Felons carrying firearms create some interesting for Michigan firearms defense attorneys who are trying to keep their clients out of prison.
A recent case involving Flint, Michigan man is a case in point. A police chase in late February has resulted in both state and federal criminal charges for Flint resident, Donald Lee Burton. The federal complaint has been filed but Burton has yet to be arraigned. Burtonâs state charges include carrying a concealed weapon, felony firearm and fleeing from police. In federal court, Burton will face a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Prosecutors allege that Burton ran a stop sign on Flintâs east side and then proceeded to evade Michigan State police, only stopping when Burton lost control of his vehicle, went off the road, and was cut off by a police car. After arresting Burton and conducting a search of the vehicle, police found a 9mm handgun that had been reported stolen about four years earlier. Police were tipped off to the presence of the handgun because Burton was wearing an empty holster.
Burton has a criminal history that includes felony drug charges
According to prosecutors Burton has a criminal history that includes felony drug charges and fraud in out of state cases. The judge overseeing Burtonâs arraignment set bond at $200,000.
As a general rule, most prosecutors will file a âfelony firearmâ charge any time a gun is used in the commission of a felony. This is a two year prison offense. Here, Defendant is charged with multiple felonies. The most interesting felony is the possession of the gun. A felon is not allowed to carry or possess a firearm unless and until his gun rights are restored. In this scenario, most prosecutors would charge the Defendant with a âFelon in Possession of a Firearmâ charge. This crime has a five year Maximum penalty, however, the sentence would run consecutive to the Felony Firearm charge.
With the federal case, the matter gets potentially worse. Generally Defendant facing both state and federal charges run the risk of having a longer overall sentence than necessary. This is due to the fact that the Defendant may only get time served in one of the cases.
All of this points the need for people facing gun prosecutions to have very good defense attorney working for them.
The full article regarding Mr. Burton can be found on mlive.com.