Exercising The Right
The Politicizing of Criminal Prosecutions
You want to believe that the criminal justice system is operated impartially, but every so often we learn about blatant abuses that make us question that notion. One such case entailed criminal charges filed against Iraq War veteran Ben Wassell from Silver Creek, New York. Wassell was the first person charged back in 2013 under the recently passed New York Secure Ammunition & Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Act. Wassell was arrested by state police for selling firearms in violation of the SAFE act that included prohibited features such as an “illegal” pistol grip, telescoping stock, and bayonet mount. The criminal charges and resulting legal proceedings have turned Wassell’s life upside down. “This whole thing has been hell for me and my family. We’ll never get those years back…. I got fired from the job I had when I got arrested. I was also under consideration for a job with the federal government, and I was told I was no longer under consideration because of the arrest. I tried to get back on active duty with the Marines and was turned down,” Wassell told the Buffalo News in early July.
The story of a veteran being prosecuted for exercising constitutionally protected rights is upsetting enough, but the most troubling aspect of the story was the overreaching done by the state attorney general’s office to intervene in the case for obvious political reasons. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman inserted himself into the ordeal and took over the prosecution from the district attorney’s office in the rural county where the alleged crimes occurred. Some observers argued that Schneiderman felt that a district attorney from a pro-gun rural county would be too easy on the military veteran. Wassell was prosecuted by the State Attorney General’s Office in 2014, convicted on three charges, and sentenced to probation, but Wassell’s attorney appealed the conviction. The appeals process can sometimes take years, and it did in this case. In the years that followed, Schneiderman, who was so anxious to score brownie points with the anti-gun Left by prosecuting a war veteran, would later be accused of sexually abusing multiple women and resign in disgrace within three hours of the allegations being made public.
The appeal was ultimately successful and WGRZ reported on July 8 that Wassell’s convictions were overturned based on the grounds that Schneiderman lacked the jurisdiction to prosecute the case.
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