condition that my fiancé turn in her collection of firearms (so that I theoretically have zero access to firearms).
The next few court dates were as equally telling, as the prosecution refused to offer either Brandon or I any kind of plea deal, which is surprising. We had been floating in this vacancy of judges at the Wayne County 3rd Circuit Court, having each of these pretrial hearings in front of whatever veteran judge was available.
We went before one of these veteran judges a few weeks ago. My excellent attorney, Jim Makowski, filed a motion to quash my felony charge. The judge ruled in my favor, making the case that my Concealed Pistol License had been incorrectly confiscated and not returned, which means that there was no way I could have allegedly felony carried a concealed weapon. That charge, my only felony, was dismissed. It's dismissal also necessitated dismissing Brandon's correlating felony concealed carry charge.
Now, out of seemingly nowhere, Gov Rick Snyder up in Lansing appointed a judge to fill the vacancy we had been floating in. The judge he appointed is a female, anti-gun former prosecutor from Dearborn, the city of the arrest. This already seemed like the case is fixed from the Capitol on down, or else it is an amazing coincidence.
Today, this new judge, the Honorable Mariam Saad Bazzi, reversed the dismissal of the felony, denied our motion for an interlocutory appeal, denied our motion for her to recuse herself, denied our motion to suppress illegal evidence, and even denied our motion to move the trial date due to a schedule conflict. My felony is back, and an ugly trial is just around the corner.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is your coercive, monopolized justice system. A backroom deal from Lansing down is at play here, and my freedom, even yours, is at stake.

 

[DeSchaine]

Honorable hell. Shes been a judge less than six months after being ASSISTANT WAYNE COUNTY PROSECUTOR in charge of the Deed and Mortgage Fraud Task Force. The FreeP (Det. Free Press) did a little bio of her when she was appointed. The list of her memberships and political assoc. stinks of PC crap. The whole thing stinks of PC BS.

http://www.freep.com/story/news/loc...secutor-mariam-bazzi-circuit-court/101214874/

 

[Michigander]

This is why I have always been eager to suggest not biting off more than you can chew in Wayne County. They asked for and have received a drawn out process of being dragged through their judicial meat grinder.

 

[Evil Creamsicle]

well today is the first day of their jury trial. We will see what happens.

 

[griffin]

Felony convictions for both. Not good.

 

[Fallschirjmäger]

Well, that was an unexpected turn of events. Did anyone even see that coming? Oh...... right.

 

[DeSchaine]

I find it highly interesting that neither the Freep nor the Detroit News has anything about this as of this posting. In fact, the only thing I could find about it was posted on the Arab American News website after a google search of the names of the two individuals.

 

[Michigander]

Felony convictions for both. Not good.

Neither good nor surprising after the deck was stacked against them.

I'd call their chances at an appeal reasonable if not entirely promising.

 

[griffin]

I find it highly interesting that neither the Freep nor the Detroit News has anything about this as of this posting. In fact, the only thing I could find about it was posted on the Arab American News website after a google search of the names of the two individuals.

http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/267003419-story

 

[Fallschirjmäger]

Fox2Detroit"... Leonard resident James Baker, 24, and Jackson resident Brandon Vreeland, 40, were charged with carrying a concealed weapon and now both have been convicted..."

It that conviction was for Sec. 227.(2), then they aren't going to need to worry about carrying any firearms for a long, long time.

 

[Evil Creamsicle]

It that conviction was for Sec. 227.(2), then they aren't going to need to worry about carrying any firearms for a long, long time.

The issue is they were both convicted of carrying the same firearm which is a logical impossibility.
Dumber still is that James' CPL was valid at the time, making this an impossible charge.

But we all know the court system doesn't operate on logic.

 

[Fallschirjmäger]

The issue is they were both convicted of carrying the same firearm which is a logical impossibility.
Dumber still is that James' CPL was valid at the time, making this an impossible charge.

But we all know the court system doesn't operate on logic.

You obviously have a more intimate knowledge of the case than I do, which firearm were they both convicted of carrying at the same time?

 

[Evil Creamsicle]

You obviously have a more intimate knowledge of the case than I do, which firearm were they both convicted of carrying at the same time?

A single Glock, which was at the time in the trunk of the vehicle.
They claim that it wasn't properly transported because it wasn't in a case, but the video evidence available doesn't clearly show where the gun is placed well enough to draw that conclusion.

In any case it is irrelevant since one of them had a valid CPL