What Should Da’Quan Bowers Expect?
February 19th, 2013
In the wake of Bucs defensive end Da’Quan Bowers getting pinched for having a loaded gun at LaGuardia Airport in New York yesterday, details about the arrest as well as what Bowers could expect from the State of New York are leaking out.
Of course, Joe already dove into the legal hurdles Bowers must climb in order to avoid jail time altogether.
Shane Dixon Kavanaugh and Kerry Burke of the New York Daily News had a gripping blow-by-blow of what went down at LaGuardia Monday morning with Bowers.
Bowers — a second-round draft pick in 2011 who played college ball at Clemson University — was collared after he waltzed up to a US Airways check-in counter about 10:50 a.m. and told a ticketing agent he was packing a Smith & Wesson, authorities said.
The New York Post reports Bowers had the gun in his baggage on the flight to New York and didn’t realize it until he arrived at his hotel.
For those who fly regularly or infrequently, when checking bags, agents are asked if you have any dangerous items or firearms. Bowers, honest yet naively, stated, yes he did.
Next thing you know, Bowers was hauled away in cuffs.
Now Bowers was charged with the very same thing NFL wide receiver Plaxico Burress was slapped with and he spent the better part of two years in the hole.
But as Mike Florio, the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com and a former practicing attorney, points out, the circumstances are night and day.
Still, prosecutors could regard Bowers’ case differently. Burress took his gun into a Manhattan nightclub, securing it in the waistband of his pants and having it discharge in the building. Though he only shot himself, the end result could have been much worse.
Bowers, if he’d known the severity of the New York law, could have found a way to get rid of the gun short of handing it over and essentially confessing his guilt. Throwing the book at him seems grossly unfair.
Sal Paolantonio, of ESPN, writing when Burress was arrested, noted that nearly 24 percent of those convicted of a lesser felony possession charge didn’t serve a day in prison, but 24 percent spent one year in jail.
Indeed. Burress put many innocents at risk with his reckless decision. Bowers put no one at risk, and thought he was doing the right thing by telling a ticketing agent of the firearm, surely hoping to learn how to properly check the gun for travel.
If this case goes to trial, and the Burress trial is any barometer, Joe would be shocked if it took place before the end of the 2013 season.
Aside from a few mandatory court appearances, Joe cannot see Bowers missing any playing time as a result this season, barring the long arm of NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell getting involved.
February 19th, 2013 at 9:40 am
Plaxico had an additional reckless endangerment charge beyond Bower’s charges, didn’t he?
February 19th, 2013 at 9:43 am
Makes you wonder if honesty is always the best policy. As soon as he discovered he had the gun in his hotel, he should have had it shipped back to him via shipping and transit. It would have cost him some money but not possibly part of his life. I’m sure in hindsight he wished he’d at least pawned it.
February 19th, 2013 at 10:08 am
I would be willing to bet the NY Liberals throw the book at Bowers. The Mayor’s office (the mayor doing major funding to anti gun movement out of his own pocket) is going to want him prosecuted to the full extent. NYC has laws on its books making the possession of the gun illegal (see Plaxico Burress). The current overall social environment in that part of the country. The best deal ever was probably Plaxico Burress’, and he got that from being a local football hero (which Bowers aint going to get). Bowers basically admits that he has been carrying an illegal gun around NYC by walking up to counter and say “Uh duh, uh i has a gun in my man purse, uh duh, can eyes plade with it on duh plane” Dudes probably getting the full minimum (3 years) for this, if not more. He has high profile example of what is wrong with gun laws (allowing turds for brains and/or Bucs defensive linemen having guns) written all over him, and will thus be the perfect example to be made by the prosecution. Then he will be the basis of a Law and Order: Special Douchebag Unit episode.
February 19th, 2013 at 10:08 am
DidnPeople on PFT are killing him. It really sounds like an honest mistake. I didn’t know they were so many perfect people in this world.
Didnt plaxico try to conceal his crime and take himself to the hospital?
February 19th, 2013 at 10:14 am
Alot if idiots are chiming in on this subject and with their twisted perceptions of whom they claim Bowers is. Ignorance really is bliss.
February 19th, 2013 at 10:24 am
While ingnorance isn’t a defense, Bowers’ circumstances are significantly different than Burress even though it’s the same law from which they were charged. There will be consequences of his actions, but as long as the gun is properly registered, I don’t expect any jail time.
Athletes and guns just don’t mix. There is no reason to carry one around with you.
February 19th, 2013 at 10:27 am
It’s a demonstration of a very poorly written law. Those who wrote such a trap should be held accountable. Bowers was trying to do the right thing under the circumstances and he gets skewered. Government gone blind is far more dangerous than anything Bowers did.
February 19th, 2013 at 10:31 am
Finally some national attention for the Bucs, maybe not the kind you want, but they will recognize the Bucs now. In all seriousness, I really hope nothing comes of this, unfortunately his timing is not good with all the national attention on gun control right now. This guy has bad blow after bad blow, good luck DBowers
February 19th, 2013 at 10:34 am
Everytime I think this guy is going to have a break out year something happens. Last year it was the achilles injury and now this. At least Michael Bennett will be smiling all the way to the bank.
February 19th, 2013 at 10:43 am
Joe, from living there for a while, fly in and out of Newark, EWR, It is closer to Manhattan, has NJ laws for this or other things and has much longer runways so I believe it is a safer airport.
February 19th, 2013 at 10:55 am
What his performance as a player and the possibility a good man’s life being ruined by a trap-law have to do with each other is beyond me.
February 19th, 2013 at 11:02 am
I disagree, Apple,
If you use LexisNexis to review NY case law, you will find precedence for otherwise.
There will be no trial. Bowers gave up his right to plead not guilty when he voluntarily acknowledged the presence of a gun. The DA will use this as another high profile case to say nationally “Do not bring a gun to NYC”.
After much weeping and gnashing of teeth in the media, the DA will accept a plea down to a lesser charge based on mitigating circumstances such as legal gun registration, procedure used to transport the gun from point of origin, whether the gun was only statutorily loaded ,and the criminal background of the defendant. Bowers will grade out well when those factors are considered.
A hefty fine will be imposed, and probably community service in the form of a PSA that warns other athletes and sportsmen to observe and obey the gun laws of New York.
As for the NFL and Roger Goodell, this same thing happened to Shaun Rogers a while back, albeit it Ohio and not New York. But as a first offense, no fine or suspension was imposed. So, I remain optimistic!
February 19th, 2013 at 11:16 am
@Joe
@Macabee
Thank you, for the clarification on the matter. We appreciate it!
February 19th, 2013 at 11:21 am
@Mac
🙂
thanks for helping me in the hope department, can’t help but worry for the young man.
February 19th, 2013 at 11:44 am
Nobody can predict what will happen to Bowers, but Florio hit the nail on the head in distinguishing Bowers’ situation from Plaxico’s. Plaxico was far more culpable than Bowers and he only did 2 years. If consistency prevails at the DA’s office in NYC, Bowers should do less than 2, if any time at all.
Of course, this is all based on prosecutorial discretion. If the DA wants to make an example of Bowers, they can virtually ensure he receives the 3.5 year minimum mandatory sentence. The judge won’t even have discretion to sentence Bowers under 3.5 years if the DA doesn’t reduce the charge or agree to a lesser sentence. Hopefully, the DA exercises it’s discretion and doesn’t want to make an example out of Bowers.
February 19th, 2013 at 11:55 am
Not such a good time to be charged with such an offense. Amazingly in New York you can get away with almost anything, short of exercising your second amendment rights.
The whole thing is a farce if you ask me. Wasnt like he was trying to conceal it or sneak it in the state, he brought it through an airport. Didnt use it during a crime or endanger anyone else with it.
Seems to me confiscating the guys gun would suffice, although even that is wrong IMO.
February 19th, 2013 at 11:59 am
If the gun is registered and legal in NC or FL, and having it with him was just a dumb mistake, and he alerted them at the airport that it was in his bag, and did not try to go into security with it, and it was not loaded…. I don’t see the issue except for NY being a far left fascist city slowly taking away their citizens rights to salt and soft drinks and certain foods and guns and taxing the heck out of them in the process.
As for Goodell, IF, what I stated above is all true, and it does seem to be playing out that way, then it does not seem that Goodell needs to get involved at all.
February 19th, 2013 at 12:39 pm
“The New York Post reports Bowers had the gun in his baggage on the flight to New York and didn’t realize it until he arrived at his hotel.”
HUH? How did the gun get into his baggage without him knowing it? Guess the gun fairy put it there!
February 19th, 2013 at 1:03 pm
If Bowers does any time at all, or gets anything other than a small fine just to give the law credence, then NY is little better than third world dictatorship. Justice may be blind, but it doesn’t have to be stupid as well. Is this really the intent of the law? To hold people to criminal standards for trying to do the right thing under unintentional circumstances? Every fair minded person should be outraged.
February 19th, 2013 at 1:03 pm
Chris@Apple – I’m surprised you advertise your business on here with comments like that. I will make sure that I nor any of friends and family ever do business with you.
February 19th, 2013 at 1:30 pm
Lol Chris@Apple.. might want to make sure you are not representing a place of business when you make comments like that.
Guy’s name even links you to the biz. Hilarious.
February 19th, 2013 at 1:38 pm
Correction in my last post. Shaun Rogers was fined 400k by the NFL, but not suspended. Sound familiar, except that it’s NYC, much tougher gun laws and Big Shaun’s gun was cocked with a round in the chamber.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5382534
February 19th, 2013 at 1:53 pm
Come on people! It’s not like he had a .32oz Soda in his possession.
February 19th, 2013 at 2:44 pm
Lol @ Dave
“NY being a far left fascist city”
I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to be a far left fascist.
February 19th, 2013 at 3:02 pm
“I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to be a far left fascist”
@BKNY
Actually it’s not. Most fascists, like Hitler, were socialists – ‘ National Socialist German Workers’ Party’. Just another type of leftist.
February 19th, 2013 at 5:44 pm
@TrueBlue
“MOST fascists were socialists”? Get a clue. Socialism is having absolute no proletarian control, which is a far cry from the Mussolini or Hitler’s regimes.
Don’t let modern day conservative talk radio define socialism for you.
Btw, “A third world dictatorship” describing NYC? Not quite third world here; after all, the rent is “too damn high”.
And FYI, I’m not in agreement of all the gun laws in NYC either. Plus, I despise Bloomberg.
February 19th, 2013 at 7:17 pm
The point BKNY, is that fascists are leftists. Don’t let MSNBC Redefine history for you.
February 19th, 2013 at 9:20 pm
I get the point. I’ll find a far right Marxist. You’ll find a far left Fascist. We’ll meet for a drink in a bar, socialiZe with our fellow patrons about Buc football and personal politics, and soon enough two of us will know everything about being a Buccaneer man, while three of us will finally know we’re just damn fools about our politics.
MSNBC will define history the day FOX news does. Please, you’ve mistaken me for someone else.