The Oregon Court of Appeals on Wednesday overturned a conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm by a Linn County man on probation following felony charges who sought to dispose of his hunting rifle by selling the gun at a pawnshop without physically touching it.
Chet Thomas Hamilton, 49, was charged in 2023 in Linn County with felon in possession of a firearm. He claimed his cousin had been storing the gun for him, and that the cousin oversaw and executed the sale for him, while he looked on but did not physically hand over the gun for sale. Hamilton did, however, respond “yep” when the pawnbroker asked if he was “good to go,” according to the ruling.
Hamilton had previous convictions for coercion, identity theft and tampering with a witness.
Linn County investigators charged Hamilton following the sale, and he was sentenced in Linn County Court to 15 months in prison and two years of post-prison supervision. The court blocked Hamilton’s request to be acquitted of the charges because, he claimed, he did not have the ability to control the sale of the rifle.
But in a split 2-1 decision, the Oregon Court of Appeals found that the state’s evidence against Hamilton failed to show he violated the requirements for conviction that a person with a felony “constructively possessed” the rifle. Appeals Judge Jacqueline Kamins wrote in the ruling that “it is not clear that defendant exercised any custody or control over the rifle.”
Attorneys for the state had argued that there was enough evidence that Hamilton showed control over his hunting rifle by asking his cousin to take it to the pawnshop and by allowing for the sale to happen. They also pointed to him selling the rifle for money while suggesting that he would have left the pawnshop with the rifle should the sale have fallen through.
Jenny Hansson, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Justice, said the agency was reviewing the decision and considering its options. Representatives for the Linn County District Attorney’s Office and Hamilton did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Capital Chronicle on Thursday.
The decision notes that Hamilton’s cousin stored the rifle in a way that was inaccessible to him, and that Hamilton never came into physical contact with the rifle.
“If the (state) Legislature did not intend for an otherwise lawful sale or transfer of ownership to be included within constructive possession, our inquiry ends,” Kamins wrote.
Judge Douglas Tookey in a partial dissent wrote that he agreed the judgment of the Linn County court should be reversed. However, he stressed that Hamilton told the pawnbroker he was the legal owner of the rifle, remained in the shop after his cousin left and consented to the overall structure of the sale.
“In other words, there was evidence that he was exercising dominion and control over the rifle when he sold it,” he wrote.
Oregon Capital Chronicle
Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Shumway for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com.
