Juvenile Gun Possession: Jae’s Story

Jae lives in Lynn. There are gangs in the area and gang members are known to Jae and his family, but Jae was a good student and a hard-working kid who had no gang affiliations. One day, immediately following a gang-related shooting, there was a knock on the door of the home Jae shared with his family. Jae’s sister answered the door and let in some gang members she knew from the area. They went straight into the room which Jae and his sister shared and hid the guns they were carrying. One of the guns was hidden in the pocket of Jae’s jacket. While this took place, Jae was in the shower.

The police were following the shooters and a short time later they arrived at Jae’s home.  The shooters behaved casually as though they had been there for hours. The police searched the home and found the guns used in the shooting, including one of the guns in the pocket of a jacket found in Jae’s room. The police report stated that Jae had said the jacket was his. Jae, who was a juvenile at the time, was arrested. Prior to Jae’s trial, I was able to have the court suppress the statement admitting that the jacket was his because the police had not followed the proper procedure.

When we got to trial, I was successfully able to defend Jae. I was able to demonstrate to the jury that it was not his gun and showed that there was insufficient evidence to show that he constructively possessed the guns. He was acquitted by the jury. Jae came to us for help and we were able to clear his name and allow him to continue with his education.