A Springfield felon facing new gun charges is asserting as his defense a new voter-approved constitutional amendment that reinforced the right to bear arms in Missouri.
The man is asking for his weapons charges to be dropped because he says the recently passed statewide amendment gives him a right to own guns, even though he’s a felon.
David L. Thomas, 63, is charged in Greene County with five counts of unlawful possession of a firearm on the basis that he was previously convicted of felonies.
Earlier this month, Thomas, through his public defender Dewayne Perry, filed a motion to have the charges dropped, based on the passage in August of Amendment 5.
He cited language in the amendment that says “nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the general assembly from enacting general laws which limit the rights of convicted violent felons.” The motion emphasizes the inclusion of the word “violent.”
Thomas’ defense is latching on to that language to argue the legislature cannot pass laws to restrict the rights of non-violent felons.
Thomas’ felony convictions were for driving while intoxicated and driving while revoked. He says those crimes cannot be considered violent.
“Since the voters expanded the right to keep and bear arms and made ‘convicted violent felons’ the only felony exception, the defendant can no longer be prosecuted for these offenses as his convictions are not violent felonies,” the motion says.
Prosecutors have not filed a response to the motion.
Before the amendment passed, some experts predicted it would increase the level of legal scrutiny of charges based on older gun laws, and the laws themselves. Firearm regulations now have to withstand “strict scrutiny” — the highest level of review.
Jefferson City attorney Chuck Hatfield told the News-Leader earlier this year that public defenders in particular would be ethically obligated to challenge every gun law. Thomas’ case raising the defense is the first the News-Leader has noticed in Greene County.
Thomas has had other run-ins with the law.
He was charged in late 2012 with conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree domestic assault after police say he attempted to hire someone to kill his ex-wife. However, the February 2013 trial resulted in a hung jury, meaning jurors could not decide guilt or acquittal. At the time, prosecutors said they intended to retry the case. No new trial date has yet been set.
In the conspiracy case, Thomas was accused, with his girlfriend, Diane Greer, of attempting to hire a “hit man” to kill his ex-wife. Greer, who eventually pleaded guilty to conspiracy, actually spoke to an undercover officer who then faked the death of Thomas’ ex-wife, records say.
Thomas has been in the Greene County Jail since late 2012. He was in prison during the conspiracy crime for which Greer was convicted.
Source: http://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2014/09/19/felon-facing-gun-charge-cites-new-gun-law-defense/15923663/
As much as I hate to admit it, he has a point. A DUI is not a violent crime, as for the hung jury trial, that speaks for itself. The scary thing is that many people have committed felonies and don’t even know it, as the book Three Felonies A Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent