Urgent: your help is needed to keep an innocent mother out of jail

Mom Tells N.J. Officer She Has a Gun; Faces Prison for Gun Charge

By Brett Snider, Esq. on July 28, 2014 11:19 AM

http://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/20...&utm_campaign=Feed:+Blotter+(FindLaw+Blotter)

A single mom from Philadelphia is facing serious prison time for volunteering to a New Jersey officer at a traffic stop that she had a licensed handgun in her car.

Unfortunately for Shaneen Allen, 27, her Pennsylvania concealed carry permit isn't recognized in New Jersey, and she was arrested and charged with "unlawful possession of a weapon and armor penetrating bullets," reports Philadelphia's WCAU-TV. The incident occurred last October, but Allen has a court date set for August 5.

Why is the Garden State being so hard on this Philly mom?

Concealed-Carry Permit Doesn't Travel

What many gun owners like Shaneen Allen don't know is that there is no legal obligation for a state to honor out-of-state concealed-carry permits. According to the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action, New Jersey doesn't recognize handgun permits from any other state. That means despite having a legal carry permit for her Bersa Thunder .380 handgun in Pennsylvania, Allen had no legal right to carry the same weapon into New Jersey.

Some states require that licensed handgun holders inform an officer immediately upon being detained that they have a firearm. Pennsylvania law doesn't require proof of legal permit for a weapon unless lawfully demanded by an officer.

Neither does New Jersey.

So by speaking out upon being pulled over, Allen may have shot herself in the foot.

Illegal Ammunition

According to WCAU, Allen's handgun was allegedly found loaded with hollow-point bullets, which are strictly regulated in New Jersey. In the Garden State, this special type of ammunition cannot be possessed legally outside private property. If this ammo is being transported, it must be held in a locked container other than the glove compartment, and it must not be loaded in a firearm.

Allen's attorney told WCAU that she purchased the gun "roughly a week before her arrest" after being robbed twice in 2013.

Mandatory Minimums

Allen is facing a potential three-year prison sentence because of the mandatory minimums set for New Jersey's gun offenses, which were recently amended by the Graves Act.

Because of these laws, Allen faces a minimum of three years in prison if convicted.

The mother of two was also denied a chance to participate in the state's Pre-Trial Intervention program, which could have reduced her charges and allowed for probation and/or community service.

This situation leaves Allen more or less at the mercy of harsh gun laws, and the general ignorance of their application.
 
i got my gun registration right here
second-amendment-rifleman-1a.jpg
 
KCIndy said:
Activism bump!

If you're reading this and care to donate a few bucks to help keep this young woman out of a cage, here's the link to her legal defense fund:

http://gogetfunding.com/project/shaneen-allen-legal-defense-fund


Or if you prefer to send a direct donation via snail mail, it can be sent to her attorney's office:

Evan F. Nappen Attorney at Law PC
21 Throckmorton Avenue
Eatontown, NJ 07724
C/O Shaneen Allen LDF

(In the memo portion of the check write: Shaneen Allen Legal Defense Fund.)


If you know any Second Amendment supporters, or for that matter anyone who has a sense of common decency, please pass this along.
Click to expand...



limequat said:
Here's the phone number for the office of the prosecutor: 609-909-7800

Give 'em a call and ask why they want to ruin 3 innocent lives (mother and 2 young kids). Maybe they would also like to no-knock raid a preschool?
Click to expand...


New Jersey governor Chris Christie: 609-292-6000
http://www.state.nj.us/governor/contact/
 
Gads, I hate making phone calls.

I have called the prosecutor's office regarding this case with no luck. Got shunted off into voicemail hell. :(

I had more luck calling governor Christie's office. The woman answering the call refused to say if the governor had any plans to intervene, but at least she did offer to make a note of the call and said it would be passed along to the governor's attention. (Yeah, I know. It probably got shitcanned, but at least they were polite about it, which was more than I can say for the prosecutor's office.)

Since Chris Christie is likely planning a presidential run, granting Shaneen Allen a pardon would play well with his base of Republicans and moderate Democrats. I know the messages just get an "uh-huh" from the lackeys who take the calls, but if ENOUGH people were to call, the squeaky wheel might actually get some grease.

Has anyone else called?

Hey, I really, truly *HATE* making phone calls. If I can do it, you can do it! :)


New Jersey governor Chris Christie: 609-292-6000
http://www.state.nj.us/governor/contact/



Give it a shot.
 
KCIndy said:
Has anyone else called?

Hey, I really, truly *HATE* making phone calls. If I can do it, you can do it! :)


New Jersey governor Chris Christie: 609-292-6000
http://www.state.nj.us/governor/contact/



Give it a shot.
Click to expand...



Anyone? :confused:

Legal Defense Fund:
http://gogetfunding.com/project/shaneen-allen-legal-defense-fund

Or "snail mail" c/o her attorney:

Evan F. Nappen Attorney at Law PC
21 Throckmorton Avenue
Eatontown, NJ 07724
C/O Shaneen Allen LDF

+Reps for all those who do anything to help! :)
 
Judge denies motion to dismiss case against Philly mom arrested for legal gun in NJ

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/0...-mom-arrested-for-legal-gun/?intcmp=obnetwork

A New Jersey judge denied a motion to dismiss charges Tuesday against a Philadelphia mother who mistakenly entered New Jersey, where she was stopped for a traffic violation and found in possession of a handgun loaded with hollow-point bullets.

Shaneen Allen, 27, who is legally permitted to carry a concealed firearm in Pennsylvania, was pulled over in New Jersey's Atlantic County after making an unsafe lane change in the early morning hours of Oct. 1. She told the officer she had a .380 Berse Thunder handgun during the traffic stop.

Superior Court Judge Michael Donio also denied a motion to overturn a decision not to allow Allen to participate in a pretrial intervention program to avoid jail time.

Allen rejected a prosecutor's offer to serve 3 1/2 years in prison, her attorney, Evan Nappen, told FoxNews.com.

"That's exactly what should be the solution here," Nappen said, referring to the intervention program. "So we're looking forward to that jury trial."

A trial date has been set for Oct. 6, said Nappen, who feels his client may find more leniency from jurors.

"I sure do, it's an incredibly sympathetic case that shouldn't have to go to trial," he said. "But I'm confident that 12 ordinary people who understand the injustice here and will correct it."

Allen, who has no prior criminal record, told FoxNews.com last month that she's very concerned about the future of her young children, Niaire, 10, and Sincere, 3.

"I'm very much worried because I have two kids who depend on me," Allen said. "And I'm doing this all by myself."

Allen said she acquired the gun legally just a week prior to her arrest. She was headed to Atlantic City, N.J., in the early-morning hours to prepare for her son’s birthday party, which was being held three days later.

Allen purchased the gun for protection after being robbed twice in the past year, she said, adding that she never even fired it and feels somewhat snake-bitten by the entire ordeal.

“It’s definitely a freak thing,” she said. “I was trying to do a good thing and it turned out so bad — and just like that. I don’t know how to explain it, I really don’t.”

According to Nappen, potential jurors could invoke jury nullification, a constitutional doctrine allowing juries to acquit defendants who are technically guilty, but don't deserve to be punished. It can apply in all states, but attorneys are generally not permitted to introduce the concept to jurors.
 
tod evans said:
Judge denies motion to dismiss case against Philly mom arrested for legal gun in NJ

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/0...-mom-arrested-for-legal-gun/?intcmp=obnetwork

A New Jersey judge denied a motion to dismiss charges Tuesday against a Philadelphia mother who mistakenly entered New Jersey, where she was stopped for a traffic violation and found in possession of a handgun loaded with hollow-point bullets.

Shaneen Allen, 27, who is legally permitted to carry a concealed firearm in Pennsylvania, was pulled over in New Jersey's Atlantic County after making an unsafe lane change in the early morning hours of Oct. 1. She told the officer she had a .380 Berse Thunder handgun during the traffic stop.

Superior Court Judge Michael Donio also denied a motion to overturn a decision not to allow Allen to participate in a pretrial intervention program to avoid jail time.

Allen rejected a prosecutor's offer to serve 3 1/2 years in prison, her attorney, Evan Nappen, told FoxNews.com.

"That's exactly what should be the solution here," Nappen said, referring to the intervention program. "So we're looking forward to that jury trial."

A trial date has been set for Oct. 6, said Nappen, who feels his client may find more leniency from jurors.

"I sure do, it's an incredibly sympathetic case that shouldn't have to go to trial," he said. "But I'm confident that 12 ordinary people who understand the injustice here and will correct it."

Allen, who has no prior criminal record, told FoxNews.com last month that she's very concerned about the future of her young children, Niaire, 10, and Sincere, 3.

"I'm very much worried because I have two kids who depend on me," Allen said. "And I'm doing this all by myself."

Allen said she acquired the gun legally just a week prior to her arrest. She was headed to Atlantic City, N.J., in the early-morning hours to prepare for her son’s birthday party, which was being held three days later.

Allen purchased the gun for protection after being robbed twice in the past year, she said, adding that she never even fired it and feels somewhat snake-bitten by the entire ordeal.

“It’s definitely a freak thing,” she said. “I was trying to do a good thing and it turned out so bad — and just like that. I don’t know how to explain it, I really don’t.”

According to Nappen, potential jurors could invoke jury nullification, a constitutional doctrine allowing juries to acquit defendants who are technically guilty, but don't deserve to be punished. It can apply in all states, but attorneys are generally not permitted to introduce the concept to jurors.
Click to expand...

not permitted?????

WTF!
 
Balko: Prosecution of Shaneen Allen moves forward
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...7/prosecution-of-shaneen-allen-moves-forward/
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Shaneen Allen, a single mother from Philadelphia who was arrested for driving through New Jersey with a handgun. Allen had a permit for her gun in Pennsylvania, but New Jersey doesn’t recognize Pennsylvania gun permits. Despite the fact that Allen volunteered that she was in possession of the gun during her traffic stop, she was still arrested and charged with a felony. According to her attorney, she is eligible for a diversion program for first-time offenders that would avoid a felony conviction and mandatory 42 months in prison. But for reasons he has yet to articulate, New Jersey District Attorney Jim McClain has refused to allow her to take advantage of that program.

Now, New Jersey Judge Michael Donio has denied Allen’s request to have the charge dismissed.

The words common sense were mentioned quite a bit during Shaneen Allen’s hearing yesterday in Atlantic County Superior Court.

Allen, 27, cried for a moment in the hallway with her son Naiare and his father after a judge denied her motion to dismiss weapons charges filed against her in October and refused to overturn a prosecutor’s decision to deny her entry into a first-time-offender diversion program.

So Allen walked back into court, turned down a plea deal that would have given her a 3 1/2-year sentence and decided to go to trial in October, hoping a jury would use some common sense and not send a working mother of two to prison for not knowing New Jersey’s gun laws.

Yes, Allen broke the law. But she didn’t use her gun to harass, intimidate or threaten anyone. She didn’t shoot anyone. Her crime was driving across a state border. And even for that crime, she turned herself in. Now, barring an act of jury nullification, her life is about to be ruined. Her young children are about to be without parents for a critical part of their lives. If Jim McClain can use his prosecutorial discretion in a case like this, you have to wonder why prosecutors have discretion at all.
Click to expand...

And this quote from a gun control advocate is as heartless as it is clueless:

“Fortunately, the notoriety of this case will make it less likely Pennsylvanians will carry concealed and loaded handguns in New Jersey, thereby making them and the Garden State safer from gun violence,” said Bryan Miller, executive director of Heeding God’s Call, a faith-based movement to prevent gun violence.
Click to expand...

The people responsible for the gun violence in New Jersey are not residents of bordering states who have gone through the trouble of obtaining a legal permit in their home states. The people responsible for gun violence in New Jersey don’t volunteer to police that they’re carrying a weapon. And the people responsible for the gun violence in New Jersey are not going to be deterred by a story about a single mom sent off to prison for an honest mistake. Sending Shaneen Allen to prison will ruin Shaneen Allen’s life. It will also ruin the lives of her children. And that is all it will do.
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