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The Laconia Daily Sun
10/19/05
Angel Will Get Permit to Carry Concealed Gun
By Michael Kitch
LACONIA-- Justice Timothy J. McKenna of the Laconia District Court has ordered Police Chief Tom Oetinger to grant Dana Keefe, a member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, a license to carry a loaded, concealed handgun. Oetinger had earlier denied Keefe's application on the grounds that his predecessor, Bill Baker, had done the same in 2001 and that decision was held up by the district court.
"For me this was purely a procedural issue," Oetinger said, explaining that since the court upheld Bakers decision, he did not believe it was appropriate for him to reverse its decision.
Keefe's appeal was originally held in July by Judge David Hout. However, the morning after the hearing, Hout received two e-mails from Sergeant Chris Cost of the Belknap County Sheriff's Department containing information that was not presented in court. The first e-mail noted that Keefe was twice convicted of passing bad checks, while the second contained a report from a Canadian newspaper of criminal proceedings in Ontario at which the judge declared the Hells Angels "a criminal organization," Hout immediately recused himself from the case and ordered that the appeal be heard afresh before a different judge.
Scott Bratton of Lowell, Massachusetts, who represented Keefe and City Prosecutor Jim Sawyer agreed that rather than hold a second hearing, McKenna should decide the case on the strength of the transcript of original hearing.
Mckenna noted that when Keefe was first denied a permit in 2001, the "District Court upheld the denial without stating the factual basis for the decision and order." He further explained that the Legislature requires the authority issuing the pistol permit "to demonstrate by clear and convincing proof why the denial was justified, failing which the court is required to order the issuing authority to grant a license."
In July Oetinger testified that when Keefe applied for a permit in May 2005, he did not seek to determine whether there were any grounds to deny it once he learned that Keefe's earlier application was denied. However, in court Oetinger said that to the best of his knowledge Keefe had not been convicted of a felony, nor had any record of domestic violence, mental health disabilities or substance abuse. With Oetinger's testimony, together with the lack of any explanation for the prior denial, Mckenna found that "the state has failed to meet its burden to demonstrate by clear and convincing proof why the denial was justified."
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