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Charges Dropped Against Felon With Alleged Sawed Off Shotgun
December 13, 2010
Charges have been dropped against a convicted felon that allegedly admitted to deputies responding to a disturbance at his Cottage Hill home that he had a sawed off shotgun hidden behind a bedroom TV.
Brian Gray Falkenberry, 39, was facing three felony counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and one felony count of possession of a short barreled shotgun. But all of the charges were dropped for insufficient evidence, according to Escambia County Clerk of the Circuit Court records.
Deputies were called to a disturbance between Falkenberry and a 40-year old female in the 1400 block of Williams Ditch Road in August. When they arrived, Falkenberry was moving his belongings out of the house and into the driveway, according to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office report.
While moving items of the house, Falkenberry told deputies that he needed to go back to the master bedroom to retrieve the last of his items. He was escorted to the bedroom by a deputy. Behind the bedroom TV, deputies found a sawed off .20 gauge shotgun, bird shot, a Smith and Wesson .38 special and 17 live rounds of ammunition, according to the Sheriff’s Office report.
According to Falkenberry’s arrest report, he has at least five felony convictions on his record, including one for cocaine trafficking.
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Comments
18 Responses to “Charges Dropped Against Felon With Alleged Sawed Off Shotgun”
Had he grabbed the gun, shot a deputy, then maybe…….maybe the charges would stick. The report should’ve read, regardless of EXACT TIMING (HA! HA!), “after I read Miranda, suspect stated he had several guns, which was owned solely by himself, still inside his residence”. Then again, that’s just my opinion.
Whatever. You can bet someone didnt follow protocol or this scumbag would be behind bars. Agreed?
Yo SANDRA…
Hate to tell ya, but if someone makes a statement that was not solicited by LEO’s, it will stand in court. An Utterance that is made without request from a LEO is not subject to Miranda and will stand in court. For instance, you walk up to a LEO and state, I shot him, it will stand up.
Only if the LEO’s are asking questions without Miranda being given can the statements be thrown out…
Still…a convicted Felon in the same room as a firearm is a violation….
■OMRBKH,
I wonder sometimes but I can see instances in which one involved in what is called petit crime or petty crime, take your pick, and the other involves terrorist acts harming many people or major crimes involving thousands of continuing illegal acts. Other times it sounds like some think, “This one’s too easy, let’s throw him back and let him get bigger first.”
David for perspective
but statements made before being arrested are not subject to the Miranda ruling, so maybe he never claimed the guns. One of my many cousins was found by law enforcement officers in the middle of a well tended crop of marijuana.
“Now we’ve got you!”
“For what?”
“This marijuana!”
“Is that what this is? I was just walking my dog.”
They had to give up.
David for an clean heart
or a straight face
He may have claimed ownership of the weapons before being advised of his rights under Miranda. Those statements would be inadmisable in court.
@ concerned parent. By law, a convicted felon cannot even be in the same room with a firearm no matter who “owns it”, except when they are in court or jail or otherwise in custody, and the LEO’s have them. A sawed off shotgun, if it is short enough, is still another crime.
“and then there’s the fact that some people are released and charges dropped if they agree to inform on others in cases nearer and dearer to the attorney’s hearts”
Right you are, Mr Green! I wonder, does that make the person who had the charges dropped any less of a threat to society? Of course not. Politics as usual.
and then there’s the fact that some people are released and charges dropped if they agree to inform on others in cases nearer and dearer to the attorney’s hearts
I would not get on the SO so fast. The SO does not prosecute a case, the States Attorney does. There have been a number of cases that were dropped that I could not understand the reason for. The one where a person was looking at porn on a computer at the court house and was seen by a number of people. The SA dropped the case for some unknown reason. There have been a number of others. Maybe Mr Bill Eddins would like to start giving a reason for dropping cases.
Just out of curiosity, what would be ’sufficient evidence’?
I believe it says that he allegedly admitted to having the gun. How can they not have enough evidence. Sounds like someone didnt do a very good job. They need to get these people off the streets that are into drugs and carrying weapons. That is one reason things are like they are today.
Justice was served
No search warrant needed if in plain sight. I can walk by every T.V in my home and see behind it. Especially if there was a shotgun there. lol
prob has something to do w/not having a search warrant and lack of proof of ownership.
I wonder who his lawyer was?
Big Chief,
WHERE does it say that he handed it over to the police? What I see says that the deputy “found” it. Do you not see the difference? It is possible that the items belonged to the other occupant of the bedroom. While it doesn’t seem very probable, that is the difficulty in proceeding with the case. They have to have evidence that proves beyond all reasonable doubt that it was his. Obviously they didn’t have that or they would have prosecuted him.
I mean “really” is it that hard to prosocute a case when the accused hands over the evidence to the police officer?
Insufficient evidence = shoddy police investigation.
Hope the deputy was thoroughly counseled and forced to go through re-training.