Plaxico Burress indicted on 3 weapons counts -- faces 3 1/2 years if convicted.

espn.com, 8-3-09

NEW YORK -- Former New York Giants star Plaxico Burress was indicted by a grand jury on weapons charges for shooting himself in the thigh at a Manhattan nightclub and faces a minimum prison sentence of 3½ years if convicted, prosecutors announced Monday.

The indictment charged the 31-year-old Burress with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said.

"The grand jury applied the law to the facts of this case," Morgenthau said. He said the accidental shooting at the Latin Quarter nightclub on Nov. 29 was treated "like any similar case against any other defendant."

<snip>

Burress' former teammate Antonio Pierce, who was with Burress in the club and drove him to the hospital, was not indicted. Immediately after the decision was announced, the NFL said Pierce would not face a league suspension.

LINK: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4374477

...really doesn't mean much as to whether he will be convicted...the bar for the prosecution is relatively low when up against a grand jury.

Never trust a jury

This pretty much serves as proof as to how unforgiving the NYS justice system is.

Guy shot himself in the leg. Why not just let it go as a lesson learned and move on?

Of course, as things go, in NY they have to be dicks.

Maybe that's why.

I say lesson learned.

Move on.

What if he'd shot someone else in the leg instead? Lesson learned?

This had disaster written all over it; he's LUCKY he only shot himself. Here's the lesson: Don't take an unlicensed firearm into a nightclub full of people and shoot yourself or anyone else. If you do you will go to jail.

I think that's a lesson more than one person can learn.

who did the same thing he did.

Why on earth did he take a gun in with him anyway? What is it with NFL players and guns? I mean, they pretty much have the physical tools to deal with anyone trying to hurt them, so why add a gun into the mix?

That's one of the things ESPN talked about when this story first happened.
A large majority of people are convicted and do go to jail.

You want to encourage guns, nightclubs and alcohol?

The fact that he shot himself in the foot and jeapordized his career. Not to mention the public embarassment.

I think that's punishment enough.

There are bigger fish to fry.

even though this law was targetting gang bangers and drug dealers, if they have a chance to go after a celebrity, they will (justice be damned). Frankly in my view what Plax did is the same as a person driving drunk and crashing their car into a tree. The punishment should be similar to what the drunk driver would face.

What if it fell out of his waistband or whatever it was and some drunk guy decided to start firing? It's NOT the same thing. He had no business carrying that gun into that club, it was legal and he's very fortunate that he only shot himself.

it's an issue of putting others at risk, rather than any actual harm done.

So, this will say to others, hey as long as you're not caught and don't harm others, feel free to bring a loaded, illegal weapon into a crowded nightclub. The worst that could happen is you might shoot yourself in the leg.

Until, of course, it falls into the hands of the wrong person who kills a few others then we'll see the outrage.

Plaxico Burress did a stupid ILLEGAL thing and deserves the punishment that has been set for this crime. What if he hadn't shot himself but got into an argument outside the club and shot another person because he had his illegal weapon handy? An unlicensed, illegal firearm is just that and it's against the law.

than someone killed by a drunk driver?????? It seems to me that you think there is a difference.

And, as another poster pointed out, there are extremely severe penalties for driving drunk whether someone is injured or killed or not. Which there should be; the potential for harm is huge. Just like this. But you seem to think the justice system has something against Burress or wants to make an example of him; do you really think the penalty wouldn't be as great for someone who isn't a famous athlete?

so I am not sure what you are arguing.

"Bloomberg and the DA are playing the publicity game even though this law was targetting gang bangers and drug dealers, if they have a chance to go after a celebrity, they will (justice be damned)."

The punishment for anyone who commits this crime should be jail time. This post of yours made it sound as though it shouldn't, that Burress was being singled out for his celebrity. If that's not what you meant, my apologies.

But I believe the poster you are responding to is a Giants fan and is incapable of being objective in this case. Because of course the fact that Joe Schmoe would be in jail for this already is apparantly not part of his logic.

I wouldn't have a problem with 3 months and some probation, but anything more than that (cosnidering the circumstances and the outcome) would be excessive.

Guns are nothing to mess with. Ever.

I don't think a person should lose 3+ years of their life for doing something stupid that didn't hurt anyone, especially on a first offense.

If convicted of all three he could serve up to 3 1/2.

no matter how they did the charges. He took a gun (for protection, as another player had been recently mugged). He didn't take care of it and it went off and shot himself in the leg. That's it, not three different incidents or occasions.

If he had a permit for conceal and carry then, yes, it's just a stupid incident. But he took an unlicensed firearm (that he apparently had no idea how to use) to a public place; the potential for harm was gigantic. If he shot himself in his garage, it's stupid too but he didn't put others at risk. Why can't you see that? He had no business carrying that gun but, I'm quite sure, thought he would get away with it because he's a famous athlete. And he had a whole entourage with him. Who mugs a huge, muscular guy in a pack of people?

because I am not as hung up on the gun issue (at least that's how it appears to me). I challenge you to show me one state that routinely gives a drunk driver three and a half years for their first offense.

If there were three counts of drunk driving, the driver easily could get three years. In any state.

so again show me the state that gives people 3+ years for their first drunk driving offense.

Three crimes = possibility of a harsher sentence

that the prosecutor has gone overboard in their prosecution of Plaxico.

Wikipedia:

On Friday, November 28, 2008, Burress suffered an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound to the right thigh in the New York City nightclub LQ when his Glock pistol, tucked in the waistband of his sweatpants, began sliding down his leg; apparently in reaching for the gun he inadvertently depressed the trigger, causing the gun to fire. The injury was not life-threatening and he was released from an area hospital the next afternoon.

The following Monday, Burress turned himself in to police to face charges of criminal possession of a handgun. According to his lawyer Benjamin Brafman, Burress will plead not guilty.
It was later discovered that the NYPD found out about the incident only after seeing it on television and were not called by New York-Presbyterian Hospital as required by law. New York

Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the hospital actions an "outrage" and stated that they are a "chargeable offense". Bloomberg also urged that Burress be prosecuted to the fullest extent, saying that any punishment short of the minimum 3½ years for unlawful carrying of a handgun would be "a mockery of the law." Burress had an expired concealed carry (CCW) license from Florida, but no New York license.

On December 2, 2008, Burress posted bail of $100,000. He was scheduled to return to court on March 31, 2009, to enter a plea. Later in the day, Burress reported to Giants Stadium as per team policy for injured but active players, and was told he would be suspended without pay for the remaining four games of the 2008 regular season for conduct detrimental to the team. In addition, the Giants placed Burress on their reserve/non-football injury list, meaning he was ineligible to return for the playoffs. Burress was also scheduled to receive $1 million from his signing bonus on December 10, 2008, but the status of that payment is unclear. The NFL Players Association filed a grievance, saying the team violated the collective bargaining agreement and challenging the suspension and fine received by Burress.

On December 23, 2008, a search of Burress' New Jersey home by the Totowa, New Jersey Police, the New York Police Department and investigators from the Manhattan District Attorney turned up a 9 mm handgun, a rifle, ammunition and the clothing believed to be worn by Burress on the night of his accidental shooting. If Burress cannot present permits for the weapons, additional charges will likely be filed against him.

On June 12, 2009 Burress' attorney, Benjamin Brafman announced that he has been unable to reach a sentencing agreement, and will request an adjournment until September. Burress asked a Manhattan grand jury for sympathy during two hours of testimony on July 29, 2009.

On Monday August 3, 2009, prosecutors announced that Burress has been indicted on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and a single count of reckless endangerment in the second degree, both felonies.

I personally don't think people should be able to take licensed guns into crowded nightclubs, but that's not the debate. You really don't have a problem with his taking an unlicensed gun into a room full of people - where he did it because he expected an incident (mugging)?

I said it was the equivilant of drunk driving and I, like most people, think that's the wrong thing to do.

...the punishment can be very severe.

I mean come on, we all know that Burress has MORE rights than a normal citizen..:sarcasm:
I like to see all people treated equally and in NY a non-celebrity would be put on trial for this. In fact would probably be in jail waiting for trial.

the vast majority of first offenders for a charge like this get plead down and never face jail time. This case has gotten this far because of the celebrity of the defendant. The Mayor and DA saw a chance to make political hay out of the issue from day 1.

People take unlicensed firearms into nightclubs, shoot themselves in the leg, don't report it right away, and don't face jail time? Wow.

who are charged under this possession statute usually plead down and don't see jail time. So yes, really.

And see how many of them shot themselves in the leg in crowded nightclubs because it appeared they had no idea how to handle the gun.

Hmmm...unlicensed, goes off, covers up...yeah, some poor schmuck would have gotten a slap on the wrist, but poor Plaxico is mistreated.

that Pierce was not indicted.