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Boyce chief convicted; will resign office today
By Abbey Brown • abrown@thetowntalk.com • December 4, 2008
Boyce Police Chief Claude Williams was convicted Wednesday on three weapons charges, a conviction his attorney said has a "chilling effect" on law enforcement officers everywhere.
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"This is a ground-breaking case," Williams' attorney Larry English said after the unanimous federal jury verdict was read. "... If any law enforcement officer has an illegal weapon outside of the (police department's evidence room) they are subject to criminal charges."
Williams was found not guilty of two other federal charges -- both of making a false statement to federal agents -- after the three-day trial this week.
Because of his convictions, Williams will resign as Boyce's Police chief and surrender all of his weapons by 5 p.m. today, English said. His bond was continued, and his sentencing is scheduled for March 19 before U.S. District Judge Dee Drell. He faces as many as 30 years in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James Cowles Jr. argued in his closing statements that the case was about principles and that no man, even a police chief, is above the law. He stressed that the law is clear that if illegal weapons are taken from a police department's evidence room that "must be" properly registered.
Cowles repeatedly referred to the weapons -- in Williams' case a machine gun, rifle and sawed-off shotgun -- as "inherently dangerous." The M-16 rifle -- .223-caliber machine gun -- was found leaning against the wall of the sunroom in Williams' home during an investigation by the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office Metro Narcotics Unit, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Two other weapons -- a Remington rifle, Targetmaster model 510, .22-caliber with an overall length of less than 26 inches and a barrel of less than 16 inches in length and a Western Arms 12-gauge shotgun with an overall length of 26 inches and a barrel of less than 18 inches -- were found under a broken display case in the back of his personal van, according to the federal indictment. None of the three were registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.
Williams testified that he was unaware of the law requiring the guns be registered and that his home and vehicle were extensions of the police department as he did official police work out of both. He also testified that the weapons were all being used for community outreach and educational programs and weren't in operational use.
"If the weapons were kept in the evidence locker, we wouldn't be here today," Cowles said. "If they are going to be used they have to be registered. That's the law."
English stressed both during his closing arguments and to the media after the trial's conclusion that hundreds of thousands of illegal weapons rest in the hands of law enforcement officers and that those weapons aren't registered.
English described the federal charges as a "witch hunt" against Williams, a man he said was a "hero" and model law enforcement officer.
Williams is scheduled to appear Dec. 15 in 9th Judicial District Court in Alexandria where he has pleaded not guilty to state malfeasance charges. The charges include interfering with criminal prosecution by tampering with drug evidence and not giving the District Attorney's Office at least 117 arrest files.
English said they are filing a continuance in that case where he and Alexandria Attorney Bridgett Brown plan to represent him as well.
Boyce chief convicted; will resign office today
By Abbey Brown • abrown@thetowntalk.com • December 4, 2008
Boyce Police Chief Claude Williams was convicted Wednesday on three weapons charges, a conviction his attorney said has a "chilling effect" on law enforcement officers everywhere.
Advertisement
"This is a ground-breaking case," Williams' attorney Larry English said after the unanimous federal jury verdict was read. "... If any law enforcement officer has an illegal weapon outside of the (police department's evidence room) they are subject to criminal charges."
Williams was found not guilty of two other federal charges -- both of making a false statement to federal agents -- after the three-day trial this week.
Because of his convictions, Williams will resign as Boyce's Police chief and surrender all of his weapons by 5 p.m. today, English said. His bond was continued, and his sentencing is scheduled for March 19 before U.S. District Judge Dee Drell. He faces as many as 30 years in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James Cowles Jr. argued in his closing statements that the case was about principles and that no man, even a police chief, is above the law. He stressed that the law is clear that if illegal weapons are taken from a police department's evidence room that "must be" properly registered.
Cowles repeatedly referred to the weapons -- in Williams' case a machine gun, rifle and sawed-off shotgun -- as "inherently dangerous." The M-16 rifle -- .223-caliber machine gun -- was found leaning against the wall of the sunroom in Williams' home during an investigation by the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office Metro Narcotics Unit, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Two other weapons -- a Remington rifle, Targetmaster model 510, .22-caliber with an overall length of less than 26 inches and a barrel of less than 16 inches in length and a Western Arms 12-gauge shotgun with an overall length of 26 inches and a barrel of less than 18 inches -- were found under a broken display case in the back of his personal van, according to the federal indictment. None of the three were registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.
Williams testified that he was unaware of the law requiring the guns be registered and that his home and vehicle were extensions of the police department as he did official police work out of both. He also testified that the weapons were all being used for community outreach and educational programs and weren't in operational use.
"If the weapons were kept in the evidence locker, we wouldn't be here today," Cowles said. "If they are going to be used they have to be registered. That's the law."
English stressed both during his closing arguments and to the media after the trial's conclusion that hundreds of thousands of illegal weapons rest in the hands of law enforcement officers and that those weapons aren't registered.
English described the federal charges as a "witch hunt" against Williams, a man he said was a "hero" and model law enforcement officer.
Williams is scheduled to appear Dec. 15 in 9th Judicial District Court in Alexandria where he has pleaded not guilty to state malfeasance charges. The charges include interfering with criminal prosecution by tampering with drug evidence and not giving the District Attorney's Office at least 117 arrest files.
English said they are filing a continuance in that case where he and Alexandria Attorney Bridgett Brown plan to represent him as well.
