Posted: 4/12/2009 8:22:49 PM EDT
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from:http://www.newbritainherald.com/articles/2009/04/12/news/doc49e29f6252222860540435.txt
Man with weapons cache appealing on Second Amendment By LISA BACKUS Staff writer A Berlin man convicted in federal court on two dozen weapons charges will pursue an appeal based on a judge’s denial of his second-amendment rights, his attorney said. Alan Zaleski, 47, formerly of 863 Shuttle Meadow Ave., is facing 10 years in federal prison for each count when he is sentenced in June. He was indicted by a grand jury in 2007 after Berlin police, with the help of other departments, found a huge stash of weapons in August 2006 on his booby-trapped property. Attorney William Koch Jr., representing Zaleski, said he’ll likely mount an appeal based on a federal judge’s decision to not allow him to introduce arguments that his client considered himself part of the state’s “unorganized militia.” “The question is what rights do individuals have as a militia,” Koch said shortly after Zaleski was found guilty following a two-day trial in late March. “According to Connecticut law all males between the ages of 18 to 45 are members of the militia whether they know it or not. As a member of the militia, what rights do you have to own military weapons?” Zaleski’s stash of weapons came to the attention of police in August 2006 when a tree cutter ventured on his property to do some work and spotted a booby trap. During a three-day search of the property, Berlin and New Britain police found dozens of machine guns and semi-automatic firearms, multiple handguns and rifles, silencers, three types of grenades, pipe bombs and IEDs — improvised explosive devices — and 67,000 rounds of ammunition. They also discovered dozens of books on bomb-making and altering weapons and components to make more bombs and grenades, including ammonium nitrate and nitro methane. Federal authorities said the yard was protected by several booby traps, including trip wires connected to explosives and camouflaged plywood boards with nails sticking up through them. According to court papers, among the cache of weapons were 15 illegal machine guns, including an AK-47 assault rifle, an Uzi automatic pistol and an M-16 automatic assault rifle with the serial number erased. Authorities said they also found two illegally sawed-off shotguns, four illegal silencers and eight hand grenades and improvised explosive devices. Some of the guns and explosives would have been legal if they had been registered in Zaleski’s name, court papers said. Koch said U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Bree Burns improperly denied him the chance to present Zaleski’s views on the militia and his belief that the Bible accepts violence, including the possession of weapons. Burns ruled that Zaleski could not mount a First or Second Amendment defense before the trial started. Burns also twice denied Zaleski’s motions to have the case dismissed on the grounds he had a right to own the illegal guns because he was a member of the state’s “unorganized militia.” Burns had also already granted a motion asking that Zaleski not be allowed to introduce evidence that the arrest has impinged on his First Amendment right to freedom of religion. Koch said he plans on filing the appeal within 10 days of Zaleski’s June sentencing. Lisa Backus can be reached at [email protected] or by calling (860) 225-4601, ext. 223. |
Too soon, too soon!
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Zaleski’s stash of weapons came to the attention of police in August 2006 when a tree cutter ventured on his property to do some work and spotted a booby trap. During a three-day search of the property, Berlin and New Britain police found dozens of machine guns and semi-automatic firearms, multiple handguns and rifles, silencers, three types of grenades, pipe bombs and IEDs — improvised explosive devices — and 67,000 rounds of ammunition. They also discovered dozens of books on bomb-making and altering weapons and components to make more bombs and grenades, including ammonium nitrate and nitro methane. Federal authorities said the yard was protected by several booby traps, including trip wires connected to explosives and camouflaged plywood boards with nails sticking up through them. According to court papers, among the cache of weapons were 15 illegal machine guns, including an AK-47 assault rifle, an Uzi automatic pistol and an M-16 automatic assault rifle with the serial number erased. Authorities said they also found two illegally sawed-off shotguns, four illegal silencers and eight hand grenades and improvised explosive devices. Some of the guns and explosives would have been legal if they had been registered in Zaleski’s name, court papers said. Yeah I'd say he's pretty much screwed. |