Court can't fill jury due to gun concerns

[enough]

http://www.dailylocal.com/general-news/20140219/court-cant-fill-jury-due-to-gun-concerns

West Chester, PA 2/19/14

A rare display of public anxiety over open displays of firearms derailed the start of a criminal trial in Common Pleas Court Wednesday. The case involves James Evan Ferry, who faces charges in connection with a commotion at the ACAC health club in West Goshen just days after the school shootings in Newton, Conn.

Judge William P. Mahon was forced to dismiss a panel of prospective jurors in the case during the jury selection process after an overwhelming number of people said they could not consider the evidence against him fairly, due to his medical condition and his possession of a holstered handgun during the incident.

Ferry, a U.S. Special Forces veteran, suffered a traumatic brain injury while in the service. Although he had a permit to carry the weapon police found on him at the time, more than two-dozen of the panel said their feelings about the matter would prohibit them from judging the case on the merits alone. “I’m going to have to dismiss you,” the judge told the members.

snip>

Interestingly, Ferry – dressed in the courtroom in a conservative dark gray suit and sporting an American flag lapel pin – is not charged with any weapons violation, and did not draw the handgun he was carrying from its holster, or even make mention of it, when he went to the ACAC Fitness Center on McDermott Drive around 4 p.m. on Dec. 28, 2012. The most serious charge he faces is a felony count of interception of wire, electronic or oral communications, stemming from his recording of a conversation with the club manager without her knowledge. The other counts of disorderly conduct, harassment and terroristic threats are all misdemeanors.

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[CBGLuthier]

1. Interestingly only an idiot would think he did this with no intent to INTIMIDATE

At a preliminary hearing held in March, witnesses testified how they had watched as Ferry went into the ACAC building carrying a handgun on one hip and two ammunition magazines on the other. One employee, physical therapist Bryan Miller, said Ferry “stared down” at him as he passed, and that he “felt threatened” by his demeanor. He “looked determined to get his point across,” Miller testified, according to records.

[clffrdjk]

2. Seems like you would also be dismissed.