Markfaz
11-30-2000, 04:53 PM
I just got this from my TNUSA update...this is incredible...isn't this something that the ILA branch of the NRA might be able to help this guy with?? Anyone have any thoughts?? This is going to be a black eye for gun owners if this guy ends up getting convicted.
Subject: Illegal Gun Sale Results in Murder Charge - Gun owner held in death
Man accused of illegal sale in Warren jail killing November 29, 2000
BY KIM NORTH SHINE FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Walker was nearly 50 miles from the Warren City Jail the night a drug suspect smuggled in a gun and killed Warren Police Detective
Christopher Wouters, but authorities say Walker, as owner of the weapon, is to blame for the killing. During his arraignment Tuesday in Warren's 37th District Court, Walker, 49, was charged with involuntary
manslaughter.
He is accused of failing to legally transfer ownership of his 9mm semiautomatic. He was also arraigned on two weapons charges. Judge Walter Jakubowski read the counts that accused Walker of "unlawfully killing Wouters ...by failing to fully divest himself of the weapon."
Under the law, when a gun is transferred, be it sold, loaned or given away, the new owner must register the weapon in his or her name. The former owner must make sure that is done. Walker apparently didn't when he sold the gun five years ago, but that hardly rises to the level of manslaughter, his family said.
Walker, a restaurant cook from Capac in Michigan's Thumb, was held in lieu
of posting a $250,000 cash bond. When he wasn't standing before Jakubowski, he buried his face in his handcuffed hands.
There's no proof that Walker knew or met Ljeka Juncaj, the 29-year-old drug suspect who killed Wouters, but he nonetheless is culpable, said Eric Kaiser, chief trial attorney for the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office. It's also unlikely that Walker sold
the gun to Juncaj, Kaiser said.
But somehow, the chrome-plated gun landed in the hands of Juncaj, who smuggled it, in his pants, into the Warren police booking room after his Oct. 11 arrest. After killing Wouters, a 19-year veteran and 42-year-old father of three, Juncaj fatally shot himself in the head while struggling with another officer.
"It's not relevant if he knew him. He put the weapon into the stream of use, so he is responsible," Kaiser said. "If I have a stick of dynamite in a paper bag and I hand it to you, it might be eight people later before something happens. But it doesn't
matter, the damage has been done."
Walker's sister, Kay Fitch of Capac said police and prosecutors are desperate for someone to blame. An internal investigation by Warren police revealed their officers forgot to search Juncaj. "He sold the gun to a man in Capac. He trusted he would do the right thing," Fitch said.
In addition to one count of involuntary manslaughter, prosecutors brought an alternative charge: felon in possession of a firearm. Because Walker was sentenced to probation in August for felony
embezzlement from his employer, he should not have owned a gun.
With the alternative charge, a jury --if the case should make it to trial --will have the option of convicting Walker of involuntary manslaughter, a 15-year felony, or of felon in possession, a 5-year felony. If they convict him of both charges , the judge is expected to sentence him based on the more serious crime. Walker is also facing a felony firearms charge, which carries a mandatory 2-year penalty, upon conviction. He has requested a court-appointed attorney. His preliminary examination is set for Dec. 7.
Macomb County Prosecutor Carl Marlinga said earlier that he wanted to bring charges to send a message
to gun owners that they will be held responsible if their weapons are used to commit crimes. "Owning a gun is an awesome
responsibility and with it comes the duty to transfer ownership," Kaiser said. Fitch said her brother, the son of the late Lewis Walker, Capac's police chief for 17 years, would agree. But he could not force the buyer to complete the paperwork. "We feel for the police officer's family," she said. "But Terry would not sell to someone like this drug dealer. Someone else did."
Contact KIM NORTH SHINE at 810-469-8085 or
kshine@freepress.com.
[This message has been edited by Markfaz (edited 11-30-2000).]
Subject: Illegal Gun Sale Results in Murder Charge - Gun owner held in death
Man accused of illegal sale in Warren jail killing November 29, 2000
BY KIM NORTH SHINE FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Walker was nearly 50 miles from the Warren City Jail the night a drug suspect smuggled in a gun and killed Warren Police Detective
Christopher Wouters, but authorities say Walker, as owner of the weapon, is to blame for the killing. During his arraignment Tuesday in Warren's 37th District Court, Walker, 49, was charged with involuntary
manslaughter.
He is accused of failing to legally transfer ownership of his 9mm semiautomatic. He was also arraigned on two weapons charges. Judge Walter Jakubowski read the counts that accused Walker of "unlawfully killing Wouters ...by failing to fully divest himself of the weapon."
Under the law, when a gun is transferred, be it sold, loaned or given away, the new owner must register the weapon in his or her name. The former owner must make sure that is done. Walker apparently didn't when he sold the gun five years ago, but that hardly rises to the level of manslaughter, his family said.
Walker, a restaurant cook from Capac in Michigan's Thumb, was held in lieu
of posting a $250,000 cash bond. When he wasn't standing before Jakubowski, he buried his face in his handcuffed hands.
There's no proof that Walker knew or met Ljeka Juncaj, the 29-year-old drug suspect who killed Wouters, but he nonetheless is culpable, said Eric Kaiser, chief trial attorney for the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office. It's also unlikely that Walker sold
the gun to Juncaj, Kaiser said.
But somehow, the chrome-plated gun landed in the hands of Juncaj, who smuggled it, in his pants, into the Warren police booking room after his Oct. 11 arrest. After killing Wouters, a 19-year veteran and 42-year-old father of three, Juncaj fatally shot himself in the head while struggling with another officer.
"It's not relevant if he knew him. He put the weapon into the stream of use, so he is responsible," Kaiser said. "If I have a stick of dynamite in a paper bag and I hand it to you, it might be eight people later before something happens. But it doesn't
matter, the damage has been done."
Walker's sister, Kay Fitch of Capac said police and prosecutors are desperate for someone to blame. An internal investigation by Warren police revealed their officers forgot to search Juncaj. "He sold the gun to a man in Capac. He trusted he would do the right thing," Fitch said.
In addition to one count of involuntary manslaughter, prosecutors brought an alternative charge: felon in possession of a firearm. Because Walker was sentenced to probation in August for felony
embezzlement from his employer, he should not have owned a gun.
With the alternative charge, a jury --if the case should make it to trial --will have the option of convicting Walker of involuntary manslaughter, a 15-year felony, or of felon in possession, a 5-year felony. If they convict him of both charges , the judge is expected to sentence him based on the more serious crime. Walker is also facing a felony firearms charge, which carries a mandatory 2-year penalty, upon conviction. He has requested a court-appointed attorney. His preliminary examination is set for Dec. 7.
Macomb County Prosecutor Carl Marlinga said earlier that he wanted to bring charges to send a message
to gun owners that they will be held responsible if their weapons are used to commit crimes. "Owning a gun is an awesome
responsibility and with it comes the duty to transfer ownership," Kaiser said. Fitch said her brother, the son of the late Lewis Walker, Capac's police chief for 17 years, would agree. But he could not force the buyer to complete the paperwork. "We feel for the police officer's family," she said. "But Terry would not sell to someone like this drug dealer. Someone else did."
Contact KIM NORTH SHINE at 810-469-8085 or
kshine@freepress.com.
[This message has been edited by Markfaz (edited 11-30-2000).]