Need help! judge keeping me in limbo for a year with no decision. Writting a letter

[jrd157]

Hello everyone ! need a little help!
It will be 2 years this july since i purchased my handgun in order to complete the application process. I am located in orange county ny. Since the purchase in july 09' i waited almost another whole year (april 2010) to meet the judge. I meet him in court and he was not impressed. When i was 18 i got a arressted a few times for drinking and going to bars and stupid stuff. After that age i was on very good behavior however i made a very big mistake and decided to drink and drive at the age of 24. I am now 28 and since have no had any issues with the law. I am partner in a very successful business, engaged, and a homeowner. I explained to the judge i was young and dumb and things are very different these days. (GROWING UP) Anyway i have called once a month since meeting the judge in april 2010. Every time the secretary gave me the same answer that the judge "hasn't had time to get to it" . i also asked if i was waiting because of my character background and she says no he just hasn't gotten to it. I feel that they are keeping me in limbo purposely and at this point even a denial would be some closure and i would just reapply. I contacted a lawyer and he wants me to write a letter to a judge appointed ahead of this one (his boss) but i feel that will just piss him off and def deny me. I decided to write a letter this weekend but i was hoping to get some suggestions or tips from some of you good people out there. I want to tread a fine line between asking what the deal is and not pissing him off. Any suggestions or advice would be really helpful guys. thankyou very muchm n

[guygus3516]

I thought I had it bad

[tman1753]

which judge are u talking about?

[jrd157]

judge berry

[tman1753]

don't know too much bout him. Write a nice letter explaining you have been patient and stuff. Mail it certified so they have to sign for it. This way they cant say they didnt get it. If you dont here anything within 30 days , I would send a complaint letter to his "boss" explaining the situation. Be sure to include a copy of the "nice" letter to his boss that you wrote!

[DJ686G]

I have heard that Berry is ok and he usually moves these things along.

[MDX]

I do not think this judge or his boss will care about your Nice letters that you are being patient. It becomes obvious with this process that the judges have a few piles that applicants go into. fast track pile with people that have zero background issues and piles that will involve more looking around and attention. Since you have basically been arrested more than three times in 10 years this Judge has placed you into his "when I have nothing else to do" I will review these cases pile...

If I was in your shoes, I would wait 5 years and reapply. There is really not much time and your still fairly young compared to your last arrest.

is getting a "denied" worth it? you then have to state on anything else that you have been denied and that leads to more scruntization for any other permits and more denies...

You know best in your case, but from others who have been in your shoes on this forum, time seems to make this situation better. You can fight the system, but the judges have tooooo much power and it may bear little fruit...

my .02

[MDX]

will you just lose the deposit on the gun or can you tell the dealer you were denied and will they let you go without any costs or penalties?

[tman1753]

It's easy to say to quit and reapply in five years when it's not you and your not the one waiting.

[JStarX7]

Do what your lawyer suggested. Why ask an expert for advice and then ignore him thinking you know better?

[MDX]

This is a prime reason for the OC that having to buy a gun first is STUPID. how about the dealer that cannot sell that firearm becuase its in limbo and a 2 year old model now....

[DJ686G]

You are right, in this case everyone is on hold.

[MAGGOTMAN336]

Write a respectful letter you have nothing to lose.

[topdj]

I wondered if he ever got it, I waited a entire year, 21 years ago I loaned my corvette to a friend and he decided to out run the police because he didn't want a speeding ticket, he told me a different story that the car had been stolen, so me believing him filed a stolen vehicle report. he didn't get in any trouble but I did for filing a false report. 13 years ago he in his own car did the same thing again this time he called me at work and asked for a ride
I said no way I'm not getting involved. Now this is where I should have called a lawyer because they checked his phone records and asked me if he spoke to me that day, of course I said no and did not know anything about it. The cop knowing he called me because he had phone records asked me to sign a statement DUH I should had used the 5th amendment and said no way. well you know what happen now. I had to see the Judge about these 2 incidents. either way I had giving my friend 1 chance 21 years ago, 13 years ago that ended the friendship and it still haunts me.

[rjhauser]

you all need to find better friends

[Bllade]

I'm not going to comment on your particular circumstances other than to say Judge Berry is pretty straight forward and one of the better Judges in the county. Everyone I know has been processed through him in a timely manner and so far everyone I know that has requested an unrestricted license has received it from him.
May be more to thin than we know.

[dcruthis]

have your lawyer write the letter. that's what lawyers do.

[usmcveteran]

Here my personal opinion and keep in mind what i am about to say and what i said above is what seems to be true to me and i am no lawyer and you need to decide for yourself. To me if you dont get a letter stating why your permit is being held up or if your not denied by 6 months then they are breaking the law which is a msdeamenor. If you look at part 4-a which i will provide link at the end it basically says the judge has 6 months to approve / deny or send you a letter stating why its being delayed from the time you turn it in to the appropiate authority. Well since you must turn it into the county clerks office then that is the appropriate authority and the clock starts then. Now if you scroll down further to part 15 you can see that it say any violation by anyone of any part of that law (including the 6 month time frame) is guilty of a misdeamenor. So basically the way i read it, it says that they are breaking the law criminally and can be arrested for not doing it on time.

So after all that being said i know some dont want to cause problems but i feel that everyone should atleast be informed to make the choices that are best for them and who knows maybe they finally looked at the law and are doing them on time now.
Laws of New York

I copied above i wrote on another post. So I would suggest if you havent written a letter yet to write it asking about the laws above. Now that is NYS law i linked but where i talk about county clerk is for Monroe County. Not sure who you must turn in paperwork too but time starts then. Hope that helos

[OwnTheRide]

I came to say what usmcveteran covered: it sounds to me like the judge is breaking the law, specifically, Article 400.00 part 4-a (emphasis mine):

4-a. Processing of license applications. Applications for licenses
shall be accepted for processing by the licensing officer at the time of
presentment. Except upon written notice to the applicant specifically
stating the reasons for any delay, in each case the licensing officer
shall act upon any application for a license pursuant to this section
within six months of the date of presentment of such an application to
the appropriate authority. Such delay may only be for good cause and
with respect to the applicant. In acting upon an application, the
licensing officer shall either deny the application for reasons
specifically and concisely stated in writing or grant the application
and issue the license applied for.

The emboldened section says that the licensing officer (in this case Judge Berry) must act on your application within six months of filing. Processing of the application may only be delayed given sufficient reason relating to the applicant - in other words, "the judge is too busy" or "he hasn't gotten to it yet" are not legally supported reasons for delay. Furthermore, if such a delay is to occur, the applicant must be notified, in writing, and the reason or reasons for delay must be stated in this notification.

Based solely on the information provided in the OP, I would say that Judge Berry is currently in violation of the law and that the "proper" course of action would be to sue him into compliance with the law. However, given the insane amount of control provided to judges concerning pistol permits, the "proper" course of action may not be the most productive. I would start with nicely-toned letters first, as your attorney has suggested.

[usmcveteran]

I agree with the above. At 6 months to the day what i did in Monroe county is call the investigators and ask them why it was taking so long and asked them about the law. They said time started when the judge got it and i read the part about how it starts when you turn it in. The Deputy was not happy but i only asked and was not rude and a week later they did the investigation and i got my permit a couple weeks after that.

[Jeff]

if you guys figure out how to get a judge arrested for taking more than 6 months let us know...

[usmcveteran]

To be honest if it takes longer i dont think the judge should necessarily be held liable but the people who caused it to be late should be liable. Even though it is a misdemenor for it taking over the 6 months the DA would still have to decide to prosecute or not. If they chose not to prosecute then the only other means of getting the judge arrested would if the FBI wanted to investigate it if you could get them to agree that the judge is using his power to deprive you of your 2nd amendment right. This is a link to the FBI website that talks about deprivation of right under color of law FBI — Color of Law
That being said I agree it would be more trouble then its worth trying to pursue.

[OwnTheRide]

if you guys figure out how to get a judge arrested for taking more than 6 months let us know...

In order to get judges or other government entities to comply with the law, a wronged individual sues the non-compliant entity.