A not-guilty verdict will stand for an Ashland attorney who forgot about a gun he'd put in a backpack and accidentally brought into the Hall of Justice in Lincoln last year.
Perry Pirsch ended up charged with carrying a concealed weapon after security spotted the gun when the backpack went through the X-ray machine at the front door.
At a bench trial Jan. 29, Lancaster County Court Judge Matt Acton found Pirsch not guilty, saying he couldn't find that Pirsch had "knowingly and intentionally" carried the concealed weapon into the courthouse.
Pirsch said he had put the gun in a backpack while at his home in Cass County a week earlier and had forgotten it was there July 2, 2020, when he put some other items in the backpack and took it with him to a hearing in Lancaster County.
After the verdict, the Lancaster County Attorney's Office filed a rare appeal.
While the state generally can't appeal a not-guilty verdict in a criminal case, a county attorney can take exception to any ruling or decision of the county court.
In a ruling Wednesday, District Court Judge Jodi Nelson said the purpose of an "exception proceeding" is to provide an authoritative statement of the law for future cases in the same judicial district.
The court can't reverse a not-guilty decision.
"The ultimate question in this case was whether the defendant knowingly and intentionally carried a concealed weapon at some point between departing from his residence in a motor vehicle and setting the backpack on the conveyor belt at the courthouse," Nelson said.
If, for example, he knew the gun was in the backpack when he put the backpack in his car but forgot before he got to the courthouse, then the evidence would be sufficient for the court to find him guilty.
"The offense would have been complete once the defendant knowingly and intentionally concealed the handgun in his motor vehicle regardless of whether he later forgot about it," the judge said.Â
But if he didn't know it was there until a sheriff's deputy told him it was, then he didn't commit the offense, Nelson said.Â
In the end, she sustained the state's exception, finding that the county court judge had made two statements that didn't accurately reflect the law. One, he was incorrect in saying that possession is an element of carrying a concealed weapon. And, two, the defendant could have committed the offense before arriving at the courthouse.
In April, Pirsch offered harsh criticism for Lancaster County Attorney Pat Condon, whose office tried the case, calling the trial a waste of time and judicial resources. He said Condon should withdraw the appeal or resign.Â
In response, Condon called it his sworn responsibility to treat everyone equally under the law, "regardless of who they are or what they do."
He said it also was his responsibility to pursue clarification of the law as issues arise.
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