Shon Pernice gun trial set for January

Glenn Rice has the full report here. Pernice -- whose wife, Renee, disappeared back in January -- is accused of stealing a .22-caliber handgun from a home that his kids were visiting. Police say that Pernice later returned the gun to its owner and apologized. The defendant and his lawyer didn't have any comment. Here's a copy of the probable cause.

Renee's disappearance has attracted a great deal of attention, not just locally, but across the country. Several blogs have written pieces about her case. A $25K reward is being offered.

There's also a MySpace page dedicated to Renee.

Comments

[Brad]

I bet they're using this to put pressure on him regarding his missing wife.

[Tam]

Ok, he is denying that he stole the gun and then later returned it?

Why waste time and money on a trial?

Shouldn't he just plead guilty?

[Interested]

He must be hoping he gets a bunch of dummies on the jury. Then he may have a chance at an acquittal.

[Wisdom]

Of course it's pressure regarding the disappearance of his wife. When they can't pin the original crime on a suspect when there is a lot of evidence pointing at him they trump up other charges to get him to break....

[PressuresOn]

And the pressure seems to be working. Have you seen the recent photo's of him? Shon Pernice looks like he wants to confess to a lot more than steeling the gun. He looks like he is going to break if he doesn't get to start talking soon.

[Interested]

Nobody "trumped up other charges" on him. He did it to himself. Or are you saying someone made him take his kids to his neighbor's and then forced him to steal a gun?

[KC Cicero]

Actually, since stealing involves intending to permanently deprive a person of property, returning it may indicate that no actual crime was committed.

Seriously, is there anyone who really thinks this prosecution would be going on but for the publicity-generated desire to do something -- anything -- to screw with this guy because we suspect he did something for which there is no proof? If so, please don't respond to any e-mail from former Nigerian officials needing help getting to their millions in a bank.

[Drew]

However, returning it once you're caught says nothing about the lack of an intent to permanently deprive the owner.

And yes it would be going on. Do you think that every other person in MO charged with felony stealing of a firearm is only brought to court because of ulterior motives, e.g. a pending unsolvable case. So yes, there are plenty of people who think this would be going on independent of the "Hope I hid Renee well enough" game.

Caution: when reading your Nigerian scam mail, don't be automatically duped if they tell you that your assistance in processing their check will help fund a US anti-establishment, conspiracy theorist group. Don't be misled by shiny things.

[Interested]

Theft, in legal definition, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is the "Taking of property without the owner's consent." There can be an "intent" element, but it is not necessary. In order to know Shon Pernice's intent you have to know the circumstances of why he returned it. I don't think that has been made public and, even it it has, that is what the trial will most likely be about.

There is also an element in "theft" about what he did with the stolen gun. He had the gun for over a day. If he did anything illegal with it while he had it, even for a day, that adds to his problems under that same definition of theft.

If you have something stolen from you, it is your right to have that theft prosecuted. You wouldn't want to be told by the prosecutor "Nevermind about your issue, we have a bigger issue with this guy, and we don't want to look like we are harassing him." I bet that wouldn't go over well with you.

I suppose we should just let Shon Pernice off the hook on anything he does since he may have done worse and we don't want to cause him any discomfort! What???