Firearms Lawyer Blog

Florida’s “stand your ground” law allows citizens to use their firearms to protect themselves from an intruder into their homes or vehicles, or an attacker in a public place. This was hailed by firearms law experts, including our own Fort Lauderdale firearms criminal defense attorneys, as an advance that cleared up legal ambiguities and took away the possibility of prison for law-abiding gun owners who act in self-defense. However, it doesn’t apply to all firearms charges in Florida, which led to an interesting result Feb. 16. According to an article in the Palm Beach Post, a young man was acquitted of murder under the stand your ground law, but convicted of the less serious crime of discharging a firearm from a vehicle.

William Wilkerson was originally accused of killing Jason Payne in 2007, outside of a party where many people had been drinking. Wilkerson had reportedly been flirting with Payne’s girlfriend. Wilkerson was sitting in his vehicle, getting ready to leave, when Payne smashed the driver’s side window. Wilkerson fired his gun three times, killing Payne. The Palm Beach County jury determined that the first two shots were acts of self-defense under the stand your ground law, which authorizes lethal force in cases where someone is trying to forcibly enter a vehicle, or attacks another in public. However, the jury found that the third shot was unnecessary and endangered other people at the party. He was sentenced to four years in prison followed by four years of probation.

As West Palm Beach gun crimes defense lawyers, we can’t help but notice that Wilkerson was convicted of discharging a firearm from a vehicle -- not discharging a firearm in public, a misdemeanor carrying up to a year in prison. As you might guess, the crime of discharging a firearm from a vehicle was intended to cover drive-by shootings -- not cases of possibly overzealous self-defense. That is, Wilkerson was convicted under a law designed for very different circumstances. In fact, this application of the law may conflict with the stand your ground law, since that law specifically identifies a vehicle break-in as a circumstance where self-defense is allowed. When quick action is needed, it may be hard to tell whether another shot is a legal act of self-defense or a crime.

Continue reading "Wellington Man Acquitted of Murder But Sentenced for Firearms Charge" »

A recent article from southwest Florida caught the attention of our West Palm Beach firearms criminal defense attorneys. The Naples News reported Feb. 1 that Jason Lee Busbin, 39, has been charged with theft, firearms possession and running an illegal chop shop. Busbin, of North Fort Myers, is a former Fort Myers police officer who resigned from the force for medical reasons in 2002. He currently works in construction. However, the Florida Highway Patrol alleges that he buys and sells stolen property. It charged him with possession of a short-barreled rifle, two counts of firearm theft, two counts of grand theft auto and running an illegal “chop shop,” an operation that strips and refits stolen cars.

The article says the FHP executed a warrant to search Busbin’s property Jan. 29, although it doesn’t say what they were looking for. In Busbin’s bedroom, law enforcement officers found three firearms in a safe. One, a Spike Tactical rifle, is considered illegal in Florida because its barrel is too short to meet state law standards. The other two guns had been reported stolen -- one from California and one locally. Busbin did not have documentation to show where the guns had been bought. Troopers also found two trucks they believe were stolen. One was stripped to its chassis and had been reported stolen. The other truck had an incorrect vehicle identification number, but police traced the correct number and discovered that it too had been reported stolen.

As an NRA referral law firm and Fort Lauderdale gun crimes defense lawyers, we have philosophical problems with the ban on short-barreled rifles, although of course we acknowledge that it’s state law. Thanks to our experience in the firearms world, we know the law is so unclear that just adding accessories like a shoulder stock is enough to bring a gun out of compliance. As for the stolen weapons, it’s entirely possible that Busbin purchased them believing they were legal, from a private individual or gun show dealer who failed to do the necessary paperwork and investigation. Busbin may have broken the law, but from the facts in the article, he may very well have done it inadvertently and without any bad intent.

Continue reading "FHP Accuses Former Fort Myers Police Officer of Dealing in Stolen Guns" »

As responsible gun ownership advocates and Miami firearms criminal defense attorneys, we were disturbed to see a recent article about a high schooler prosecuted for possession of a weapon. Florida Today reported Jan. 8 that Gary Ritchie-Shefield, 17, was sentenced to home detention for 21 days pending an arraignment. Ritchie-Shefield, a junior at Cocoa High School on the Space Coast, was arrested after school administrators and police officers searched the car he had driven to school. The search uncovered some marijuana and an AK-47 automatic weapon in a fabric case. In addition to the juvenile criminal charges, Ritchie-Shefield has been suspended from school and may be expelled. Prosecutors are reviewing whether to try him an adult on charges of possession of a firearm by a minor, possession of a firearm on school property and disrupting a school function.

Ritchie-Shefield did not bring the gun into the school, officials say, and police don’t believe he intended to hurt anyone there. In fact, because the car is registered to a relative, it was not clear whether the gun was even his, although he admitted to investigators that he knew it was there. School officials searched the car the day after receiving an anonymous tip that Ritchie-Shefield had drugs. He wasn’t at school that day, but the next day, they took him out of class, handcuffed him and searched the Buick he’d driven to school. School administrators said they had the right to search the car under Brevard County schools policy. But Ritchie-Shefield’s criminal defense attorney disputes that, saying the search was probably illegal.

The newspaper report included a short video with more from the police:

As Fort Lauderdale gun charges criminal defense lawyers, we notice that most of this would be perfectly legal for an adult. Under Florida law, adults may own an automatic weapon like an AK-47 and carry it in a car’s trunk (or glove compartment). It’s also perfectly legal to carry a weapon in many places in Florida, although schools are an exception. We don’t believe Ritchie-Shefield showed good judgment by knowingly bringing the gun to school, but the reaction by officials seems to be disproportionate or even hysterical. After all, no one was hurt, the gun never left the trunk, and school officials would never have known it was there if someone hadn’t tipped them off about the marijuana. If his defense attorney is right that the initial search was illegal, tainting all of the evidence it produced, we hope the courts do the right thing and dismiss the case.

Continue reading "Central Florida High Schooler Arrested for Leaving a Gun in Trunk of Car" »