Commonwealth v. A.L.

A.L., a 63 year-old Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam and had never been arrested, was arrested after a vindictive neighbor upset over petty property issues reported to police that A.L. had threatened her with a gun. When police responded, they observed A.L. in his car with his legally owned firearm in his holster. After being arrested, the same neighbor reported that A.L. and his two sons threatened her and intimidated her into not showing up to court. Under the guidance of firearm lawyer Mr. Link, the defense successfully argued that the accusations were made because the neighbor had been upset over a parking situation on her street, as well as other minor issues such as one of her potted plants being knocked over by A.L. when he was parking his car on the day of the “incident”. More importantly, it was established that A.L.’s firearm could not have been brandished due to his size (he was over 400 pounds and handicapped), where the neighbor claimed she saw the gun from, and where the police ultimately recovered it. A.L. and his sons were found not guilty of all charges.