WI: Vegas CCW case update

[Monkeyleg]

I picked this up from the WI Shooters forum. Andres Vegas is the pizza delivery guy who shot an armed robber last July, was robbed in September, then shot an armed robber again last January. He was charged with concealed carry in the January shooting.

Nice that J.B. Van Hollen is not going to involve the DOJ. That means the assistant Milwaukee DA will be the prosecution all the way up the line.

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14 06-15-2007 Letters/correspondence Noonan-31, Daniel A.
Additional Text:
from Attorney General's office (J.B. Van Hollen), informing the court that they will not appear in this matter. -clb


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15 06-29-2007 Motion hearing Noonan-31, Daniel A. Kandziora, Sandra
Event Party
Vegas, Andres

Additional Text:
Defendant Andres Vegas in court with attorney Craig Mastantuono. Irene Elizabeth Parthum appeared for the State of Wisconsin. Deputy clerk: clb. Defense Motion Hearing To Dismiss The Criminal Complaint Based On The Unconstitutionality Of The Carrying A Concealed Weapon Statute, Wis. Stats. Section 941.23 proceeded. Statements/Arguments by State and Defense. Court will issue a written decision within 90 days. Case is adjourned for Decision/Status Conference scheduled for 9-24-07 at 8:30 am.

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From reading the above, it sounds like Mastantuono is challenging the constitutionality of the entire statute. I wonder if that's the case?

 

[ilbob]

Good for him. Maybe the NRA or SAF legal boys should be put on alert.

It seems to me that the WI Supreme Court all but told the legislature they needed to come up with some way to allow for defensive carry of firearms, but refused to rule the existing statute unconstitutional, some time ago.

Maybe if it is revisited they might decide that until the legislature does so, the people can decide the manner of carry themselves.

 

[ServiceSoon]

Doesn't it suck that a real person has to be the guinea-pig to set things right?

 

[Gene_WI]

What kind of a timeline are we looking at. What is the probability of this gong to the WI supreme court?

 

[Monkeyleg]

"Maybe the NRA or SAF legal boys should be put on alert."

The NRA is paying 100% of Vegas' legal fees. And Mastantuono is an excellent attorney, and licensed to argue cases before the supreme court.

"What is the probability of this gong to the WI supreme court?"

The plan is to go all the way. Parthum, the assistant DA, had told Vegas last July not to carry a gun anymore. After the September robbery, he apparently changed his mind. And then, after the January shooting, Parthum was ticked off that Vegas didn't follow her instructions.

As for the timeline, I'm hoping that this doesn't get to the supreme court until after the 2008 elections. Justice Louis Butler, who was appointed by Doyle to replace Justice Dianne Sykes in 2004, will be facing his first election. If Butler is defeated, we'll have a 4:3 conservative majority on the court again.

It took two years for the supreme court to hear the Hamdan case.

Now she's stuck with this case. I'm not an attorney, but it sure seems like this will go all the way.