After two hours of deliberation Wednesday afternoon, the seven-member jury was unable to reach a verdict on the charges facing Sean Combs, the Troy 18-year-old charged with disturbing the peace and brandishing a firearm after an April 13 incident in downtown Birmingham.
The jury is set to return to Judge Marc Barron's courtroom at the 48th District Court Thursday morning to continue deliberating.
The jury, however, did reach a verdict on the charge of brandishing a firearm, though Barron said the verdict won't be revealed until the jury reaches a decision on all charges.
A third charge of obstructing an officer, meanwhile, was dismissed by Barron Wednesday due to lack of evidence.
Combs was , where he was found walking with a loaded M1 Garand rifle slung over his shoulder. Combs and his girlfriend, who witnessed Combs' arrest, have maintained since his arrest that Combs was .
Combs' trial began Wednesday morning with a passionate argument from prosecutor Mary Kucharek of Beier Howlett, P.C., who argued Combs brandished his weapon by displaying it in an ostentatious manner while causing a scene when confronted by Birmingham Police.
Combs’ lawyer, James Makowski, disagreed, saying Combs was well within his constitutional right to carry his rifle openly, which is not considered brandishing. He added that both Combs and Lia Grabowski, Combs’ girlfriend and a witness in his trial, maintain Combs never raised his voice while speaking with Birmingham officers.
During Wednesday's trial, the two responding Birmingham police officers and a Birmingham police lieutenant testified that Combs appeared to be too young to legally carry a firearm, which was the initial reason for stopping Combs as he walked with Grabowski.
"I was concerned," Officer Rebecca Springer said. "I didn't know if he was trying to show off or if he was going to commit a crime."
Combs, who said he openly carried his rifle that day as a form of self expression and to exercise his Second Amendement rights, confirmed he refused to present his identification to officers, saying Michigan law didn't require him to present his ID in order to openly carry.
"He verbally said he was 18," Lt. Michael Albrecht said, adding that he asked Combs for his license twice after arriving on the scene. "I informed him that if he gave his ID, I would just cite him for disorderly conduct."
The officers testified that Combs raised his voice and drew a crowd of up to 15 onlookers as he spoke with officers. Combs was then handcuffed and arrested as he was pulling his drivers license from his wallet, according to testimony from both Albrecht and Combs.
The case has caused an uproar in the open carry community, which has rallied around Combs to show its support. Open carry advocates, many of whom learned about Combs' case on opencarry.org, have gathered as a group in Birmingham's Shain Park twice now — and — while openly carrying rifles and pistols in support of Combs.
Combs' trial is set to resume at 9 a.m. Thursday.
What about those people in Arizonia who are having their 4th amendment rights trampled upon? Will you speak for them too, or only for youth showing off?
Are you really suggesting high schools should not be "gun free zones"? That is, all students should be gun-equipped to protect themselves? Would have to lower the open-carry allowable age to 14. I think police officiers assigned to HSs do carry guns but we don't have them anymore due to people not wanting to pay taxes.
And if you think there are not guns in your local HS, you are dreaming. If drugs are sold at school, there are guns at school! And it is not the good kids that possess them. And yes, if a teacher had a handgun in school at VaTeck at Columbine HS, the body count would have been lower. And NO Cathy, he does not have the law on his side at the local HS again MCL750.234d.
So I'm confused why you keep stating he was stopped illegally and for no reason? They suspected him of committing a crime; the crime of being under the age of 18 and in possession of a firearm. If there is a reasonable doubt, that he could be illegaly in possession of a firearm, then the police have the right to stop and ID him.
"Not so many in Canada." There are also very few shark attacks in Iowa. But let us look at the statistics. Violent crime in Canada, year 2002; 951 per 100,000. Violent crimes in the US year 2010 403 per 100,000. Hmmm more than double the violent crime rate. Let me go on to say that each state that enacted a "shall issue" law for obtaining a permit to carry a pistol saw an average 16% drop in violent crime the first year. Seems I would be safe saying "guns save lives and reduce crime". Well, not only can I say it, I can prove it. I could have respect for some one that simply says they don't like guns. But for the people that fabricate reasons "guns are bad", you are ignorant. By the way, guns are what gave us our freedom. They are also the reason we, or at least I will keep my freedom.