Articles Posted in Gun Crimes

19 YEAR OLD MALE STUDENT ARRESTED

A college student was arrested by the University of North Florida Police Department after a victim and witness reported Cage William Edwards had threatened the victim with a gun.  The recently released Arrest and Booking sheet gives details into the investigation and arrest of Edwards on October 20, 2017.  The incident occurred in the dorms located on campus at UNF.  Per the report, the victim states that he heard a knock on his door and when he answered the door the victim observed Edwards standing by the door holding a black semi-automatic handgun.  Upon the victim opening the door, Edwards pointed the handgun at the victim’s chest and pulled the trigger.  The victim describes hearing a clicking sound when the trigger was pulled.

The victim contacted a friend who lives a few rooms down through the social media outlet “Snap-Chat.”  At the victim’s request the friend came over to the victim’s dorm room.  While walking the friend passed by Edwards’ dorm room which had the door open.  The friend observed through the open door, Edwards with a lot of marijuana, money, and a black semi-automatic handgun in plain view on the floor.  After the friend arrived at the victim’s dorm room, the two decided to go to the on campus police station.

Upon arriving at the UNF police station the victim and friend told the officers what had happened and what they had each observed.  Further, the friend stated to the police that Edwards and the friend share “Snap-Chat,” videos online.  The friend was able to provide videos of Edwards smoking marijuana and possessing a black semi-automatic handgun in what appears to be the dorm room Edwards resides in.

UNF PD responded to Edwards’ dorm room and detained him.  Edwards’ gave consent to search the dorm room as well as Edwards’ motor vehicle.  The search revealed Marijuana in Edwards’ front pocket, a black box with marijuana residue, a glass pipe with residue, several baggies with marijuana residue, plastic jars with marijuana residue, several containers with marijuana residue, wax paper with marijuana residue, and a black gun safe.  When asked about the gun safe, Edwards stated that he did not have a key to access the safe.  Per the report, a firearm was not recovered by the Police.

UNF PD interviewed Edwards about the incident.  Pursuant to Florida’s public records law confessions or statements from suspects must be redacted.  It appears Edwards denied having the gun or anything illegal on campus when asked twice by the authorities.  The next part is redacted, which leads one to believe that some form of confession was made regarding either the marijuana or gun involved in the case.  It appears Edwards gave the name of “Yobi” as being a student at UNF, but not living on campus.  It is not clear at this time as to what “Yobi’s” involvement in the case is, or if a “Yobi” actually exists.

What is also not clear based on the report is any motive or explanation for Edwards’ actions.  It is unclear if the victim knows Edwards, or if there had been an ongoing dispute between Edwards and the victim.

After the search and interviews Edwards was arrested for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Possession of Less than 20 grams of Cannabis (Marijuana), and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Continue reading

Florida Residents May Carry Weapons Openly

Florida is a very pro gun rights and 2nd Amendment state.  Florida also has a  huge number of concealed weapons permit holders.  Recently, stories have hit the press describing how certain gunowners go fishing while wearing their sidearms old West style.  As strange as this may seem, the openly armed anglers are within the law.  Open carry is permitted under Florida law when the person carrying is fishing, hunting, camping, attending a gunshow or shooting.  The law also allows a person to carry while going to  these activities or leaving such activities.  This leaves plenty open to interpretation by law enforcement and state attorneys.  Many gun rights activists have taken to carrying a fishing pole in their vehicle at all times.  Telling an arresting officer, “I am going fishing”, could mean one is driving from Pensacola to Key West to go fishing.  It could mean going out back into your yard when you get home and throwing a rubber worm into the retention pond for bass or bream.  An aggressive officer trying to make an arrest is going to usually ask a series of rapid-fire questions of the detained individual.  The officer will be trying, on the spot, to disprove any story about going fishing, camping etc.  Most individuals will probably talk too much and help the officer’s case.

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Giovanna Borge A 19-year-old Port St. Lucie, Fla., was arrested after she squirted her boyfriend with a water pistol while he was playing an Xbox video game quietly in his bedroom. Three witnesses told police that Borge was angry when she squirted her boyfriend, who retaliated by pouring water over her and hitting her with a pillow. Borge was charged with misdemeanor battery for being the “primary aggressor” with the water pistol.

Jacksonville juvenile cases can be quite difficult to deal with, and as this case in particular shows, juvenile cases can be quite interesting. Borge was carrying a plastic water pistol, which witnesses claimed felt threatening. The witnesses did not act with reason when speaking to police, and as a result of her actions in front of those witnesses, she is now facing misdemeanor battery charges.

Jacksonville police actions have been scrutinized for many years, and for good reason. Many people from Jacksonville have had run-ins with the police that could have ended very differently, had the actions of that officer or set of officers been more thought out.

Assault is defined as an intentional threat by word, or act that seeks to physically harm another, coupled with an apparent ability to do so, which creates a well-founded fear in such other person that such violence is imminent. Assault is a second degree misdemeanor, which has a maximum penalty of 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

In many situations, the victim of a crime may be charged with a crime because of an act or set of acts leading to their being harmed by the person who battered them. In cases like these, sometimes teenage conduct rises to the level of an assault, such as cases like and in others, there is simply no evidence of an assault.

Battery is defined as when a person “intentionally touches or strikes another person, without that person’s consent or intentionally causes bodily harm to another person.” In this case, the most that Borge should have been charged with was misdemeanor property damage, and even then, her experienced attorney would be able to plead the defense of co-ownership.

Many law enforcement officials, when considering facts similar to Borge’s unfortunate case, will say, like the Jacksonville police chief has said in the past, the police responded in the proper manner. However, police do not often consider without a superior suggesting it, that alternative methods of subduing suspects could and should be used, as well as whether the witness testimony alone is enough to charge.

Many gun cases are similar to Borge’s, especially in regards to plastic toy pistols that when spray painted properly, look like working firearms. Most tend to be cases where the accused was not given time to put down the weapon, the police thought that the accused was acting in a way that seemed threatening, or the police felt that the problem of the accused needed to be dealt with more aggressively. Whatever the case, the accused in these cases tends to suffer at the hands of the police rather than the hands of the judicial system.

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Members of the Armed Citizen Project of Florida have been dropping leaflets on doorsteps in the Sunshine Gardens community near Orlando, Fla., offering to “arm volunteer households,” with free shotguns and ammo. This is perfectly legal because what we’re doing is we’re offering first of all a certified gun-instruction class, but we’re not handing out the shotguns whatsoever.” the ACP state director Ron Ritter told local NBC affiliate WESH. Ritter said a firearms retailer would supply the shotguns and ammunition and transfer ownership once the volunteer passes a background check. Many residents interviewed by local media seemed a baffled by the effort, particularly since the community isn’t known as a high crime area.

Some neighborhoods form watch programs over their neighborhoods to look out for any suspicious activity in their areas. Many neighborhood watch volunteers, when faced with what might be considered a dangerous situation, especially at night, exercise the option they feel ensures the most safety for themselves.

For some, safety means calling police after seeing a person who’s walking around the window of a house, who they might think is a home burglar. However, that is the point of a neighborhood watch: to watch. The police will handle the apprehension of the suspect and will be held accountable to the law if they fail in the process, meaning a dismissal in many cases of a baseless charge.

Many organizations are taking upon themselves the responsibilities of law enforcement. In this case, the group is in the process of obtaining nonprofit status and contacting gun shops and NRA instructors willing to donate shotguns and training. ACP is hoping to train and arm 1,000 volunteers by year’s end. This means that 1,000 people will have a weapon that they might not have before thought of owning, but now that they do, they might use.

Unfortunately, as one can see from recent gun related crimes in the news, background checks do not always mean that one should own a gun. There are those who do not control their anger. Put a gun in one of those people’s hand and one may have a recipe for mass murder. However, this does not mean that one should not own a gun. Home defense is a choice, not a requirement.
When a private organization first initiates circumstances like this, the potential for danger skyrockets. The accused may suffer at the hands of partial jury pool, and may not have a smoother time in the court system. Many times, when activities like this are highly publicized, the charges are not filed immediately, giving the media has ample opportunity to inform the public as well as fill the public’s minds with the many opinions on the issues, making the jury pool tainted.
Unfortunately for the accused in a situation like this, one has a very slim opportunity to make sure that the jury and even the judge one goes before will not be tainted and be unfavorably swayed away from impartiality. However, if one in a situation like this obtains an experienced Jacksonville gun crimes defense attorney to fight for one’s case, one can ensure one’s rights are protected and that one will have the best defense possible to one’s charge.

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National lawmakers have been reminded of the need to give mental health providers better resources to treat dangerous people and prevent them from buying weapons. The shooting at the Washington Navy Yard by a man who authorities say showed telltale signs of psychosis is spurring a push to move ahead with bipartisan mental health policy changes. The new debate over gun control is beginning to turn not on weapons or ammunition, but on the question of whether to spend more money on treating and preventing mental illness.

Modern day gun laws assume that probable wrongdoing will occur simply because a certain type of conduct is admitted to have occurred in the past. However, simply because an individual checks themselves into rehab or anger management does not necessarily mean that the individual is or should now be considered dangerous or of a level that would not allow ownership of a gun. For example, on July 1st in Florida, the legislature passed House Bill 1355 that blocks gun sales to some people who voluntarily admit themselves for mental-health treatment. The government uses an assumption as the sole grounds for the justifying the law. However, the law fails to consider that the alternative; that maybe the person who checked themselves into treatment got treated, and that they will not be a danger to society.

Many have fought for gun regulation for years because of terrible gun involved crimes such as Sandy Hook and movie theaters. HB 1355 is such a response to these crimes. For nearly 40 years, federal law has barred certain individuals with a history of mental health treatment from purchasing, receiving, or possessing firearms. State laws are a patchwork of regulations, some being identical to the federal statute, while others are much more inclusive than the federal statute,. In some states, such laws are nonexistent. For the past 20 years, it has been possible to petition for relief from the federal prohibition; however, this is no longer the case in Florida.

One can talk to any number of clinicians and physicians who will probably recall a past patient of theirs who should not possess a firearm and have never been treated involuntarily. However, that same number will also state that there are those that were committed voluntarily who have completely recovered from whatever mental condition was ailing them and are fine to possess a firearm.

While it is presumably less difficult for the purpose of background checks to identify patients who have been committed, it would also be possible for states to mandate reporting of psychiatric patients who should be barred from possessing firearms, as is done for driving privileges in cases of epilepsy, narcolepsy, dementia, and so on.

Unfortunately, there are many federal and state laws being created every day that are leading the push towards making owning and operating a gun legally extremely difficult if not impossible. Even more unfortunate is that these laws are not cleaning the streets of criminals, but law abiding citizens who many times are just coming back from the shooting range with spent brass they could have used in a reloading kit.

For example, Washington D.C. police are arresting tourists and other non-residents for traveling with spent bullet or shotgun casings, a crime that carries a $1,000 fine, a year in jail and a criminal record. Under this federal district law, live or empty brass and plastic casings must be carried in a special container and unavailable to drivers. Having one, for example, in a cup holder or ash tray is illegal. Obviously, one can see that this law is not meant to take care of a dangerous offender, but create a thousand dollar deposit in the State’s pocketbook every time someone is found with empty shell casings.

Many times throughout Jacksonville, the accused is just someone who never knew they left their gun in the car, or never thought someone else might have put a gun in the car; because of their lack of knowledge, they suffer at the hands of a powerful State operated legal system. Fortunately, if one obtains an experienced Jacksonville gun crimes defense attorney to fight the case and ensure one’s rights are protected, one can be sure that one will not be a victim in a fight one may not win on one’s own.

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In the wake of national criticism over Florida’s self-defense laws, the public should be informed about the many common misconceptions and unknowns about self-defense, as well as the differences between raising self-defense in the home and raising defense of self or others in public. If one has been charged with a violent crime and one believes one was acting in self-defense, one should contact an experienced defense attorney who can mount the best defense possible to the charge.

When law-abiding citizens carry a gun, they implicitly decide to take the responsibility of protecting themselves against potential threats and also accept the legal and moral consequences of carrying a deadly weapon. Pulling your concealed firearm to stop a crime in progress is a life-changing decision.

Before carrying your gun again in public, ask yourself whether or not you are prepared to go to jail to stop a crime. Most concealed gun carriers will risk their lives and freedom to defend themselves and their immediate family. But defending others, even when the use of deadly force is warranted, ups the ante. Is it your moral obligation to step in and help when a crime is in progress?

Many times, people view those who have committed crimes in the past as always intending to commit a crime once again. This aids society’s illegitimate fear for their safety from those citizens possessing firearms. As such, denying gun permits to otherwise eligible persons on an irrational basis might be in some circumstances, uniquely unconstitutional. Many times, people are denied having a weapon at all because of a prior criminal history, whether violent or non-violent, a previous or current failure to register one’s weapon, or being listed on a sex offender registry. In fact, being a member of these groups might give one more cause for carrying a deadly weapon, not only for the defense of others, but the defense of oneself from vigilante violence.

Jacksonville murder crimes typically involve some intent on the part of the accused to harm the victim, or an intent to kill, typically without regard to human life. However, the issue of self-defense arises in crimes where a person has been attacked violently and fears for their lives. The question of whether a person is justified in using a firearm against another, in some situations, no one can truly answer. However, the question of one’s location at the time of the incident may determine what defense one raises to the alleged crime.

There are many defenses that one can raise in home invasion situations when charged with “murder” of the burglar or invader of any sort. Reasonable fear of “great bodily harm” is sufficient to justify the use of deadly force when the person against whom the force was used was in the process of illegally and forcefully entering, or had illegally and forcefully entered, a home or occupied car, or if that person had removed or was attempting to remove another against that person’s will from a home or occupied car.

The decision to pull a gun in public can lead to unfortunate consequences, even if the reason for pulling one’s weapon is for the defense of another’s life. What might one do in a situation in which one’s spouse or children are threatened or harmed, where if one does not intervene, there is a high likelihood someone will get killed or severely injured?

The principle that person may use deadly force in self-defense if he or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm has been the law in Florida for well over a century. The most recent of cases involving George Zimmerman and Michael David Dunn, both who claimed they felt threatened and used firearms to defend themselves, have raised the defense of Florida’s now-infamous Stand Your Ground defense.

Unfortunately for many though, the State as well as Judges draw a very fine line as to what meets the criteria for self-defense, and many are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Charges in these cases could range from aggravated battery to attempted murder if the wrong prosecutor gets the file. Therefore it is important to obtain an experienced attorney as soon as possible to ensure one’s rights and defenses are known and protected.

If one has been accused of a crime such as this, one should obtain an experienced attorney who knows the law and will make sure that the proper defense is raised and that there will be a high likelihood of a favorable outcome to the case, possibly even having the case dismissed. When one has been charged with committing a crime like this, one has only one choice that one should feel they have to make. One should obtain an experienced Jacksonville felony-violent crimes defense attorney who has the trial experience and knowledge to properly defend one’s innocence.

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