I live in Washington State.
A year ago on 4th of July I discharged a firearm "as a form of celebration" or so the police record says. My roommate's girlfriend at the time and some of her friends joined me.
The police responded about an hour later and we didn't tell them anything. They did find shell casings and took them as evidence. The next morning different officers came to the house and at first we did not tell them anything. Then the girlfriend let it out, so eventually they got me on the record as saying I had done this. At this time they confiscated the gun (a shotgun) and remaining shotgun shells (unspent, for matching purposes).
I didn't hear anything for a long time so I called for information. I was transferred to voice mail and my message was not returned. That happened several times. About 2 weeks ago I was finally able to talk to someone, the prosecutor, and he said he would see what information he could find. He took my phone number but never called back, and last week I received notice of arraignment happening this thursday the 28th. I can't help but think that if I had not been persistent in retreiving the gun (it belonged to my roomate's father, who had passed away a few months prior to this), then the year would have passed with no charges filed.
After the incident I learned that my friend was either a convicted felon or had been charged with a felony. So he is not allowed to own guns. However, given the circumstances in which he received his guns (his dad died, and he had been selling them) I hope the court will be lenient about this. He was not present at the time of the incident.
I have a squeaky clean record. I have a good job but I do not have money to throw around so I have not hired a lawyer. I have had good results in the past with minor traffic tickets in defending myself. Am I wrong in doing this? Is it more serious than I think? My statements in the courtroom would focus on:
*the witness identifying me from 100 yards away at 1am with little light, from behind and above my position
*although there are fingerprints on the gun, they cannot prove I fired it that night
*I fired the gun into the air, purposefully away from any person or property
*the unwillingness of the police/court to provide me with any information about the case. I know they cannot give legal advice but they can tell me what is going on. Also, the long delay (1 year) followed by a very sudden arraignment.
I want to get this over with so I am hoping to plead guilty, pay a fine, retrieve the firearm and get on with life. Is my statement evidence enough that I did commit the crime? If not, I assume my fingerprints are all over the gun and shells but they did not ever take my prints. If my statement is enough to prove I did it, I will have to plead guilty. If not, should I plead innocent? Will this drag on for another year?
The maximum punishment for a misdemeanor far exceeds what I would expect for what I did. I think it is $5000 and/or 90 days in jail. Being a first time offender, I just don't know what to expect.
Please offer any help you might have, thanks!
A year ago on 4th of July I discharged a firearm "as a form of celebration" or so the police record says. My roommate's girlfriend at the time and some of her friends joined me.
The police responded about an hour later and we didn't tell them anything. They did find shell casings and took them as evidence. The next morning different officers came to the house and at first we did not tell them anything. Then the girlfriend let it out, so eventually they got me on the record as saying I had done this. At this time they confiscated the gun (a shotgun) and remaining shotgun shells (unspent, for matching purposes).
I didn't hear anything for a long time so I called for information. I was transferred to voice mail and my message was not returned. That happened several times. About 2 weeks ago I was finally able to talk to someone, the prosecutor, and he said he would see what information he could find. He took my phone number but never called back, and last week I received notice of arraignment happening this thursday the 28th. I can't help but think that if I had not been persistent in retreiving the gun (it belonged to my roomate's father, who had passed away a few months prior to this), then the year would have passed with no charges filed.
After the incident I learned that my friend was either a convicted felon or had been charged with a felony. So he is not allowed to own guns. However, given the circumstances in which he received his guns (his dad died, and he had been selling them) I hope the court will be lenient about this. He was not present at the time of the incident.
I have a squeaky clean record. I have a good job but I do not have money to throw around so I have not hired a lawyer. I have had good results in the past with minor traffic tickets in defending myself. Am I wrong in doing this? Is it more serious than I think? My statements in the courtroom would focus on:
*the witness identifying me from 100 yards away at 1am with little light, from behind and above my position
*although there are fingerprints on the gun, they cannot prove I fired it that night
*I fired the gun into the air, purposefully away from any person or property
*the unwillingness of the police/court to provide me with any information about the case. I know they cannot give legal advice but they can tell me what is going on. Also, the long delay (1 year) followed by a very sudden arraignment.
I want to get this over with so I am hoping to plead guilty, pay a fine, retrieve the firearm and get on with life. Is my statement evidence enough that I did commit the crime? If not, I assume my fingerprints are all over the gun and shells but they did not ever take my prints. If my statement is enough to prove I did it, I will have to plead guilty. If not, should I plead innocent? Will this drag on for another year?
The maximum punishment for a misdemeanor far exceeds what I would expect for what I did. I think it is $5000 and/or 90 days in jail. Being a first time offender, I just don't know what to expect.
Please offer any help you might have, thanks!