Delaware Prosecutes Just 29% of Gun Charges

By Robert Farago

The following story was buried in the middle of deleware.com’s post In Del., 71% of gun charges are dropped. While the article offers cases that seem to justify dropping weapons charges against criminals — in an attempt to increase the possibility of conviction and, thus, jail time — this anecdote puts things into their proper perspective . . .

Then there is the case of Mateo Pinkston [above].

In late summer 2011, court documents say Pinkston walked up to a man, pointed a gun at him and took his cellphone.

Pinkston, who had already been convicted of two felonies and was a suspect in a still-unsolved homicide, was arrested by Wilmington police and charged with robbery and several gun counts.

But the Delaware Attorney General’s Office cut a deal with him in 2012, agreeing to drop three weapon charges that carried a maximum of 41 years in prison in exchange for Pinkston admitting to second-degree robbery and terroristic threatening, which carried a maximum of eight years in prison.

Soon after being released from his 12-month prison sentence, Pinkston, police said, shot and killed 25-year-old Arteise Brown in Wilmington last year.

Again, the article provides multiple examples of criminals who pleaded guilty to other …Read the Rest

Source:: Truth About Guns