more myspace photo arrest

[gunsmith]

In this case some college types posed with "assault" weapons in their dorm...in CA.
....I pose with an AK on my myspace, but I'm in NV....I'm glad I do not live in that cesspool any more.

http://www.lassennews.com/News_Story.edi?sid=3145&mode=thread&order=0

Police recover assault weapon on college campus
Posted on Tuesday, February 21 @ 17:34:43 GMT
Lassen County News Headline After a lengthy investigation, the Susanville Police Department, with the aid of the Coos Bay Police Department, arrested Lassen Community College student Matthew Louis Maumoynier, 21, on Saturday, Feb. 11 in Coos Bay, Ore.

By Barbara France
News Editor

Maumoynier was charged with possessing an assault rifle, possessing firearms on a college campus, furnishing or loaning a high capacity magazine and probation violation. His bail was set at $45,000.

During the month of January, the police department began investigating allegations that college students at LCC were in possession of various firearms in the dorm rooms, according to a SPD press release.

Several photos showing both past and present students holding various types of firearms in the dorm rooms were put on the World Wide Web site blog called myspace.com.

College officials brought it to the attention of the police department when college staff discovered the photos.

According to Police Chief Chris Gallagher, during the lengthy investigation, one of the weapons in the photos was determined to be an assault rifle. These types of rifles are illegal to possess in California.

Maumoynier, identified by the SPD also as a LCC wrestler, was in one of the photos holding the assault rifle.

On Wednesday, Feb. 8, Susanville police detectives interviewed Maumoynier, who admitted during the interview that the assault rifle was his. He allegedly admitted bringing the rifle and a shotgun into the dorm rooms.

Maumoynier also told the detectives the weapons were in an undisclosed location in Chester. The detectives arrested Maumoynier but he was released when he and a man the press release identified as assistant wrestling coach Alonzo Nalls agreed to bring the rifle and shotgun to the police station on Thursday, Feb. 11. Nalls allegedly told the detectives he would help Maumoynier retrieve the guns.

The detectives told Nalls and Maumoynier that if Maumoynier did not return with the weapons as agreed upon, a warrant would be issued for his arrest. He was also told that if he brought in the weapons, he would not be physically arrested but the case would be sent to the Lassen County District Attorney's Office.

Neither Maumoynier nor Nalls brought the weapons to the police department or contacted the investigators.

On Friday, Feb. 10, the police detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Maumoynier for felony and misdemeanor charges.

For the full story, see the Feb. 21 Lassen County Times.

 

[crazed_ss]

According to Police Chief Chris Gallagher, during the lengthy investigation, one of the weapons in the photos was determined to be an assault rifle. These types of rifles are illegal to possess in California.

hmm.. well, that's not entirely correct. They're only illegal to posses if they arent registered.

I'm assuming this particular rifle wasnt registered since the guy is only 21 years old. That means he was probably about 15 yrs old when SB23 went into effect.. which means he could have never legally owned an AK, AR, FAL, etc in CA.. which means this kid is in big trouble.

Regardless of the stupidity of the law.. breaking the law and then taking pictures of yourself doing so and then posting the pictures on the internet isnt a very smart thing to do.

 

[Hardware]

How about this; any citizen of the glorious worker's paradise of California who wish to come to my state and pose for pictures with "assault rifles" to then post said pictures on myspace or a similar site are hearby invited. It's not illegal here in America.

What a stupid law. What a stupid way to enforce a stupid law. I bet this is the test to get your hobnail boots for the cops and politicians in the brownshirt scouts.

 

[georgeduz]

they just turned a good kid into a felon

 

[ScottsGT]

Stupid kid should have blamed it all on Photoshop and bragging rights!!

 

[silliman89]

they just turned a good kid into a felon

I don't know. I bet he beats the wrap. I'm sure that by now he's gotten the evidence out of the state. If he goes back to CA and they try him, it sounds like all they have to go on is the photo. He can claim the picture was photo-shopped or taken out of state with someone else's gun. If I were on the jury, I'd find him innocent.

 

[beerslurpy]

He forgot to deny everything and not offer to go retreive the evidence for the cops. A photo of an "assault weapon" is hardly evidence of a crime on it own.

 

[Bigreno]

they just turned a good kid into a felon

Not to change the subject, but I kind of doubt this. Owning a firearm doesn't have anything to do with being good or bad, but the probation violation might suggest something about the latter.

Maumoynier was charged with possessing an assault rifle, possessing firearms on a college campus, furnishing or loaning a high capacity magazine and probation violation. His bail was set at $45,000.

I can't comment about this kids, excuse me, LEGAL ADULT's criminal history but if he was already on probation he may not be the shining example of decency that some think. Also, if the school has a no guns on campus policy, as I am sure all of them do, then he knew he was in violation when he did it and shouldn't be supprised at the outcome.

 

[JohnBT]

Oh boy, more pictures of dumb people with guns. :banghead:

John

 

[Cosmoline]

Beer has it. The kid was a fool to have said WORD ONE to the cops. If he'd kept quiet, there's almost no way they could have made a case against him. Yet another in hundreds of thousands of exampes of why you need to EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT!! Nobody is ever going to be put in prison in this country over a photo of holding what looks like a prohibited firearm. Without more they'd never get the thing into court. But people are stupid and assume that they're doomed because of a picture.

 

[The Drew]

Umm... In this case the crime is not having a picture on the internet... having the picture on the internet just tipped them off.

He WAS in posession of an unregistered assault weapon and high capacity magazines. If he knew this was illegal, then it was just plain stupid to post a pic on the internet while he still posessed the gun.

This is different than the case (in colorado I believe) where the kid was charged with illegal posession of a handgun by a minor. The ONLY evidence is the picture which cannot be relied upon as proof of any crime.

 

[geekWithA.45]

Hmmmm..........


State of CA: Bring me hard, conclusive evidence of your felony violations, or I will arrest you on suspicion of committing a felony.

Student: Sure! I'll get right on it!

 

[KriegHund]

Well at least the guy actually did something wrong this time. Wrong being a relative term.

 

[Rockstar]

I don't suppose any of you Clarence Darrows considered the possibility that the police might have had a search warrant, based on the pic as reasonable cause? Hopefully, the kid is taking his legal advice from somebody who's actually passed his state's Bar exam.

Making "possession" of firearms criminal is just silly-headed, shallow Democrat mentality. He won't come out well, because he's in California.

 

[crazed_ss]

If he'd kept quiet, there's almost no way they could have made a case against him. Yet another in hundreds of thousands of exampes of why you need to EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT

Did you guys not read this part?

Several photos showing both past and present students holding various types of firearms in the dorm rooms were put on the World Wide Web site blog called myspace.com.

So unless this kid had an exact mockup of his dorm room constructed in another state, then it's pretty obivous that the picture was taken in CA and on Campus.

With that said:

-Having a gun on campus is against the law
-Having an unregistered "Assault Weapon" is against the law
-High capacity magazines are banned here unless you had them before they were outlawed.

Trust me, I hate our AWB ban more than anyone. I want an AR-15 more than anything.. but I cant have one.
The law is the law. This person knowingly broke the law and took incriminating photos of himself and posted them on the Internet.

Dumb move.

 

[hammer4nc]

I suggest everyone on this guy's dorm wing send good photos of themselves holding photoshopped ak 47's, directly to the police chief, dean of students, and college newspaper.

I am Spartacus.

 

[Cosmoline]

If they found the firearms in his dorm room and preserved them as evidence, that's one thing. But a photo of someone standing in what appears to be a dorm room holding what appears to be an illegal item is NOT SUFFICIENT PROOF. The criminal law doesn't work that way. They wouldn't even be able to get to the jury with it.

So unless this kid had an exact mockup of his dorm room constructed in another state, then it's pretty obivous that the picture was taken in CA and on Campus

Thankfully, what's obvious to you and what's admissible proof of a crime are two very different things in this country.

 

[Rockstar]

Cosomoline: Let's take this really sloooowly now. They didn't arrest him for having a picture. They arrested him for possession of the firearm that THEY RECOVERED, probably after executing a search warrant. I'm not sure that a search warrant is needed to search a dorm room...probably not.

 

[cosine]

The detectives told Nalls and Maumoynier that if Maumoynier did not return with the weapons as agreed upon, a warrant would be issued for his arrest. He was also told that if he brought in the weapons, he would not be physically arrested but the case would be sent to the Lassen County District Attorney's Office.

On Friday, Feb. 10, the police detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Maumoynier for felony and misdemeanor charges.

What a dumb guy. They tell his that if he doesn't return with the weapons they will get a warrant for his arrest, but if he does get the weapons for then they won't arrest him? The guy believed them? Once they get the evidence they're going to arrest whoever they wanted to arrest in the first plce. They just got the guy to do their hard work for them.

I am Spartacus.

No, I'm Spartacus.

 

[LiquidTension]

At least when I was younger and dumber I still had the sense to be low key about the SKS in the dorm room closet. Fit nicely in a guitar case for transport...

 

[Optical Serenity]

Having a firearm is illegal in almost every campus in this country. I've seen cases here locally where myspace and facebook have been used as part of investigations. Its not the websites, its the fact that some ignorant moron would decide to post pictures of themselves doing illegal things online.

The kid was an idiot, plain and simple. Whether or not we agree with the law is not the question. The point is, you know its illegal, don't show it off. Stupid kid just makes gun owners look bad.

And darn right the govt should crack down on that! As dumb as those kids are that pose doing illegal activity, they'll do more illegal things.

 

[rustymaggot]

if the kid was slick he would of said, "oh, that? thats a airsoft pellet gun"

 

[Optical Serenity]

Well in the cases I've seen, judges have issued search warrants based on pictures, and shazam, when the warrant is executed, there are the guns, drugs, etc... again, its stupid to post the pictures.

 

[Creeping Incrementalism]

At least when I was younger and dumber I still had the sense to be low key about the SKS in the dorm room closet. Fit nicely in a guitar case for transport...

Those work nearly as well as any case designed for a long gun, and attract less attention, which is needed when you don't want annoying anti-gunners freaking out over legal weapon carry, like from your condo to the parking area.

Soft and hard guitar cases also have sections for cables and peddles, which work well for magazines, ammo, and cleaning equipment.

Carbine length = guitar case
Rifle length = electric bass case

 

[HankB]

State of CA: Bring me hard, conclusive evidence of your felony violations, or I will arrest you on suspicion of committing a felony.

Student: Sure! I'll get right on it!

If they don't recover the rifle, they have no evidence. (PROVE the picture is not Photoshopped, and that it's not a toy or reproduction firearm.)

Moronic action #1: Pose for picture while breaking law.

Moronic action #2: Post picture on Internet.

Moronic action #3: Admit to breaking law instead of keeping mouth closed.

etc. etc.

(And it used to be that college students were supposed to be smart.)