Colorado: Felon acquitted of gun possession that he used in self defense

[CoRoMo]

There are a lot of off topic peculiarities of this case, please don't harp on those to the point that you get my thread closed.

What I wanted to post here was a couple points that I find interesting.

Here's a link to the article: http://tiny.cc/8ng6ew

• He became a felon 24 years ago in an attempted theft conviction.
• May 6th, he used a handgun in self defense and was charged with possession of a weapon by a previous offender, facing 18 months in prison. He was just acquitted of that.
• He hasn't face all the additional charges that would come from acquiring the gun, no federal level charges, no charges to anyone who might have aided him in acquiring the firearm, etc.
• Something that I did not know was, Colorado law allows felons to own a gun for self-defense? If that's the case, how could he even be charged to begin with? I assume he was tried in state court and not federal court.

Now to some of the old internet memes from the earlier days of THR:

If ever I'm found in possession of a bald eagle feather, or my child brings home the wrong type of turtle to keep as a pet, or I happen to catch a short lobster on my next trip to the coast, etc... I still have a glimmer of RKBA hope.

But seriously, I'm curious how often this occurs around the country; felon uses a firearm in a self defense situation, is either charged and acquitted or not charged at all, and further, none of the other charges I mentioned in the third bullet point are pursued.

 

[brickeyee]

Sounds like a state level charge and court, not Federal.

The Feds could still come after him if motivated.

 

[CoRoMo]

That's what I'd like to know. Do you know of any similar case where the defendant got off at the state level, but was then pursued federally? For such a "minor" charge? Especially with the durable excuse of protecting one's self.

Or is it just not worth the time and effort for the feds? These are very little fish (although this guy has international notoriety). Where has the federal government gone out of their way to prosecute a "small" charge like this when the state acquits? Could, but would?

 

[brickeyee]

The publicity may be enough to attract a Fed prosecutor and action, but they do actually have other fish to fry.