College days used to be considered the easy times of a person’s life. However, the high incidence of weapons possession and violence at educational venues in recent years raises deep concerns as to the root causes of these problems. In North Carolina, another arrest was made on a college campus recently for weapons charges associated with reported behavior that has the high potential for violent crime.
Rocky Mount police arrested a 22-year-old junior at N.C. Wesleyan College on weapons charges arising of a disturbance reportedly caused by him at the Rocky Mount campus. They charged him with three counts of felony possession of a firearm on educational property and one count of misdemeanor possession of a weapon on educational property.
He is accused of threatening and intoxicated behavior at a campus residence hall. Apparently, in the process of arresting the man the police found three guns and a knife in his van. They found alcohol and racial slurs posted in his dorm room. The College issued a statement saying that the man would not be allowed back on campus and that the college will not tolerate having a weapon on campus. No one was injured in the events.
Assuming that the reported facts are somewhat true, the accused would be well-advised to initiate immediate personal counseling with a certified therapist. If there is a future guilty plea, the mental health expert can testify that the accused has his problems under control. He will also be better situated the sooner he obtains defense counsel and begins to have someone working on his behalf to investigate, and to try and defuse the emotional impact of the incident.
In North Carolina, these are serious felony charges usually associated with violent crime. If counsel determines that the weapons were not legally seized, then the charges might be subject to an early dismissal. If counsel can at lease raise a debatable issue on the search and seizure, this could assist in obtaining a favorable plea agreement. With appropriate counseling and alcohol rehabilitation, the man might be able to go on with his life, perhaps at another institution. If the charges stand, however, his future prospects may be bleak due to the recently-heightened public consternation at any behavior that hints of potential violent characteristics.
Source: newsobserver.com, “Wesleyan College student arrested on weapons charges,” April 22, 2013
