burglary and firearm theft?

What is the name of your state?Indiana
A friends home was burglarized and over twenty firearms were stolen along with 500 pounds of ammunition and reloading components. His home was then torched. Two suspects have been arrested, but the prosecutor seems reluctant to pursue the other suspects and seems to be interested in only the burglary and possibly arson charges, not pressing the firearms violations. Can my friend request that the case be brought up to a State or Federal prosecutor for the firearms violations, i.e. theft of firearms, transportation of stolen firearms, sale and attempted sale of stolen firearms and ammunition and possetion of stolen firearms?

He can ask but it's still within the prosecutor's discretion what to charge and prosecute. The prosecutor may have a very good reason for not prosecuting for violations regarding the firearms.

They prosecute what they can prove. if the evidence shows elements of burglary and arson, then that is what they will pursue. If there is no proof to show beyond a reasonable doubt at this time that they stole any weapons, then they won't. It may also be possible that they have turned that portion over to the feds.

Your friend can contact and request anything he wants. But he can not generally compel them to prosecute a case where they cannot prove the elements of the offense. And if they had to, it COULD threaten to undermine the arson and burglary case.

We go where the evidence leads, and charge what we can prove. Besides, there is still time to get the others.

Carl

more info

They caught one of the suspects in possession of part of the stolen firearms (that had been in a safe), he also had a detailed list of the firearms and the prices he was asking for them, the other suspect in custody was in possession of other items taken from the gun safe and the tools used to open the safe, there is also evidence associated with a stolen vehicle that was used to transport the safe after removal from the scene that links the vehicle to the second suspect. The Sheriff also has video taped confessions from each of the suspects with the names of other accomplices. Of 23 firearms stolen 14 have been recovered, one from a person who surrendered the gun after a tip as to the purchasers identity, a second pistol has been located and the purchaser has been given the opportunity to return the stolen gun to the police. Hence the potential charges on the firearms violations.

Well, there could be any number of reasons why they are not filing on the firearms charges. Like I said, they could be letting the feds take it. Or, maybe those are lesser charges compared to burglary and arson. Or, there could be some detail that you don't know about that makes it hard to prosecute.

There's no reason they wouldn't file those charges as well if they could ... unless there was some tactical or legal reason that they would not be able to.

Frequently, what people THINK is a slam dunk (even sometimes what the police think is a slam dunk) is not sush a sure thing for the DA.

Have you considered just calling the prosecutor and asking?

Carl