Gun Charge Acquittal For A 63-Year-Old Man On Parole

A 63-year-old man was locked up for 18 months, waiting for his day in court, after he was accused of a felony gun charge, while on parole. This new offense had the potential to send him to prison for the rest of his life until our criminal defense team became involved.

After serving almost 36 years for a homicide that stemmed from a bar fight, the man began living in a house, owned by his ex-wife in Elizabeth Borough, PA. Eventually, his parole officer received an anonymous tip saying he had a gun in his possession, causing parole agents to search his room. They found the weapon and charged him with a person not to possess a firearm because having the weapon constituted a parole violation and felons are not permitted to own guns. If convicted of the gun charge, he would most likely die in prison since he faced between five and ten years for the weapon and eight additional years for violating probation. Therefore, he sought out strong representation from the Worgul, Sarna & Ness, Criminal Defense Attorneys, LLC.

With the stakes of this case being extremely high, Attorney Matthew Ness argued persistently that the gun was actually planted and the report was ultimately made by the homeowner’s daughter in hopes of removing him from the property. Attorney Ness introduced evidence that the owner of the house was allowing her daughter a place to stay with the condition that our client would also occupy the residence. However, this arrangement complicated the daughter’s lifestyle because it became clear our client was passing information about her behavior to the mother, resulting in the mother threatening to withhold money from the daughter.

Our client’s first trial resulted in a hung jury, but the second jury thought the daughter had a financial motive to want him out of the house and the opportunity to facilitate it. Matthew Ness’ argument instilled sufficient doubt within the jury, thereby finding him not guilty. When he was eventually cleared of this gun charge, and after serving a lengthy sentence for a crime from 1972, he was pleased to finally move on with his life.

The outcome of an individual case depends on a variety of factors unique to that case. Case results do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any similar or future case.