Reprinted from the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel, July 18, 2000

Verdict: Guilty; Penalty: $1
Judge shows empathy for store owner caught with gun at work
By David Doege

One week after a jury reluctantly found a north side convenience store owner
guilty of carrying a concealed weapon for bringing a pistol to work in his
high-crime neighborhood, a judge on Monday fined the oft-robbed merchant $1
and questioned prosecutors’ decision to file the case in the first place.

The district attorney’s office recommended that Munir A. Hamdan, who killed
a robber during a gunbattle in the store three years ago, receive a 30-day
jail term for carrying a pistol in his pocket.

But after declaring that Hamdan’s case “illustrates the problem” with some
gun laws and noting that one juror wept in the courtroom after the guilty
verdict was announced, Circuit Judge Robert Crawford concluded that the
shopkeeper deserved a break.

“This was a difficult case which tore at the jurors,” Crawford remarked. “I
think that Mr. Hamdan deserves a slap on the wrist for this offense.”

The case so vexed jurors that one of them felt compelled to fax Crawford a
letter on the day Hamdan was found guilty.

“As a whole, the jury was very sympathetic to the plight of Mr. Hamdan,” the
juror, a Shorewood schoolteacher, said in his letter.

“If I were the officer in this situation, I never would have arrested Mr.
Hamdan,” the juror wrote later, adding that he was bewildered by
prosecutors’ decision to charge the man.

Even though he walked out of the courtroom with just a $1 fine after the
sentencing, Hamdan and his lawyer said they still might appeal the case on
constitutional grounds.

“He had no criminal conviction before this,” explained Jorge A. Gomez.
“That’s something we’ll have to give a lot of thought.”

Hamdan, 54, was found guilty of the misdemeanor offense after jury
deliberations that lasted nearly as long as testimony in the one-day
proceeding.

The charge, which carries a jail term of up to nine months, stemmed from a
visit by police to Hamdan’s store on Nov. 26.

Capitol Foods, at 2483 W. Capitol Drive, is in a census tract with some of
the city’s highest crime totals. Between 1997 and 1999, the neighborhood
experienced six homicides, 98 robberies, 94 aggravated batteries and 16
rapes, according to Police Department statistics.

Hamdan, who has operated the store since 1987, has been robbed at gunpoint
several times over the years and in February 1997 killed a holdup man who
fired the first volley in a gunbattle with Hamdan and his two sons, who also
were armed.

The district attorney’s office subsequently ruled the shooting justifiable
self-defense, and police returned Hamdan’s revolver to him after he was
absolved of wrongdoing. His sons also got their guns back.

In court Monday, Hamdan estimated that he had shown his .32-caliber revolver
to police on 200 previous occasions before November without being told he
was doing anything wrong by having it with him in the store.

Crawford said he had never encountered such a case in his four years in
misdemeanor court.

“It (the charging decision) has always turned on prosecutorial discretion .
. . and Mr. Hamdan turns up short,” Crawford said. “We’ve never had a case
for a store owner being prosecuted for having a weapon in his store.”

Assistant District Attorney Michael Mahoney said he was not familiar with
all of his office’s prosecutions for carrying a concealed weapon, but added
that “based on anecdotal experience” Hamdan’s case was unusual.

The charging decision was made by another prosecutor and at least two other
assistant district attorneys handled the case before Mahoney, something not
unusual in misdemeanor court.

“I think gun violence in Milwaukee is a major problem,” Mahoney said in
recommending a 30-day jail term. “I think carrying a concealed weapon does
not alleviate that problem.”

Hamdan asked Crawford to dismiss the case, saying, “I have never carried a
concealed weapon in public.”

“I am unable to dismiss this case,” Crawford said. “This case was legally
sufficient.

“The enforcement of our carrying a concealed weapon law starts first with
the police and then with the district attorney.”

Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on July 18, 2000.
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