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Member
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock, AR)
March 18, 2003, Tuesday
SECTION: ARKANSAS; Pg. 13
LENGTH: 726 words
HEADLINE: Widow is denied spouse's weapons ATF seized guns after raid in 2001
BYLINE: BY AMY UPSHAW ARKANSAS Democrat-GAZETTE
BODY:
The widow of a convicted felon killed during a shootout with a regional SWAT team two years ago cannot have the guns officers seized after the raid on the couple's home, a federal judge has ruled.
Because of his criminal history, the late Carl Wilson, 60, should never have had the guns to begin with, U.S. District Judge Bill Wilson Jr. said in his eight-page order preventing Carl Wilson's wife, Tammy, from retrieving the seven weapons.
"Since Carl Wilson was a felon and possessed the firearms and ammunition in violation of [federal law], the defendant properties are contraband," Judge Wilson wrote in his ruling last week.
"The government is not 'required to return contraband or other property that the person from whom the property was seized may not legally possess.'"
Tammy Wilson, 44, said she isn't surprised by the judge's ruling and plans to appeal. As the surviving spouse, Wilson said she thinks the guns legally belong to her.
"All I've asked for is the truth and the guns back. They don't want to give me either one," she said. "They say I've got no standing as a spouse. They're wrong. After 23 1/ 2 years, I think I have a lot of standing as a spouse."
Wilson has been trying to get the firearms returned ever since her husband was shot to death on Jan. 12, 2001, at the couple's rural home in Faulkner County.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms requested the surprise, pre-dawn raid after getting a search warrant for a.30-30 Winchester rifle that belonged to Carl Wilson.
Authorities have never explained why the raid was necessary or disclosed any details of the investigation. An Arkansas Democrat-Gazette report revealed that local and federal law enforcement officers were attracted by stories from squabbling family members of large-scale drug dealing, though no significant amount of drugs was ever found.
In 2001, the newspaper challenged in court a local-level federal rule that kept search warrants and related documents sealed after reporters could not get information about the Wilson raid. Now those documents are open unless federal prosecutors request that they be sealed.
Authorities did seize seven guns. The guns range from an old double-barrel 12-gauge shotgun that belonged to Tammy Wilson's grandfather to Carl Wilson's Winchester to a Mauser rifle that once belonged to Carl Wilson's grandfather.
The documents cite the government's right to seize the guns under 18 U.S.C., Section 922 (g)(1), which prohibit ex-convicts from having guns. Carl Wilson did several stints in prison during the 1960s on burglary, robbery and auto-theft convictions. He served about five years.
Bud Cummins, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, said the judge's ruling puts an end to the case.
"I think it was rightly decided, and we'll move on to the next matter," Cummins said.
Cummins also said he isn't sure what will happen to the weapons because that is up to the ATF. The weapons likely will be destroyed or become service weapons for lawmen.
Jeff Brzozowski, the Little Rock ATF bureau's resident agent in charge, was out of town Monday and could not be reached. A spokesman at the ATF's New Orleans office, which oversees the Little Rock bureau, could not be reached either.
Judge Wilson wrote that he based his decision, in part, on statements made by Tammy Wilson the morning her husband died.
She told officers that morning that she owned three of the guns and "all the other firearms in the house belonged to Carl [Wilson]," the statement read. "Carl use to tell her to tell law enforcement officers that his firearms belonged to her because he was a convicted felon, and Carl knew he could not legally possess those firearms."
Tammy Wilson said the statement should not be held against her.
"Good Lord, I didn't know that was a forfeiture proceeding back in that police car. How can they say that was even legit?" she said. "My God, I was under extreme distress. In one breath they tell me Carl was dead and they are asking me about the guns."
Tammy Wilson had claimed the statement was invalid and that the government missed at least three deadlines to file a forfeiture notice to keep the guns. Judge Wilson said those issues were moot because Carl Wilson should not have owned the guns anyway.
March 18, 2003, Tuesday
SECTION: ARKANSAS; Pg. 13
LENGTH: 726 words
HEADLINE: Widow is denied spouse's weapons ATF seized guns after raid in 2001
BYLINE: BY AMY UPSHAW ARKANSAS Democrat-GAZETTE
BODY:
The widow of a convicted felon killed during a shootout with a regional SWAT team two years ago cannot have the guns officers seized after the raid on the couple's home, a federal judge has ruled.
Because of his criminal history, the late Carl Wilson, 60, should never have had the guns to begin with, U.S. District Judge Bill Wilson Jr. said in his eight-page order preventing Carl Wilson's wife, Tammy, from retrieving the seven weapons.
"Since Carl Wilson was a felon and possessed the firearms and ammunition in violation of [federal law], the defendant properties are contraband," Judge Wilson wrote in his ruling last week.
"The government is not 'required to return contraband or other property that the person from whom the property was seized may not legally possess.'"
Tammy Wilson, 44, said she isn't surprised by the judge's ruling and plans to appeal. As the surviving spouse, Wilson said she thinks the guns legally belong to her.
"All I've asked for is the truth and the guns back. They don't want to give me either one," she said. "They say I've got no standing as a spouse. They're wrong. After 23 1/ 2 years, I think I have a lot of standing as a spouse."
Wilson has been trying to get the firearms returned ever since her husband was shot to death on Jan. 12, 2001, at the couple's rural home in Faulkner County.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms requested the surprise, pre-dawn raid after getting a search warrant for a.30-30 Winchester rifle that belonged to Carl Wilson.
Authorities have never explained why the raid was necessary or disclosed any details of the investigation. An Arkansas Democrat-Gazette report revealed that local and federal law enforcement officers were attracted by stories from squabbling family members of large-scale drug dealing, though no significant amount of drugs was ever found.
In 2001, the newspaper challenged in court a local-level federal rule that kept search warrants and related documents sealed after reporters could not get information about the Wilson raid. Now those documents are open unless federal prosecutors request that they be sealed.
Authorities did seize seven guns. The guns range from an old double-barrel 12-gauge shotgun that belonged to Tammy Wilson's grandfather to Carl Wilson's Winchester to a Mauser rifle that once belonged to Carl Wilson's grandfather.
The documents cite the government's right to seize the guns under 18 U.S.C., Section 922 (g)(1), which prohibit ex-convicts from having guns. Carl Wilson did several stints in prison during the 1960s on burglary, robbery and auto-theft convictions. He served about five years.
Bud Cummins, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, said the judge's ruling puts an end to the case.
"I think it was rightly decided, and we'll move on to the next matter," Cummins said.
Cummins also said he isn't sure what will happen to the weapons because that is up to the ATF. The weapons likely will be destroyed or become service weapons for lawmen.
Jeff Brzozowski, the Little Rock ATF bureau's resident agent in charge, was out of town Monday and could not be reached. A spokesman at the ATF's New Orleans office, which oversees the Little Rock bureau, could not be reached either.
Judge Wilson wrote that he based his decision, in part, on statements made by Tammy Wilson the morning her husband died.
She told officers that morning that she owned three of the guns and "all the other firearms in the house belonged to Carl [Wilson]," the statement read. "Carl use to tell her to tell law enforcement officers that his firearms belonged to her because he was a convicted felon, and Carl knew he could not legally possess those firearms."
Tammy Wilson said the statement should not be held against her.
"Good Lord, I didn't know that was a forfeiture proceeding back in that police car. How can they say that was even legit?" she said. "My God, I was under extreme distress. In one breath they tell me Carl was dead and they are asking me about the guns."
Tammy Wilson had claimed the statement was invalid and that the government missed at least three deadlines to file a forfeiture notice to keep the guns. Judge Wilson said those issues were moot because Carl Wilson should not have owned the guns anyway.
