| Watson
Pleaded Guilty With Right To Appeal on
Suppression of Gun Now Gets 24 Months
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
June 21 – Owen Watson was
charged with being a felon in
possession of a firearm and on
March 18 entered a conditional
guilty plea which allows him
to appeal rulings of January
26 and February 11 denying
suppression of, inter alia,
the firearm found on his
person.
U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge Jed S. Rakoff issued
those rulings, and genially
held the March 18 conditional
change of plea
proceeding.
Watson
agreed that a 57 to 71 month
guideline - not Judge Rakoff's
favorite system - applies. But
he will appeal.
The February 11
order says "Watson suggests
that he was seized from the
moment the 'officers screeched
to a stop in front of [him.]'
The Court disagrees... the
Court heold that Watson was
seized when the officers
directed him to 'stop.'"
It is a good
faith disagreement, and an
interesting one. So Inner City
Press has continued to cover
the case.
On June 21,
Watson came up for sentencing
before Judge Rakoff. His
defense lawyer said he bought
the gun in March 2020, amid
COVID, and felt threatened.
Judge Rakoff
asked why he'd fired it at a
car or in the air, then noted
Watson's efforts to turn his
life around. He sentenced him
to 24 months and eschewed
"moral" counseling, saying it
smacked of psycho-babble. The
appeal will proceed.
The case is USA
v. Watson, 20-cr-346 (Rakoff)
***
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