AD1 reverses CAL client's weapon-possession conviction and dismisses indictment, finding his possession temporary and innocent.
DR was found guilty of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree after he disarmed a friend after a domestic violence incident in which the friend threatened to shoot his wife with a handgun. The jury rejected DR’s defense of temporary and innocent possession, accepting the prosecutor’s argument that DR had not turned over the weapon to the police with adequate dispatch. The Appellate Division disagreed. It accepted CAL’s argument that DR had come into possession of the weapon to protect his friend’s wife, and, once he had possession, had not used it in a dangerous or reckless manner. CAL attorney Mark Zeno represented DR on appeal.