I was saddened when he was convicted. Hopefully it will be sucessfully appealed!
An Army soldier convicted in November of a misdemeanor count of interfering with the duties of a police officer for carrying an assault rifle while hiking with his teenage son plans to appeal the decision.
The Army Times, citing the Temple Daily Telegram, reports an attorney for U.S. Army Master Sgt. Christopher Grisham has filed a notice of his intent to appeal in a case that has attracted the interest of gun advocates nationwide.
The attorney, Blue Rannefeld, reportedly asserted in the motion that the prosecution’s claims were not supported by the evidence.
KWTX-TV News reports jurors convicted Grisham – a soldier stationed at Ford Hood in Texas – on Nov. 20 of the class-B crime, which carries a fine not to exceed $2,000 and a jail sentence of not more than 180 days.
Grisham was arrested while hiking with his 15-year-old son, who was working on the requirements for a Boy Scout badge.
Grisham was carrying an AR-15 rifle and a concealed handgun, for which he had a permit. Texas law allows for rifles to be carried in public.
Someone reportedly called police expressing alarm over a man carrying a rifle along a road. Officer Steve Ermis responded and, according to court testimony, was initially concerned because he didn’t know Grisham’s intentions.
His intentions have nothing to do with the law. What he was doing was 100% legal, so no conviction should be held. Further he conducted himself very well during his arrest and criminal disarmament. Meanwhile the police did nothing of the sort.
Note at 3:00 how the nice police officer sweeps him with his own weapon. This was a terrible case, and hopefully the Master Sargent will be vindicated.
Convicted him of interfering with an officer who shouldn’t have every stopped him — I don’t understand this.
I think his ‘intentions’ as much as the police needed to observe them were obvious — walking with his son. Name a mass murderer — or just about any other murderer — that walked along the road with a child during the daylight hours Openly Carrying?