Hoops Star Still Sitting in D.C. Jail Gun Charge Sparks Bond Law Fight By Henri E. Cauvin Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, August 19, 2006; B01 Lonny Baxter, the pro basketball player who has been charged with a gun felony in the District, will be staying in jail until at least Wednesday while his attorneys prepare to challenge a tough new emergency crime law under which he could be held without bond until his trial. Baxter, 27, a star on the University of Maryland's 2002 national championship team, was due to have a hearing yesterday in D.C. Superior Court to determine whether he would continue to be held without bond. But Baxter's attorneys, Richard Finci and Harold Martin, told Magistrate Judge J. Dennis Doyle that they wanted to postpone the hearing because they plan to challenge a recent change in D.C. bond law that presumes that anyone charged with carrying a pistol without a license is dangerous. The change was enacted last month as part of the emergency legislation the D.C. Council passed after a spike in violent crime. The changes were made with limited council debate and public discussion, and Finci said yesterday that the presumption of dangerousness, based simply on the charge, is unconstitutional. "Our argument is, to extend the law to the mere possession of a firearm without a violent crime goes too far," Finci said outside the courthouse. Previously, the burden would have been on prosecutors to prove that Baxter is too dangerous to be released. But under the revised law, Baxter and his attorneys bear the burden of proving that he is not a danger to the community and can be released. After playing for the Washington Wizards and four other National Basketball Association teams, including the Charlotte Bobcats last season, Baxter recently signed a contract to play for a professional team in Italy. The gun charge could jeopardize his season if he continues to be held without bond, Finci said yesterday. Baxter, who grew up in Silver Spring and lives Rockville, was arrested early Wednesday after gunfire was heard by uniformed Secret Service officers on patrol a few blocks from the White House. According to charging documents, just after 2:30 a.m. a passerby told police that shots were fired from a white sport-utility vehicle near 18th and I streets NW. Several minutes later, the officers saw a white Range Rover near 17th and K streets NW. When they stopped the vehicle, they learned that it was registered to Baxter, who was driving. The officers said they saw two spent shell casings on the rear floorboard. Baxter and his passenger, Francis I. Martin, 35, were ordered out of the car. Police said they found a loaded .40-caliber Glock handgun in the vehicle's center console. Baxter and Martin, who lives in Prince George's County, were charged with possessing a handgun without a license. At a court hearing Wednesday, Magistrate Judge Frederick Sullivan found sufficient evidence to hold Baxter without bond. As the driver of the SUV, Baxter was presumed to be in control of what was inside his vehicle, the judge said. Martin was released on his own recognizance. The U.S. attorney's office asked that Baxter be held in jail for three days without bond pending a more extensive hearing -- scheduled for yesterday -- on whether he is too dangerous to be released. Under long-standing bond law, the judge, having found probable cause for the gun charge, was obligated to grant the government's request. Both defendants were back in court yesterday, Martin in street clothes and the 6-foot-8 Baxter in an orange jail jumpsuit. But the hearing was delayed until Wednesday. Finci told the judge that the defense needed time to prepare its arguments concerning the constitutionality of the new bond law. The charging documents filed by prosecutors do not indicate who allegedly fired the gun or why, and that remains a subject of investigation. The two men were apparently at a bar before being arrested, police said. When Baxter was searched after the arrest, police said, two receipts from Eye Bar on I Street NW, both from earlier in the morning, were found. © 2006 The Washington Post Company ForumWebSiteAt http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
