In 25 years, I defended only one person indicted by a grand jury, and that was a federal case. It's rarely used here.
Originally Posted by CuteOldGuy
What does that have to do with "gun control" .... ?
All it does for your suggestion is it allows a Judge to determine PC? That can be done with an indictment in the form of a motion to dismiss based on the lack of evidence to support an element of the offense.
Since you have "defended" numerous cases then it is appalling that you would suggest a "negligence" level of conduct to support a conviction for "facilitating" the commission of a capital murder. Even "criminal negligence" should not be the basis for the charge of "facilitating" the commission of a capital murder.
Texas Penal Code § 46.13. Making a Firearm Accessible to XXXX.
It's a misdemeanor even if someone is killed. But under the Model Penal code, upon which both Texas and Kansas (and most of the other states) base their general concepts of penal code violations, "criminal negligence" offenses are generally "misdemeanors" ....
.. and if you read the statute, which comes about as close to what you proposed you can see "a problem" with shifting the criminal liability to the gun owner/possessor. See "affirmative defenses."
And since you have extensive experience in jury trials in murder and aggravated assault cases in which a firearm was used you have personal knowledge of the difficulty of convincing a jury that your clients were not even "negligent" and/or the weapon was "stolen" (as opposed to be sold).
What happens is .... the weapon is confiscated and retained "as evidence" and it is equally likely that a "protective" order would be entered prohibiting the defendant from acquiring and/or possessing a firearm until a "final" adjudicating of the offense of FAILING TO SECURE A FIREARM IN THE HOME!
http://smartgunlaws.org/XXXX-access-...ion-in-kansas/
Kansas might want to start by protecting .... XXXX ... and then graduate to the public!