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Title: Tearful Burress Begins Serving Two-Year Sentence On Firearms Charge
Source:
NYTIMES
URL Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/nyregion/23plaxico.html?hpw
Published: Sep 22, 2009
Author: JOHN ELIGON
Post Date: 2009-09-22 12:50:58 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 185
Comments: 10
Elijah Burress ambled about with the typical innocence of a 3-year-old, his ponytail flopping as he played with a white handkerchief and squealed. At one point, his mother, Tiffany, wiped his mouth with her index finger. Elijah looked at his father, Plaxico, covered his lips with his index finger and let out a “shh.” His father, wide-eyed, returned the gesture. But this familial scene among husband, wife and son in a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday morning would soon give way to the cold reality of the day. Plaxico Burress, a former New York Giants Super Bowl hero, was going to prison. About 10 a.m., Mr. Burress, dressed in a white long-sleeve T-shirt, blue jeans and black high-tops, was called to the front of the courtroom to officially receive a two-year prison sentence from Justice Michael H. Melkonian of State Supreme Court in Manhattan. After a brief conference between the lawyers, Mr. Burress was given a moment to go back into the gallery, where he tearfully embraced his wife and son, as well as his father, stepmother and grandmother. He kissed his wife, who is due to give birth to the couple’s second child, a daughter, in November, on the lips and his son on the cheek. Justice Melkonian asked two photographers who were allowed into the courtroom not to take pictures at that moment. “This is a very real, tragic case in many, many ways,” Mr. Burress’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said before his client was sentenced. “I think in this case a fundamentally decent man, who violated the law, is going to be sentenced to a prison sentence,” Mr. Brafman later added. “But I do not believe, under the circumstances of this case, we are sentencing a criminal in the true sense of he word.” Then, in a tone so soft he could hardly be heard, Mr. Burress said, “I want to apologize to my family,” his voice trailing off during the rest of his statement. “You are sentenced to two years in state prison and two years of post-release supervision,” Justice Melkonian then told Mr. Burress. The shooting occurred shortly after 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 29 at the Latin Quarter nightclub in Midtown. Security guards had allowed Mr. Burress to enter with a loaded .40-caliber Glock semiautomatic pistol tucked in the waistband of his pants. The gun was not in a holster, according to prosecutors. Mr. Burress had a license to carry the gun in Florida, but it had expired nearly seven months before the shooting. Even if it were valid, prosecutors said, Mr. Burress would not have been allowed to carry the weapon in New York. Shortly after Mr. Burress reached the nightclub’s second-floor V.I.P. area, the gun slipped down his pant leg and accidentally discharged as he tried to stop it from falling to the floor. The bullet hit Mr. Burress’s leg and narrowly missed a club security guard, prosecutors said. Mr. Burress was indicted on charges of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and faced a mandatory minimum sentence of three and a half years if convicted at trial. Last month, he pleaded to a lesser charge to receive a shorter sentence. After the judge finished the sentencing on Tuesday, one of the three court officers standing behind Mr. Burress said, “Step to the right.” They did not handcuff him, ushering Mr. Burress through a side door that led to holding cells.
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#1. To: Brian S (#0)
Too harsh a sentence. Typical double standard of justice. When a cop kills someone at a target practice area it's an "accident", with no charges.
This was no crime. The law is an ass.
When a whole society keeps saying "It's not about race," the person who BELIEVES that will be seen as an idiot. Even by children. Even by ILLITERATE children.
ping
If one doesn't fit neatly into some government category, they're different and must be fixed.-jethro tull
Two friggin' years? What a travesty.
Hear, hear !!! FREE PLAXICO !!!
There are a few New Yorkers who need to be in prison, Plaxico Burress is not one of them. Guiliani, Bloomberg, Cuomo, Clinton, and a few others come to mind.......
Seriously. WTF? The property owner's agent was ok with this, and he has a right to bear arms, period. Where was the crime?
MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
Back in the late sixties, a friend blew a fairly nice hole in his right calf after getting in his car with a loaded .357 strapped on. Who knows how it happened? I quick jumped under the wheel and drove to the town's ER where he was promptly stitched up, and after writing a check for services rendered, we were on our way. No cops, no hysteria, no trial, no nothing - just, dude blows a hole in his leg, end of story. (Hard to believe that was forty years ago...)
All physicians today are aware that gun shots and knife wounds are reportable injuries. You can't be to careful with them dang guns. I had an AD with the first weapon that I ever had, and it taught me a solid lesson. Check those chambers. Keep your finger off the trigger. Never hand anyone a loaded gun, etc, etc. And if you wear it, make damned sure that it is secured properly, you know what's in the chamber, clip or cylinder and what the safety is set to at any given time. Wearing a revolver in a wasteband is horseshit. That said, I feel bad for Mr. Burress.
The olde saw of "Treat every weapon as if it were loaded," has much more truth than poetry.
accidentally discharged
#2. To: Brian S (#0)
#3. To: Brian S, *Shooters*, *libertarians* (#0)
#4. To: Brian S (#0)
Last month, he pleaded to a lesser charge to receive a shorter sentence.
#5. To: Prefrontal Vortex (#2)
This was no crime. The law is an ass.
#6. To: Brian S (#0)
#7. To: Prefrontal Vortex (#2)
#8. To: Lysander_Spooner, all, shooters here (#6)
#9. To: Lod (#8)
No cops, no hysteria, no trial, no nothing
#10. To: randge (#9)
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