June 10, 2024
The couple had been pardoned by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson just weeks after their guilty plea.
A judge has expunged the misdemeanor convictions of Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who brandished guns at Black Lives Matter protesters outside their St. Louis home in 2020.
Now, they want their firearms, which had been confiscated by authorities, returned.
The couple, both attorneys, filed a request in January to have their convictions erased. Judge Joseph P. Whyte stated in his order on June 5 that the purpose of expungement is to offer a second chance to those who have rehabilitated themselves, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. City prosecutors and police opposed the expungements, The Hill reports.
The couple was pardoned by Republican Gov. Mike Parson just weeks after their plea and was praised by then President Donald Trump and the NRA.
Following Whyte’s order, Mark McCloskey immediately demanded the return of the two guns seized during his 2021 guilty plea to misdemeanor assault: a Bryco .380 caliber pistol and a Colt AR-15. If the weapons were not returned immediately, Mark McCloskey said, he will file a lawsuit against the City of St. Louis, The Associated Press reports.
But that might be a problem.
As Law and Crime reports, an appellate court ruled in 2023 that the forfeiture of the guns was not about the conviction, which was later rescinded.
“The law recognizes the difference between a conviction and guilt. Here, McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and voluntarily forfeited his firearms in exchange for the State dismissing a felony charge punishable by imprisonment,” the court noted. “Thus, his inability to recover his firearms is not a legal disqualification, impediment, or other legal disadvantage that is a consequence of his conviction. Rather, the permanent forfeiture is a consequence of his guilt.”
The court added, “And because only the conviction is obliterated by the pardon and McCloskey’s guilt remains, we find that the governor’s pardon does not entitle him to possession of his forfeited firearms.”
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