Sebastian the Ibis
Member
FBI Agent John Connolly (the fellow played by Matt Damon in the The Departed, and in real life who fed FBI information to mobster Whitey Bulger and the Winter Hill Gang) had his conviction overturned today by the Florida Third District Court of Appeal. He will will be released when the post appeal motions are finalized.
This was a very technical opinion regarding Agent Connolly's service weapon. To circumvent the statue of limitations, the trial court reclassified the jury's second-degree murder conviction to a life felony because he "carried a firearm [his service weapon]" while committing the crime - identifying a snitch at a meeting in Boston who was subsequently murdered in Miami.
The Third District Court refused to allow this re-classification since Agent Connolly's service weapon had nothing to do with the murder.
While the facts of this case are highly unusual and it is extremely unlikely anyone on Thehighroad would find them self in this position, this opinion does stand for the proposition that crimes cannot be overcharged because of the presence of a firearm having nothing to do with the crime (think armed public urination, or armed fishing without proper license).
The full opinion is available here:
http://www.3dca.flcourts.org/Opinions/3D09-0280.pdf
Oops - Just realized I put this in Rifle not Legal (Any way to move this?)
This was a very technical opinion regarding Agent Connolly's service weapon. To circumvent the statue of limitations, the trial court reclassified the jury's second-degree murder conviction to a life felony because he "carried a firearm [his service weapon]" while committing the crime - identifying a snitch at a meeting in Boston who was subsequently murdered in Miami.
The Third District Court refused to allow this re-classification since Agent Connolly's service weapon had nothing to do with the murder.
While the facts of this case are highly unusual and it is extremely unlikely anyone on Thehighroad would find them self in this position, this opinion does stand for the proposition that crimes cannot be overcharged because of the presence of a firearm having nothing to do with the crime (think armed public urination, or armed fishing without proper license).
The full opinion is available here:
http://www.3dca.flcourts.org/Opinions/3D09-0280.pdf
Oops - Just realized I put this in Rifle not Legal (Any way to move this?)
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