Judge sides with cops in Fruitvale gun raid

GRAND JUNCTION — A judge has denied a Fruitvale man’s bid to force the return of more than 150 guns seized by authorities last fall.

Chief District Judge David Bottger also refused to slap a contempt citation on SWAT officers with the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, saying a search warrant did not prohibit local authorities from handing over the weapons — plus some 30,000 rounds of ammunition — to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).

“... The (search) warrant does not say anything about the appropriate disposition of any property seized, nor has this court issued any order regarding the disposition of the property,” the judge wrote in a ruling on Friday.

Bill Martin, 60, a military veteran and convicted felon, was the focus of a “no-knock” raid at his home, 518 30 Road, by sheriff’s SWAT officers and ATF agents on Nov. 15, 2007.

Bottger signed the warrant for the raid on suspicion that Martin was a felon in possession of a firearm, a felony in Colorado.

Martin pleaded guilty in May 1991 to felony vehicular assault and was sentenced to and served four years probation. He finished probation in January 1994, six months before the state legislature approved the law prohibiting felons from owning firearms.

Martin’s attorney, Colleen Scissors, had argued the sheriff’s office had no legal right under a state search warrant to give the weapons to ATF agents.

The federal agency has since moved to forfeit the weapons.

While the District Attorney’s Office hasn’t charged Martin in connection with the raid, prosecutors in Mesa County have said Martin will likely face federal charges.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Dan Rubinstein argued in court filings ATF’s seizure was proper and legitimate under federal laws.

The judge, however, said neither side was convincing.

“Each argument would have benefited from the citation of legal authority,” Bottger wrote. “However, the argument is academic because there are no grounds for holding anyone in contempt of court, as discussed.”

Martin and his wife, Shelley, claimed in court filings they were “held at gunpoint” over eight hours as police sorted through their guns.

Martin wrote in a sworn affidavit he was told by a SWAT leader, “gun runner, sit down and shut up,” when he asked to oversee how officers were handling the weapons.

Rubinstein said the claim wasn’t true.

“Even if the facts alleged by petitioners are true, they are not entitled to relief,” the judge wrote.

Paul Shockley at pshockley@gjfreepress.com