Good argument for not Open Carry.
Posted: Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:37:24
Article in this mornings Richmond Times The price they had to pay
Henrico couple cleared of charges in YMCA bus incident
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/ ... 06/308011/
RICHMOND, Va. --
A Highland Springs couple accused of multiple firearms and neglect charges have been found not guilty of all charges, ending a yearlong saga that has left them still together but bitterly scarred.
"We've lost so much," Brian Phillip Stephenson said yesterday, a day after a Henrico County Circuit Court judge found him and his fiancée not guilty of multiple firearms charges.
The incident Dec. 15, 2008, involved allegations that Stephenson, 36, and Patricia Edwards Murray, 27, followed an activities bus to the Sandston YMCA, pointing a pistol at children in the rear of the bus.
The two were arrested by Henrico police on multiple firearms charges and on charges of reckless disregard for a child, which stemmed from the presence of Murray's child on the bus and Stephenson's two children in the car.
Counselors were called to the YMCA in light of the incident, and children on the bus hid on the floor and covered themselves with book bags, police said at the time.
Stephenson said yesterday that he and Murray were jailed, they have lost custody of their children, their home is for sale and Murray has lost her job -- all tied to the charges leveled against them, they said. Together they faced 13 charges, six of them felonies dealing with reckless disregard of a child.
The couple said they followed the bus because it was Murray's then-7-year-old daughter's first trip to the Y and they were waving to her.
But the felonies were dismissed in Henrico Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court this year, and convictions on the firearms charges there were appealed to Henrico Circuit Court.
On Tuesday, after a three-hour bench trial, Circuit Judge Gary A. Hicks found the couple not guilty.
"There was a lot of conflict in the testimony, and for the first time Mr. Stephenson was able to say what happened," said C. David Whaley, Stephenson's lawyer.
Stephenson acknowledged that he had a .40-caliber handgun in the car but said he did not display it at children in the bus. The weapon was in a shoulder holster and had a dark handle, with the remainder of the weapon silver.
Testimony from children on the bus yesterday indicated the gun was dark-colored, Whaley said.
Stephenson had a gun, he said, because on the day of the incident he was also moving his two children from a Richmond public-housing complex to the couple's home in Highland Springs.
"I've been robbed twice over there," Stephenson said yesterday, referring to the housing complex. "The idea was to raise my kids in a better place, like Henrico."
After his and Murray's arrest, Henrico Child Protective Services ordered that they relinquish custody to the other natural parent, a situation that still exists.
"My oldest daughter was in the courtroom [Tuesday] crying that I was going to be sent to prison," Stephenson said.
The couple shared Thanksgiving with their children last weekend, thinking they might be incarcerated by today.
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Alice V. Sheridan, who prosecuted the case, said last night that it would be inappropriate for her to comment.
Murray, though, said the couple has suffered repeated indignities, from slashed tires to name-calling since their arrests. The biggest insult she said was being fired from her job at United Way. "They told me because what I'd done was out in public, it was a problem for their image."
Stephenson said he has kept his telecommunications job and praised the support of his company.
"But let me say that the worst thing from all this, the thing that I will never get over, is that I was not allowed to attend my mother's funeral in Baltimore." Traveling out of state to Baltimore violated conditions of his bond, he said.
Today, the couple will celebrate Thanksgiving alone. "But together and free," Murray said.
Henrico couple cleared of charges in YMCA bus incident
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/ ... 06/308011/
RICHMOND, Va. --
A Highland Springs couple accused of multiple firearms and neglect charges have been found not guilty of all charges, ending a yearlong saga that has left them still together but bitterly scarred.
"We've lost so much," Brian Phillip Stephenson said yesterday, a day after a Henrico County Circuit Court judge found him and his fiancée not guilty of multiple firearms charges.
The incident Dec. 15, 2008, involved allegations that Stephenson, 36, and Patricia Edwards Murray, 27, followed an activities bus to the Sandston YMCA, pointing a pistol at children in the rear of the bus.
The two were arrested by Henrico police on multiple firearms charges and on charges of reckless disregard for a child, which stemmed from the presence of Murray's child on the bus and Stephenson's two children in the car.
Counselors were called to the YMCA in light of the incident, and children on the bus hid on the floor and covered themselves with book bags, police said at the time.
Stephenson said yesterday that he and Murray were jailed, they have lost custody of their children, their home is for sale and Murray has lost her job -- all tied to the charges leveled against them, they said. Together they faced 13 charges, six of them felonies dealing with reckless disregard of a child.
The couple said they followed the bus because it was Murray's then-7-year-old daughter's first trip to the Y and they were waving to her.
But the felonies were dismissed in Henrico Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court this year, and convictions on the firearms charges there were appealed to Henrico Circuit Court.
On Tuesday, after a three-hour bench trial, Circuit Judge Gary A. Hicks found the couple not guilty.
"There was a lot of conflict in the testimony, and for the first time Mr. Stephenson was able to say what happened," said C. David Whaley, Stephenson's lawyer.
Stephenson acknowledged that he had a .40-caliber handgun in the car but said he did not display it at children in the bus. The weapon was in a shoulder holster and had a dark handle, with the remainder of the weapon silver.
Testimony from children on the bus yesterday indicated the gun was dark-colored, Whaley said.
Stephenson had a gun, he said, because on the day of the incident he was also moving his two children from a Richmond public-housing complex to the couple's home in Highland Springs.
"I've been robbed twice over there," Stephenson said yesterday, referring to the housing complex. "The idea was to raise my kids in a better place, like Henrico."
After his and Murray's arrest, Henrico Child Protective Services ordered that they relinquish custody to the other natural parent, a situation that still exists.
"My oldest daughter was in the courtroom [Tuesday] crying that I was going to be sent to prison," Stephenson said.
The couple shared Thanksgiving with their children last weekend, thinking they might be incarcerated by today.
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Alice V. Sheridan, who prosecuted the case, said last night that it would be inappropriate for her to comment.
Murray, though, said the couple has suffered repeated indignities, from slashed tires to name-calling since their arrests. The biggest insult she said was being fired from her job at United Way. "They told me because what I'd done was out in public, it was a problem for their image."
Stephenson said he has kept his telecommunications job and praised the support of his company.
"But let me say that the worst thing from all this, the thing that I will never get over, is that I was not allowed to attend my mother's funeral in Baltimore." Traveling out of state to Baltimore violated conditions of his bond, he said.
Today, the couple will celebrate Thanksgiving alone. "But together and free," Murray said.
