simple legal question.

[afk]

ok really i wouldnt try to bother anyone with this but i got some questions ok. let me explaine this
i have a S & W ex police issue 9mm. now i know they are not spost to fire with no clip so heres where it gets interesting. it jammed at the range i took it back to my apartment. i have a carry permit. anyways i went to disasemble it took the clip out. and was going to pull it apart to remove the round. doing as we normally do i faced it down not thinking about downstairs. i went to pull the pin out and it sliped and fired the jammed round into the floor not hitting anyone. but causing a bit of damage now the police took me to the station ect. didn't send me to jail said it seemed like a harmless accident and prolly wouldn't file charges. so.. 5 days later i get papers in the mail
charges include

Discharge of firearm into an occupied structure
Discharge of firearms prohibited
Recklessly Endangering Another Person

now forgive me if i'm wrong. but isn't an accident an accident? i mean why the big charges. the first i belive is a F3 felony, i don't see why id be charged for an accident and even so such stiff charges when it was jammed. the 2nd and 3rd charge i thought ment u had to intend to do it.

anywho i'm wondering if this is serirus and what kinda setence it carrys and if theres a way to get it thrown out. i mean if i woulda intenially did it i'd take my charges that i deserved but an accident? that seems unfair.

any help would be quite aprishiated. thanks in advance.

[sjl127]

retain an attorney, like, yesterday.

You shouldn't have talked to them without an attorney when they took you to the station.

Lesson learned.

[gnbrotz]

You should immediately hire an attorney and not speak further to the police in regards to this matter.

[XD45]

like sjl said get an attorney quick, you don't want those charges to stick.

Good luck

[knight0334]

what the guys above said..

[IV_Warrior]

And don't talk further about to to ANYONE EXCEPT your attorney.

[GunLawyer001]

It's a factual issue whether what happened was reckless, but the elements of all three crimes require some degree of willful conduct. Not all carelessness is criminal, and not all accidents even result from carelessness.

Get a lawyer, a good lawyer. It's probably also worth hiring a firearms expert, too, to testify as to how the accident probably happened, and whether it could happen in the absence of criminal recklessness. See if you can get Howard S. Wolfe, former ATF guy, I think he's in the Pittsburgh area and does consulting on firearms legal issues.

Spend the money now, once you're convicted you're screwed and it would cost 10 times as much to try for a restoration of rights.

[sjl127]

It's a factual issue whether what happened was reckless, but the elements of all three crimes require some degree of willful conduct. Not all carelessness is criminal, and not all accidents even result from carelessness.

Get a lawyer, a good lawyer. It's probably also worth hiring a firearms expert, too, to testify as to how the accident probably happened, and whether it could happen in the absence of criminal recklessness. See if you can get Howard S. Wolfe, former ATF guy, I think he's in the Pittsburgh area and does consulting on firearms legal issues.

Spend the money now, once you're convicted you're screwed and it would cost 10 times as much to try for a restoration of rights.

This is $500 worth of advise.

[Warsaw Pact]

Discharge of firearm into an occupied structure
Discharge of firearms prohibited
Recklessly Endangering Another Person

now forgive me if i'm wrong. but isn't an accident an accident? i mean why the big charges. the first i belive is a F3 felony, i don't see why id be charged for an accident and even so such stiff charges when it was jammed. the 2nd and 3rd charge i thought ment u had to intend to do it.

First thing, spell check. That post was killing us.

Second, it was accident yes, but you are directly responsible for your firearms and especially if it discharges in a building. You are lucky you didn't kill or cripple someone- and I mean that in a positive way, that would have been something that haunted you forever.

* To be brutally honest, the best you can hope for is the DA lets you plea this down, especially if you were rambling on to the cops about it. The cops most likely have enough of your own words to hang you with in court. Get a lawyer, but prepare to pay minimum $1000 to $3,000 in fees and fines, and hopefully he/she can arrange a plea deal.

That plea deal may or may not include you losing your rights to own firearms and/or CCW. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, I just want to give you an honest assessment rather than sugar coating things. Good luck.

[Steve in PA]

Follow the advice and get a lawyer.

Sounds like the LEO's are being a bit over zealous. I just got home from work and my P220 is sitting on a bookcase. If I walk over there to clear the pistol and for some reason a round goes off, none of those charges fit.