livingston
20×102mm Vulcan
CHRISTIANSBURG — A judge on Monday dismissed the firearms charge against former Virginia Tech student Yunsong Zhao, saying that he didn’t believe the police officer or gun dealer who were the prosecution’s main witnesses.
The evidence that Zhao, a 20-year-old Chinese national, possessed an assault weapon that is allowed only for U.S. citizens or permanent residents was too flimsy to let a jury even consider a conviction, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Marc Long said. Zhao, who has been locked up since his Jan. 29 arrest, had faced up to five years in a Virginia prison if found guilty on the gun charge.
Zhao grinned and clasped his hands after Monday’s dismissal — then was returned to the custody of federal immigration authorities.
In his Montgomery County trial, a jury heard the prosecution and defense cases — including Zhao’s own testimony denying that he had an illegal weapon. But Long threw out the charge before attorneys got to closing arguments or jurors began deliberations.
Long said he had “serious problems” with the prosecution’s case, which rested on a gun dealer’s testimony that he sold Zhao a 30-round magazine to use on his otherwise legal rifle, and a Blacksburg police detective’s account of seeing Zhao at a firing range in the Jefferson National Forest, shooting the rifle while it was equipped with the 30-round magazine.
Zhao was allowed to have a rifle equipped with a magazine that could hold 20 rounds, but any larger magazine made the gun an assault weapon prohibited for someone with his visa status.
Long said that he found it “very, very curious” that Monte Smith of Whitetail Outfitters in Montgomery County could not produce a receipt or any records to back up his assertion that he sold Zhao a 30-round magazine.
The judge also was critical of Det. Brian Wilson’s testimony that he watched Zhao fire a Bushmaster XM-15 fitted with a larger-than-allowed magazine but did not use a camcorder he carried to take a supporting video because he thought it would be too conspicuous.
Asked why he didn’t take a video with the cellphone that he had just used to text a request for backup, Wilson said the phone had died at that point.
“I don’t believe in coincidence like that,” Long said after the officer was off the stand. “Nice try.”
Long’s dismissal of the weapons charge closes one of Zhao’s three legal battles.
The former freshman has an immigration hearing Thursday in Arlington, where a judge will consider his asylum claim, said Jessica Sherman-Stoltz of Charlottesville, the attorney representing him in both the Montgomery County and immigration cases.
Sherman-Stoltz said that she could not go into the details of Zhao’s asylum claim, but said it relates to a situation he would face if he returns to China. Zhao’s hope is to remain in the United States and resume his higher education.
Gun case dismissed against former Virginia Tech student Zhao
The evidence that Zhao, a 20-year-old Chinese national, possessed an assault weapon that is allowed only for U.S. citizens or permanent residents was too flimsy to let a jury even consider a conviction, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Marc Long said. Zhao, who has been locked up since his Jan. 29 arrest, had faced up to five years in a Virginia prison if found guilty on the gun charge.
Zhao grinned and clasped his hands after Monday’s dismissal — then was returned to the custody of federal immigration authorities.
In his Montgomery County trial, a jury heard the prosecution and defense cases — including Zhao’s own testimony denying that he had an illegal weapon. But Long threw out the charge before attorneys got to closing arguments or jurors began deliberations.
Long said he had “serious problems” with the prosecution’s case, which rested on a gun dealer’s testimony that he sold Zhao a 30-round magazine to use on his otherwise legal rifle, and a Blacksburg police detective’s account of seeing Zhao at a firing range in the Jefferson National Forest, shooting the rifle while it was equipped with the 30-round magazine.
Zhao was allowed to have a rifle equipped with a magazine that could hold 20 rounds, but any larger magazine made the gun an assault weapon prohibited for someone with his visa status.
Long said that he found it “very, very curious” that Monte Smith of Whitetail Outfitters in Montgomery County could not produce a receipt or any records to back up his assertion that he sold Zhao a 30-round magazine.
The judge also was critical of Det. Brian Wilson’s testimony that he watched Zhao fire a Bushmaster XM-15 fitted with a larger-than-allowed magazine but did not use a camcorder he carried to take a supporting video because he thought it would be too conspicuous.
Asked why he didn’t take a video with the cellphone that he had just used to text a request for backup, Wilson said the phone had died at that point.
“I don’t believe in coincidence like that,” Long said after the officer was off the stand. “Nice try.”
Long’s dismissal of the weapons charge closes one of Zhao’s three legal battles.
The former freshman has an immigration hearing Thursday in Arlington, where a judge will consider his asylum claim, said Jessica Sherman-Stoltz of Charlottesville, the attorney representing him in both the Montgomery County and immigration cases.
Sherman-Stoltz said that she could not go into the details of Zhao’s asylum claim, but said it relates to a situation he would face if he returns to China. Zhao’s hope is to remain in the United States and resume his higher education.
Gun case dismissed against former Virginia Tech student Zhao
