Courtroom Confusion Over Homemade Guns Case
Wheeler Almost Freed Due To Technicality In Laws
POSTED: 5:41 p.m. EDT July 3, 2003
UPDATED: 7:07 p.m. EDT July 3, 2003
BALTIMORE -- There was confusion in court Thursday in the case of a Highlandtown man who was arrested Tuesday after police seized gunpowder and homemade firearms from his house.
WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team reporter David Collins said a public defender believes she came close to freeing Lovell Wheeler under a technicality -- two out of three charges were modified during this year's General Assembly session but don't take effect until late in October.
Wheeler was returned to jail Thursday on $2 million bail. Prosecutors pushed for a high bail amount out of concern that if Wheeler was released, he could stash ammunition and gunpowder in other places, Collins reported.
Prosecutors said police found 20,000 rounds of live military-grade ammunition and racist literature in Wheeler's house. The literature is protected under the First Amendment and included papers, books and information from at least two Web sites -- the National Alliance and "From The Wilderness" Web sites, Collins said.
The significance of the racial literature may be explained in a sealed police search warrant, Collins said. Police said they also found four boxes of ammunition in a locker and six rounds in Wheeler's pocket when they arrested him Tuesday at his place of occupation.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 29, according to the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office -- either a court proceeding could go forth or the charges could be dropped based on the police evidence, Collins reported.
Police seized 14 rifles, eight handguns and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, Collins said. Authorities said it is legal to make weapons in Maryland. Investigators said they are most concerned about 80 pounds of gunpowder they found improperly stored in the man's rowhouse which could be potentially harmful to others if exploded, prosecutors said.
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