"Justice demands no less:" Judge in Badger Guns civil trial has special message for jurors
MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee County jury will soon decide whether a West Milwaukee gun shop is liable after a gun it sold was used to shoot two police officers. But on Friday, October 2nd, the day after a mass shooting in Oregon, the case started with a judge's message to jurors.
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Judge John DiMotto
"It's a fact of life we live in a violent and troubled world where tragedies occur on a daily basis," said Judge John DiMotto.
The judge instructed the jury to not let the events in Oregon color their thoughts about the gun trial they will judge.
"Justice demands no less. So I am going to ask each of you. Will each of you promise that you will follow this instruction and not be influenced by the events in Oregon yesterday?" asked Judge DiMotto.
With that, the judge asked each juror if they could continue fairly. Each juror said yes.
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Adam Allan
After that, Adam Allan, the owner of Badger Guns, was first on the stand. He was in charge in 2009 when 18-year-old Julius Burton paid his friend 21-year-old Jacob Collins $40 to buy him a gun. It was what's called a straw buy -- something illegal. One month later, Burton used that gun to shoot two Milwaukee police officers who stopped him for riding his bike on the sidewalk.
The lawyer for the officers said an ATF inspection resulted in dozens of paperwork and record-keeping violations for Badger Guns the year before that gun was sold to Collins.
It was discovered the paperwork Collins filled out had been crossed out and changed. But ATF officials did not flag that as a bad document at the time.
The trial continues on Monday with one of the injured officers taking the stand.