© briandaitken.com. Used with Permission.
Recently, the story of Brian D. Aitken’s wrongful imprisonment has made headlines and triggered a wave of clemency pleas to flood New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s office. As riddled with injustice as Brian’s case is, he is not the only lawful gun owner in the United States who has been unjustly jailed on weapons-related charges. This anti-gun activism in the legal system is spreading like wildfire across the country. Every law-abiding gun owner in the United States is at risk of being victimized by these attacks on Second Amendment rights.
Brian’s Story
Brian Aitken was like a lot of people in the country. He was a law-abiding hard-working father, who, after a separation from his wife, decided to move from Colorado to New Jersey in order to be closer to his infant son.
As a lawful gun owner in Colorado, he researched New Jersey gun laws regarding transporting his guns for his move to ensure he was following the law to the letter. He printed off information from the state police website and even placed a call to them to be sure he would be in compliance with local laws.
His cross-country move took some time to accomplish. One day in January 2009, his ex-wife cancelled the scheduled visit with his son at the last minute, the two argued and Brian was upset by it. His mother, a trained social worker, became concerned when he muttered something in regards to being distraught by the cancellation and left his parents’ home.
Her initial reaction was to call the police, but thinking better of it, hung up before the call was answered. However, the call was traced back to the parents’ house and the police were sent out. Brian’s mother explained the situation, after which Brian was contacted and asked to return to his parents’ home.
Brian did so and then agreed to allow the police to search his vehicle. In the course of  digging through the personal possessions that were loaded into the car for the move, the police found his guns, magazines and ammunition.
Brian’s father Larry Aitken reported in an interview on The Fritch Show that the police asked him to store it all in a safe place until the next day, when it could be returned to Brian. Larry attempted to comply, but the home safe was too small to accommodate it. The police then agreed to take possession of the firearms, magazines and ammunition as a means of safe-keeping until the next day when Brian would be allowed to recover it from the police.
At some point during the course of these events, the police on the scene were instructed by the watch commander to arrest Brian. The officer who had talked to Larry earlier about storing the guns for a day said he thought the arrest was just a formality. More after the jump.
Several months later, the prosecutor’s office opted to pursue the case, and during the course of the 18-month trial repeatedly gave Brian the option to plead guilty and agree to one year in prison or to allow the case to go to trial and be heard by a jury of his peers. Brian, who firmly believed he had not done anything wrong, opted for the trial.
In regards to the charges, it was shown in court that Brian had lawfully purchased the guns in Colorado. Judge Morley ruled against allowing into evidence anything related to Brian’s researching of New Jersey gun laws, including his call to the police department prior to the move.
Witnesses testified Brian’s car was packed with other personal possessions and that he was moving. One of the witnesses who testified to this in court was the police officer who arrested Brian. However, the judge ruled there was not any evidence to support the fact Brian was moving and eligible for the exemption to New Jersey’s convoluted gun laws. The exemption allows guns to be transported during a move in the manner Brian used.
Judge Morley refused counsel’s demands for the exemption to be read to the jury and ignored all three pleas from the jury to given the exemption information. The judge’s actions in this case essentially guaranteed the conviction of an innocent man.
Judge Morley was under review by Governor Christie during Brian’s trial and was not reappointed to his seat by the governor. This was due to controversial rulings in two other cases. A second judge, Judge Haas, was the one who delivered Brian’s sentence.
Larry stated that prior to sentencing the prosecutor, defense counsel and even Brian’s mom were allowed to address the court in regards to how Brian should be sentenced. Then the new judge, Judge Haas, read Brian’s sentence from typed text. Larry remarked that it seemed the judge’s decision had been made before anyone spoke, making their well-thought-out arguments and pleas regarding sentencing for Brian “just for showâ€.
Larry elaborated on the sentencing from Judge Haas, “As he was reading through his reasons for the sentence that he eventually gave to Brian, he said that he gave weight to mitigating factors, and he rattled off four things. Now, Brian was a good kid; had no prior criminal records, seemed like he would do well with probation and something else. The only aggravating factor that Judge Haas discussed . . . he referred to it as item number nine on the prosecutor’s list of aggravating factors that influenced his sentencing. And that was to act as a deterrent to Brian’s future behavior and to the behavior of anyone else out there who may be contemplating such activity today.†Larry confirmed that in his mind this sentence was just to make an example out of Brian.
In the time since Judge Morley was not reappointed to the bench, he has spoken on Brian’s case, stating during a phone interview reported by the Philadelphia Daily News, “My recollection of the case is that I ruled he had not presented evidence sufficient to justify giving the jury the charge on the affirmative offense that he was in the process of moving.”
A campaign has been launched to help free Brian Aitken by having New Jersey Governor Chris Christie grant him clemency. Those wishing to send a polite request to the governor for clemency, record expungement and restoration of all rights for Brian may do so on the governor’s website by clicking on ‘Corrections’, then ‘Continue’, then ‘Pardons and Clemency’. A template for a clemency request letter may be found on the Free Brian Aitken Facebook page.
New Jersey’s Second Amendment Society is holding a rally on December 12 to help free Brian before Christmas.
UPDATE: Brian’s story becomes even more outrageous when compared to news out of New Jersey on December 4, 2010. A man was sentenced to 5 years in prison due to the accidental shooting death of his five-year-old brother. Brian was sentenced to 7 years and no one was injured or died. No negligence was involved in Brian’s case.
Christopher Scott, Florida
When Arizonan Christopher Scott visited his mother in Florida, he believed he was going to a reciprocal state for concealed weapons permits and there would be no problem with him carrying his weapons. However, when a woman in a Wal-Mart saw his gun, she called police and Christopher was arrested.
James High, New Jersey
While James High of Georgia was in New Jersey he accidentally locked himself out of his vehicle. When police helped him, his gun was spotted and he was arrested. Though he had a carry permit for Georgia, New Jersey does not recognize it. The 71-year-old is currently free on bail while awaiting trial.
Paul Copeland, Texas
Despite government lawyers agreeing that Paul Copeland did not know the gun buyers were illegal aliens, they insisted the jury should find him guilty because the buyers spoke Spanish, wore cowboy clothes and were Hispanic, therefore there was ‘reasonable cause to believe’ the buyers were illegals. The primary buyer presented a Texas driver’s license during the purchase and later transferred the gun’s ownership to another illegal.
The result of that July 2010 trial in Federal District Court was that Paul Copeland was found guilty and sentenced to six months of confinement with an additional 24 months of probation. The judge called Paul a liar due to him not admitting to guilt in the case. Paul’s entire gun collection was confiscated by the ATF and as a result of the indictment against him, he lost his job.
The illegal aliens involved were not charged with any crimes, including being in the country illegally. At least one of them testified in the case against Paul.
A petition has been started to free Paul Copeland.
David Olofson, Wisconsin
The Supreme Court refused to hear David Olofson’s case in which he was convicted to serve 30 months in federal prison because a gun he loaned to a friend had a malfunction and shot more than one round at a time at a shooting range.
Despite it being shown in court that the rifle was not a machine gun and the malfunction was accidental rather than a case of intentional tampering, David was still found guilty.
What to Do
Concerned citizens can attack this issue in several ways. The first is to help in the causes of freeing wrongly convicted gun owners. Signing petitions, sending polite requests for clemency to the appropriate governors, making donations and helping to spread the word all benefit those involved.
Another way concerned citizens may help is to get familiar with their own state’s gun laws and to encourage their state legislators and governors to take action to make their state gun laws easy to understand and adhere to, fair and in compliance with Second Amendment rights.
Brian Aitken Image © briandaitken.com. Used with Permission.
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