CONCEALED CARRY NEWS by John Bir

CONCEALED CARRY NEWS by John Birch, President, Concealed Carry, Inc., PO BOX 4597, Oak Brook, IL 60523, Tel: 630 660-935 Email: john@concealcarry.org Web: www.concealcarry.org

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PRITCHETT ACQUITTED. WHO WON?

To cut to the chase, we won the case and Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine lost. Roderick gets his life back after nearly two years of what must have gut wrenching anxiety.

If you were not there you truly missed a great opportunity to see justice in action. What you see on television is pure bull shit. The Cook County Court at 26th and California is where the dregs of the earth congregate each day. You have to be magnetically naked to pass security, then there are quick buck attorneys hustling clients, defendants wearing obvious gangsta attire, jurors who are lead around the hallways like cattle being herded to market, state's attorneys who obviously see the building as a mill to grind humans in and judges who lord over all of it.

It's the kind of place that makes you dream of warm soapy showers to clean the filth off.

The trial took about half an hour. It would have taken a lot less if Judge James Linn has his way. He's really a guy who is into judicial efficiency though you might not think so considering how long it took to get this case to trial. It would be fair to say that sometimes the judge was exasperated by Roderick's lawyer Walter Maksym. A few times maybe for cause, at other times the judge just wouldn't let Walter make his point. But Walter struggled forward getting as much on the record as he could no doubt in case of an appeal. Frankly the trial looked for a time like it was heading down the proverbial toilet. If you had been there you would have been torn up inside watching the proceedings.

Also the judge was not happy that supporters of Roderick sat in mass inside the ballistic glass enclosed "lean to" that comprises the gallery. While the police do this to support their own, it was clear we were as welcome as a turd in a punch bowl. The gallery is not ventilated so it is extremely hot and the audio is poor so you have to strain to hear the proceedings.

RODERICK surrounded by family and supporters at the Cook County Court House

The State's Attorney was a petite blonde with an aggressive streak. One of the cops didn't show up so we almost had to continue the case. Fortunately Walter and her were able to stipulate as to what testimony the officer would have given had he been able to get off his dead cop ass and make it to trial.

The State's Attorney made a huge deal of Roderick's magazine being loaded and the firearm being immediately accessible. None of these factors mean jack in terms of transporting a firearm in Illinois that is already unloaded and encased.

The officers testified the gun was loaded and not in a case. Roderick presented a "gun" case though that clearly had the outline of the gun imprinted on it. Who to believe? Roderick who clearly had a self interest in being acquitted or the cops who clearly have an interest in "harvesting" guns "off the streets?"

So now is the time to give credit where credit is due. First to Walter Maksym for never giving up on this case. For believing in Roderick and serving as a foundation of strength during times I am sure Roderick thought it was a futile effort.

Second to Roderick who could have taken the easy way out. He could have taken the conditional misdemeanor and been done with this several thousand dollars ago. I am not sure I would have had his guts to tell the state's attorney to ram it like Roderick did.

Third, it is certainly important to thank the Chicago Tribune in general and Eric Zorn in particular who saw the merit in covering this trial as a public civics lesson. Eric's story follows in case you did not see it in today's Chicago Tribune.

Fourth, to all of you who continued to support the defense financially and emotionally even as the case dragged on into infinity. In particular to the Champaign County Rifle Association who were supremely generous and to those who actually attended the trial. I well know it was a super hassle to attend this trial but I also know that not a one of us regrets the time spent. What an emotional experience.

Finally to Judge James Linn who had to decide between the cops and Roderick. I can't speak highly enough of this judge. He was not happy with us being there and at times he seemed ready to explode at Walter. He was not happy with the State's Attorney either. When the state's attorney requested to waive closing statement Judge Linn just said: "ARGUE!" And she did and demonstrated in the process she had no idea what the law on transporting firearms is in Illinois. Fortunately Fortunately Judge Linn did know the law.

In discharging the charges Judge Linn admonished Roderick to be careful who he took advice from on transporting gun in Illinois. A very direct reference to those of us in the gallery that I at first took offense to. More on that in a minute. When the judge made his ruling we spontaneously showed our agreement with applause. That caused the judge to initially hold us in contempt of court followed by orders to the sheriff to clear us from the building.

I've been tossed out of better places.

We certainly proved that fanny pack carry is the law of the land in Illinois. But at what price? The police and state's attorney proved that to assert that right you have to be willing to spend days in the county jail, years in court and thousands in legal fees. What kind of right is that? Judge Linn as much said so in his admonishment to Roderick.

Freedom from government hate of gun owners is coming in the form of a new statewide gun rights organization that I plan to back 100%. Slogging through the courts is not the way to go. The only way is to legislatively force Cook County to change. Between the NRA and the new gun rights organization we will do just that.

And finally to the Cook County State's Attorney. You are evil personified. You could have dropped this case with some simple prosecutorial discretion. But your hate for gun owners and people of color with guns made you blind. May Satan have mercy on your black soul.

You can donate to help defer the remaining legal expenses at the paypal button above or via mail:

Nearly two dozen gun-rights advocates in the viewing gallery of a Cook County courtroom burst into applause Monday afternoon after Judge James Linn found Roderick Pritchett, 26, not guilty of a felony weapons charge that could have sent him to prison for three years.

But the acquittal was not so much a victory for gun rights as it was a triumph for common sense--the proposition that whatever mistakes Pritchett may or may not have made in storing a semi-automatic pistol in his car, he's not a proper target in the war on gun violence.

Pritchett's case has been a cause celebre for Concealed Carry Inc. of Oak Brook since he sought out the group shortly after he was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in November 2002.

The defense and prosecution agreed during the 35-minute bench trial that Pritchett cooperated with police officers who pulled over his Ford Taurus station wagon in a routine traffic stop on the South Side, that he presented an Illinois Firearm Owner's Identification Card and volunteered that he had a handgun in the car stored in a zippered pouch.

Pritchett, an aspiring artist who had just been laid off from a job as an assistant broker on the floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, had a clean record. He had purchased the 9 mm pistol from a suburban gun dealer because, he said, he believed he, his fiance and their young son needed an extra measure of protection living in a high-crime area.

Attorney Walter Maksym, who was paid in part by donations from the gun-rights group, wanted to make Pritchett's motive for owning a firearm a key part of the defense. He attempted to introduce into evidence Monday a 1993 Tribune story that quoted Pritchett, then a 15-year-old sophomore at Curie High School, as an eyewitness to a fatal gang shooting.

Linn was having none of it. "I realize you're trying to mount a necessity defense," he said sharply. "That's wishful, hopeful thinking, not a matter of law."

"I was slumping lower and lower in my seat," John Birch, the president of Concealed Carry, said afterward. Birch was sitting with Pritchett supporters, most of whom were wearing blue shirts in a show of solidarity meant to recall what police officers display in court for a fellow officer.

The blue shirts, six of whom said they were from Downstate, were all middle-age white men. They looked like such an unusual bunch at the trial of a young African-American defendant charged with a victimless crime that Linn asked them before the proceedings got under way if they were "part of some class or something."

Not exactly. They had come to the courthouse at 26th Street and California Avenue because, they said, they saw Pritchett as an example of an honest citizen victimized by overzealous enforcement of firearm laws. Key to their support, Birch said, was their belief in his contention that the gun in his car was not loaded.

Illinois law allows licensed firearms owners to transport guns in cars as long as they're enclosed in a case and unloaded.

The arresting officers said Pritchett's gun was loaded when he handed it to them inside a soft case usually used for storing compact discs. But Pritchett, who said the charges have made it difficult for him to find work or rent an apartment, testified that he always removed the clip from the gun before stowing both in the pouch under the driver's seat.

Linn had all he needed for a guilty verdict: the word of two Chicago police officers against the word of one citizen. But, without discrediting the police account, he said Pritchett deserved "the benefit of the doubt."

As he did so, he took a swipe at the gun owners in attendance by urging Pritchett "to seek out advice from other people" about transporting firearms. Then, when Pritchett's supporters applauded nevertheless, the judge shouted angrily at them and ordered a deputy to remove them from his court.

They reassembled on the courthouse steps several minutes later, mostly satisfied. "We won ugly," Birch said.

Not from where I sat. The common sense that gave Roderick Pritchett his life back looked flat-out gorgeous.

SPECIAL REPORT FOR JOHN BOCH

CHAMPAIGN COUNTY RIFLE ASSOCIATION

Greetings all.

It was a long weekend, but GunNews made it to the publisher earlier today... it is a pretty good issue that I'm sure everyone will find something to like inside.

After about four or so hours of sleep, I was joined by Dan Sadler, Bill Davis, Lance Gilbert (from Springfield) and we made the trip from Champaign to 26th and California in Chicago.

It was a rough neighborhood, with dirty and old buildings everywhere. Dirty city buses, cloudy air and dirty concrete everywhere. It was rough on the way in with people driving like idiots - road-raging and all that. On the way out we saw a store front with two bullet holes in the front - and they weren't from BB guns or pea shooters, either. The one in the door looked as though it was made by a 12 ga. shotgun slug creating a right-of-way at 1200 fps!

Of course, at the courthouse, nobody looked at all pleased to be there. Some of the more nicely dressed folks sported red "Juror" stickers on their clothes and if anyone could be described as somewhat less negative about their required presence, it would have been those jurors.

The distinctions between the two classes of people were fairly sharply drawn. There were few people that you or I might meet in the course of business or see at lunch here in Champaign - neatly and conservatively dressed. I was dressed like a lawyer with a button down shirt and khaki pants.

The other side of the coin were the criminal defendants and their "witnesses" and families. The families sometimes had one what could be described as Sunday best - at least they were dressed appropriately and respectfully for court. Most of the criminal types were dressed in "ghetto"-type clothing, regardless of ethnic background. I saw a couple in shackles and dressed in jail outfits.

Only in Chicago could a defendant, dressed like a thug in an athletic warm-up suit, talk to a judge in ebonics about a couple of witnesses he was wanting to have show up for a hearing by their street names.

Security was unlike any I've ever experienced before. Remove everything, down to your wallet, watch and belt. My steel-toed boots caused me to become some guy's date as they frisked me (and it wasn't with a metal detector wand, either.) But security was respectful, professional and almost nice. They guy asked me, "Why are YOU here?" as I obviously wasn't an attorney though my notebook would have suggested reporter if it hadn't said 'NRA' on the front, (the lawyers had little ID cards the exempted them from the security scrutiny). but rather an almost too-nicely dressed white face in a sea of all sorts of other ethnic groups. I told him that I was coming to watch a case in Judge Linn's court. He offered no cynical comment, just a "alright, you're good. Have a good one," as he handed me my tray to get "dressed" again. They had the metal detectors set so sensitive that I wondered if a zipper would set them off.

We get to the courtroom and inside, there is an area for spectators to sit... behind panels of 5/8th inch bullet resistant, tinted glass or lexan, that was angled at about 15 degrees inward towards to top, creating the impression that you were looking into a fishbowl with overly tinted windows. The ventilation sucked.

The proceedings were broadcast via a lousy speaker at low volume into the spectator area.

The courtroom decorum, as you will, was nothing like how things are done by us uncivilized, backwoods down-staters (the urban bigots think we are "hicks"). The first thing that was obvious was that nobody rose when the judge entered or left the room. Attorneys and courtroom staff just milled around, conducting their own little conversations with their backs to the judge, right in the middle of proceedings.

During one sentencing (for a double-aggravated, inferred-weapon armed robber, who got 2 years probation for two stick-ups), a delivery driver(!!) brought in a pizza and some sandwiches, walking through open court in session to the back door! We just looked at one another and shook our heads in disbelief. Then on his way out a couple of minutes later, chatted with the stenographer about how much she owed while she was supposed to be recording the court proceedings!!! We were aghast. Again, this was during a sentencing hearing.

The case before that, a man pled guilty to rape and received probation as well!

Finally, it was Pritchett's turn. The cops in his case were no-shows. So the bench trial began. Both sides stipulated, with some wrangling, about what the "facts" were and what the cop would say (from previous testimony at earlier hearings) and at that point, the state rested.

The judge asked, seeming to already know the answer, who all those people were out in the spectator area. He asked if we were a class or something...

About two dozen of us were there for support of Roderick and all of his (Caucasion, BTW) except the two attractive women (Carol and her daughter Corrin (sp?)) wore blue shirts. It was then that the judge cut the microphone and later, we were told, the judge told Maksym to make sure he has control of "his people" as the judge didn't "want any outbursts from any down-state Second-Amendment fanatics."

Maksym put on his case with Roderick called as the first witness.

By now, thankfully, much of the circus going on earlier had subsided and only a few people were occasionally walking through open court. The judge did stop, right in the middle of testimony from the witness stand, to take a phone call (this was the second time since I arrived he did this). "Whoa. This is not a recess. I'll be back in thirty seconds. Just sit tight." True enough, he was. Yeah, it wasn't like any court I'd ever been in as an observer or juror.

Maksym seemed to irritate the judge by putting on part of his case (that frankly, didn't seem all that relevant, but in Chicago, maybe it was relevant, I don't know.) The questioning dragged on, despite the judge repeatedly (and inappropriately in some cases, IMHO) saying, "Come on, let's go" in an effort to rush the bench trial. Oh, and the prosecution objected to about 50% of Maksym's questions. In fact, Maksym asked Pritchett if he had a FOID card and they objected to that!!! (And it was

sustained!)

Finally, Maksym asked Roderick if the gun was unloaded. Yes. He asked Roderick to describe how it was transported. He did. Was their a bullet in the chamber? No. How do you know? Well, at the range (in so many words), it's important to make sure the gun - a semi-auto - was cleared before packing up to prevent an accidental discharge at some later time. How do you do that? Roderick explained how he did this.

Maksym asked how and why he transported the gun in a CD case instead of a gun case. (To avoid advertising that he had a gun in his back seat.)

At this point, I went down to put money in the meter and on the way back, I ran into Bill and Dan. They said that there was a "security emergency" in the courtroom we were in and the judge ordered everyone in the spectator area to be removed from the building. They had left ahead of everyone else before the security folks arrived. Huh??

So what happened?

Maksym had apparently attempted to enter into evidence the State Police brochure on "How to transport your gun legally" (Objection!! sustained) and a copy of the IL law (Objection, sustained) and a few other items that demonstrated that Roderick knew the real law and was trying (was in fact) to comply with the law in transporting his gun.

The judge apparently stopped testimony mid-stream around this point and declared the defendant not guilty after berating him for a couple of minutes, to the effect of "young man, be careful who you chose for your friends. I'd hate to see a fellow get a felony conviction by listening to bad, but well-meaning, advice from so-called friends."

Running that through the universal B.S. translator: "Boy, a black kid like you had better leave the guns to the cops. Don't listen to these 2nd Amendment fanatics that you can have a gun to protect your family. You, as a black man - or any man for that matter living in the big city, have no real "right" to a gun and next time you might not get acquitted even though you're possessing a gun as these gun nuts tell you to -- legally."

The crowd applauded briefly after the judge pronounced the not-guilty verdict.

At that point, the judge came unglued. He almost came over the desk in outrage at the applause and ordered the bailiff to have everyone removed from the building before he held them all in contempt of court. Of course, everyone being law-abiding folks, they all left pretty much before security got there. A few in the back of the room were still there and escorted out without problems.

The bailiff came in as Roderick's supporters were already leaving the observation room in an orderly fashion and called out on the radio for an "emergency escort" from that courtroom.

And that's where I found Bill and Dan.

I can't believe I missed the finale because I was slugging the meter!

Attached is a small picture (bigger one for John Birch for the website (and our webmaster as well) of many of the supporters in front of the courthouse with Roderick and his family.

We created quite a spectacle outside the big courthouse as thirty people talked about the trial. Eric Zorn from the Trib, I believe, was there as was someone from the Sun-Times. Look for this to be in the paper tomorrow.

I guarantee the Mayor will be pissed. Dick Devine, the SA, will be pissed.

And the judge will take plenty of heat for his verdict. I guarantee it.

I got home around 5:30ish, intending to take a half-hour nap and go to work... Paul Vallandigham woke me up at 9:45 when he called. Oops.

Ciao!

John Boch

============================================

John Boch

templar223@insightbb.com

Certified Pistol and Personal Protection Instructor

Vice-President, Champaign Co. Rifle Assoc.

Editor, GunNews Magazine

Visit http://www.gunssavelife.com