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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20040605-9999-6m5marchant.html
Dana Littlefield
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
June 5, 2004
VISTA – A North County family law attorney accused of illegally bringing a loaded gun into the Vista courthouse last year was acquitted Thursday of a misdemeanor gun charge.
A Superior Court jury deliberated for less than two hours before finding Kari Marchant, 47, not guilty of intentionally possessing a firearm at the courthouse. If convicted, she could have been sent to jail for up to one year.
Marchant's attorney, Brad Patton, argued during the brief trial, which began Tuesday, that his client forgot to remove the handgun from her purse before entering the building in November. Therefore, because she didn't deliberately carry the gun inside the building, she didn't violate state law, he said.
"The evidence was clear that this was unintentional on Ms. Marchant's part," Patton said in a phone interview Thursday after the ruling.
Marchant, who has an office in Carlsbad, had a permit to carry a concealed weapon at the time of the incident, according to the county Sheriff's Department. But such permits aren't valid in courthouses.
In January, Judge Adrienne Orfield reduced the charge against Marchant from a felony to a misdemeanor, saying that although her conduct was "unbecoming a member of the bar," the evidence presented during a preliminary hearing didn't support a felony charge.
Marchant was arrested Nov. 12 after sheriff's deputies stopped her at a security screening area in the building at 325 S. Melrose Drive. She was released from jail the same day after posting $5,000 bail.
Attorneys who show the deputies their state bar identification are typically allowed to enter the courthouse without going through security screening. But at the time of her arrest, sheriff's officials said they had received reports that Marchant had carried a gun into the courthouse once before.
On Oct. 23, the department issued a notice to deputies to "be on the lookout" for Marchant, according to testimony at a previous court hearing.
Sheriff's Deputy Darryl Leapart testified that he asked Marchant to place her bags on the belt to be X-rayed. When she did so, he noticed what looked like a gun in her purse and determined that it was a loaded, .38-caliber revolver.
Marchant told Leapart she forgot to leave the weapon in her car before entering the building, the deputy testified.
Dana Littlefield
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
June 5, 2004
VISTA – A North County family law attorney accused of illegally bringing a loaded gun into the Vista courthouse last year was acquitted Thursday of a misdemeanor gun charge.
A Superior Court jury deliberated for less than two hours before finding Kari Marchant, 47, not guilty of intentionally possessing a firearm at the courthouse. If convicted, she could have been sent to jail for up to one year.
Marchant's attorney, Brad Patton, argued during the brief trial, which began Tuesday, that his client forgot to remove the handgun from her purse before entering the building in November. Therefore, because she didn't deliberately carry the gun inside the building, she didn't violate state law, he said.
"The evidence was clear that this was unintentional on Ms. Marchant's part," Patton said in a phone interview Thursday after the ruling.
Marchant, who has an office in Carlsbad, had a permit to carry a concealed weapon at the time of the incident, according to the county Sheriff's Department. But such permits aren't valid in courthouses.
In January, Judge Adrienne Orfield reduced the charge against Marchant from a felony to a misdemeanor, saying that although her conduct was "unbecoming a member of the bar," the evidence presented during a preliminary hearing didn't support a felony charge.
Marchant was arrested Nov. 12 after sheriff's deputies stopped her at a security screening area in the building at 325 S. Melrose Drive. She was released from jail the same day after posting $5,000 bail.
Attorneys who show the deputies their state bar identification are typically allowed to enter the courthouse without going through security screening. But at the time of her arrest, sheriff's officials said they had received reports that Marchant had carried a gun into the courthouse once before.
On Oct. 23, the department issued a notice to deputies to "be on the lookout" for Marchant, according to testimony at a previous court hearing.
Sheriff's Deputy Darryl Leapart testified that he asked Marchant to place her bags on the belt to be X-rayed. When she did so, he noticed what looked like a gun in her purse and determined that it was a loaded, .38-caliber revolver.
Marchant told Leapart she forgot to leave the weapon in her car before entering the building, the deputy testified.
Ease up on the caffeine El T 
