longdayjake
Member
I would have offered to shoot the gun for them and then let them have my casings. Heck I would have let them shoot it as long as they gave me back my gun.
Confiscation?
- Thread starter Ron-Bon
- Start date
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It's sad to say this, but it sounds to me like they were just too lazy to go get the warrant, which would have probably been easy to do from reading your account of the events. I don't think that they are trying to say you had anything to do with it just trying to weaken the defense of the guilty party. Plain and simple, coming from a cop, don't surrender anything in a situation like this without seeing a search warrant first.
Almost every time I hear "Norfolk PD meets armed citizen" it ends up as a bad encounter. Sorry to hear that they took your pistol (but I can see how the courts may need it) and there is no telling how long it will take but do not back-off on getting it returned. I know that some would say obtaining a lawyer will cost more than the gun's value but, if we continue to let this (or similar) actions to continue, we are just setting a bad precedence and will see this repeated over and over again.
What threats did they make?
What threats did they make?
Sorry to dispute whet is seen on television, but most departments don't have a "CSI" unit, much less a lab. Down here it takes three months for the forensics lab to give back a positive test for meth, when my field test kit does it in two minutes.
It's most likely the gun was placed into evidence, to show it was not the gun used in the crime. Just like when a gun is stolen and you file a report, if it is found it is placed into evidence to be used in the trial against the person that stole it. Once the trial is over the gun is returned.
Treo
member
After giving it some thought I think TexasBulldog is right, you’re probably not a suspect (never say never). That said, all of these could be handled and all these “Generic Bad experience W/ A Cop” would come to a screeching halt is we just followed some simple rules
1. If you are pulled over by a cop, unless you are legally required to do so or you know (I.E. you are about to get patted down he's going to find your weapon do not inform the cop that you are armed (this assumes you are, of course, legally armed)
2. Make the cop tell you why he pulled you over (I.E. Do you know why I pulled you over tonight Mr. Potential detainee? “No Officer I haven’t a clue please tell me.
3. When he tells you why he pulled you over do not argue (I.E. Ok officer I’ll take my ticket now”) You can fight it in court later.
4. Never ever, ever, ever consent to a search. Ever. if they tell you they’ll get a warrant tell them to go for it.
5. Under no circumstances answer questions or make a statement of any kind with out your lawyer present.
6. A traffic stop’s a given, they pull you over your not free to go other than that as soon as they contact you ask. If they say you are free to go, go if they say you’re not ask for your lawyer and shut up.
7. Never make small talk with a cop (I.E. ‘where are you coming from tonite Mr. Potential detainee?’ “ From conducting my lawful private business officer, am I free to go?”). Cops don’t make small talk.
Follow these simple rules every time you interact with a cop and we won’t have anymore of these threads I promise
1. If you are pulled over by a cop, unless you are legally required to do so or you know (I.E. you are about to get patted down he's going to find your weapon do not inform the cop that you are armed (this assumes you are, of course, legally armed)
2. Make the cop tell you why he pulled you over (I.E. Do you know why I pulled you over tonight Mr. Potential detainee? “No Officer I haven’t a clue please tell me.
3. When he tells you why he pulled you over do not argue (I.E. Ok officer I’ll take my ticket now”) You can fight it in court later.
4. Never ever, ever, ever consent to a search. Ever. if they tell you they’ll get a warrant tell them to go for it.
5. Under no circumstances answer questions or make a statement of any kind with out your lawyer present.
6. A traffic stop’s a given, they pull you over your not free to go other than that as soon as they contact you ask. If they say you are free to go, go if they say you’re not ask for your lawyer and shut up.
7. Never make small talk with a cop (I.E. ‘where are you coming from tonite Mr. Potential detainee?’ “ From conducting my lawful private business officer, am I free to go?”). Cops don’t make small talk.
Follow these simple rules every time you interact with a cop and we won’t have anymore of these threads I promise
texas bulldog
Member
i would second treo's advice above...except that unfortunately we are required to inform police in TX that we are armed. other than that, all good advice.
BADUNAME37
Member
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- Aug 10, 2008
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- 4,434
I second that, and it DOES PERTAIN TO THIS THREAD!
Treo
member
Covered
Not just advice, a way of life
Sounds like there is an active trial going on. From your post the cops wanted your weapon to prove that you are not the perp because the defense attorney is saying that you could be the original shooter to a jury. It also sounds like they caught a bad guy but didnt catch him with the gun as if they did they wouldnt ask for yours to prove you are not the shooter. It is almost stupid that you are caught up in all of this. A good prosecuting attorney should be able to handle this without your gun.
Cops wont take your gun and then shoot a few rounds while you wait in the lobby for them to return it. It doesnt work like that.
I would have told them to get a warrant. They would have gotten a warrant though as judges hand them out like candy.
What sucks is you dont have your carry weapon even if you have others there is a cop somewhere banging your gun around because they dont care about it. I would be down there daily looking for my gun and find out what is going on and why they are not returning it. If you get the run around get a lawyer.
Cops wont take your gun and then shoot a few rounds while you wait in the lobby for them to return it. It doesnt work like that.
I would have told them to get a warrant. They would have gotten a warrant though as judges hand them out like candy.
What sucks is you dont have your carry weapon even if you have others there is a cop somewhere banging your gun around because they dont care about it. I would be down there daily looking for my gun and find out what is going on and why they are not returning it. If you get the run around get a lawyer.
Not sure that would make much sense. The concern here - and I think that it's covered in In Gravest Extreme - is that the prosecution will need to do ballistics on every gun "on the scene". They don't want to have to tell a defense attorney, under cross, that there was a weapon that could have been potentially used they could not exclude.
So look at it from their point of view. If they do not ballistically test a weapon and it could have been used to commit the crime, then they may have just handed the defense attorney reasonable doubt. If they let you leave the scene and come back with a weapon a couple of days later for testing, then they might need to answer as to why they gave you an opportunity to dispose of the weapon.
It's a pain to lose your gun - I don't think it was confiscated by any normal sense of the word - but that is in fact the price we pay for living in a country with a adversarial system of justice. A lot of folks like to rag on defense attorneys, but they are required to present a vigorous defense.
Most of us probably don't really want to live in a system where you are guilty if the government says you are guilty, and you have no right to self defense.
My guess is that all that waiting for a search warrant would have bought you is standing there waiting for a search warrant. Given the circumstances you describe, there is no chance that it would not have been granted.
Mike
BADUNAME37
Member
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2008
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- 4,434
If the crime was committed quite some time beforehand,
why would they have his pistol to begin with?
I guess I'm having a hard time following this thread. It doesn't make sense to me.
That's OK, though, there are a lot of things I don't know about. That's why I try to learn something every day!
why would they have his pistol to begin with?
I guess I'm having a hard time following this thread. It doesn't make sense to me.
That's OK, though, there are a lot of things I don't know about. That's why I try to learn something every day!
jaholder1971
Member
I hope to God you got a receipt.
Get the case # from the PD, then go talk to the prosecutor himself. Present your receipt and simply ask him when your handgun might be released.
If that doesn't work, go find out which judge is assigned the case and talk to him.
Make it clear that while you have no problems cooperating in this investigation you do want your property back and in as good a shape as you gave it to them in.
Get the case # from the PD, then go talk to the prosecutor himself. Present your receipt and simply ask him when your handgun might be released.
If that doesn't work, go find out which judge is assigned the case and talk to him.
Make it clear that while you have no problems cooperating in this investigation you do want your property back and in as good a shape as you gave it to them in.
dogngun
Member
Ron - we all bitch about lawyers till we need one.
You need one now.
Good luck.
mark
You need one now.
Good luck.
mark
Im283
Member
If Virginia law is anything like Tennessee law you will need to a court order to have the handgun returned to you.
I do not believe they will just hand it back over to you. It is sitting in an evidence room in a police station, and there is shall remain until a judge says to the police to hand it back to you.
I do not know if they need to keep your pistol until the case is adjudicated.
From my personal experience it would be in your best interest to retain an attorney. It sucks to pony up money when you did nothing wrong, but the cost of protecting your rights is not free.
I do not believe they will just hand it back over to you. It is sitting in an evidence room in a police station, and there is shall remain until a judge says to the police to hand it back to you.
I do not know if they need to keep your pistol until the case is adjudicated.
From my personal experience it would be in your best interest to retain an attorney. It sucks to pony up money when you did nothing wrong, but the cost of protecting your rights is not free.
Ron-Bon
Member
I don't think that I'm a suspect at this point. But I definitely agree with mcwjr13 that a new gun would be in order. I'm very nervous about my firearm being scrutinized any more than it has to. I called the detectives and he claims that my gun has been ready for retrieval since Wednesday but he went out of town for a family emergency. He told me that I can pick it up on Monday so we'll see. I'll update you all
but he went out of town for a family emergency.
When I wanted my stuff back that same thing happened to me - a funeral. Then the guy wasnt back yet then he got transfered then I had to contact another guy then that guy lied to me. Get your request for your legal firearm back in writing.
When I wanted my stuff back that same thing happened to me - a funeral. Then the guy wasnt back yet then he got transfered then I had to contact another guy then that guy lied to me. Get your request for your legal firearm back in writing.
Back to the original post - why couldn't the officer that was involved in the robbery/shooting identify you as NOT the bad guy? Surely he saw the guy he exchanged fire with, yes? Was the officer injured or killed, and unable to step up and say "no, this ain't the guy"? Seems like his word is all it would take.
statelineblues
Member
When I lived in New Jersey, it was a common practice for BG/gangbangers to hand off a weapon used in a crime as soon as possible (one suspected gang-affiliated apartment in my complex was raided and they found guns that were used in crimes in 3 different states).
The cops couldn't know if you were just an innocent or part of the crime, so they err on the side of caution.
Ron-Bon
Member
the detective left a message today(I was at work) stating that he would set up an appt. tomorrow so that I can retrieve my firearm
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