Prosecutors fail to prove BB gun dangerous
- Font Size:
- Default font size
- Larger font size
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Court of Appeals has overturned a man’s robbery conviction, saying prosecutors failed to prove a BB gun was a dangerous weapon.
A Dubuque County jury found Alfred Lucius guilty on two counts of first-degree robbery after he confronted two men leaving a bar. Lucius was armed with a BB gun and stole their money.
Police found a BB gun that looked like a Beretta pistol in a plastic bag at Lucius’ apartment. There were no BBs in the gun and officers didn’t check to see if the gun worked, court records show.
The district court denied two motions for acquittal and Lucius was found guilty on both counts of first-degree robbery.
On appeal, Lucius argued his trial lawyer was ineffective for not arguing that the state failed to prove the BB gun was a dangerous weapon.
The appeals court said in its ruling that prosecutors were required to show the gun was either designed to inflict death or injury or used to indicate someone intended to inflict death or serious injury. Prosecutors failed to prove either, the court said.
“The state did not present any evidence that the BB gun was ’designed primarily for use in inflicting death or injury,“’ the court said.
The court also noted that the gun was unloaded and had not been tested to see if it worked.
“We conclude the jury’s finding of guilt ... was not supported by substantial evidence,” the court wrote.
In his appeal, Lucius’ attorney asked the court to enter a conviction for the lesser charge of second-degree robbery and the court remanded the case back to district court to find Lucius guilty of second-degree robbery.
“Lucius does not ... challenge the sufficiency of evidence supporting a finding of guilt on this lesser, included offense,” the court said.
——
On the Net: Iowa Court of Appeals: http://www.judicial.state.ia.us/Court—of—Appeals/
del.icio.us
Digg
NewsVine
Fark
redditMore Stories By The Associated Press
() comments
» More Iowa Stories
Highest Rated Articles from the last 7 Days
- 2008 Diet Of The Year:
- Finally, A Diet That Really Works! Seen On CNN, NBC, CBS & Fox News.
- www.Wu-YiSource.com
- Cheap Airfare
- Compare multiple travel sites. Discount web fares made easy.
- www.LowFares.com
- Holy Grail of eMarketing
- All-in-One Email Marketing Solution 1000s of Big Companies Trust Us.
- www.Lyris.com
- Ads by Yahoo!
