Author: markfirearmslawyernet

  • Spokane Criminal Defense Lawyer

    We have been representing clients in criminal defense matters across Washington state for almost 30 years. These include many domestic violence cases. We have also been representing clients in Spokane cases over the course of many years.  So why should you retain the Law Office of Mark Knapp PLLC to represent you?

    Mark S. Knapp

    Initial Consultation. A criminal defense lawyer, Mark Knapp, will answer all your phone calls immediately. That means you will be talking to the attorney, not a receptionist. In most non-felony cases , we charge a flat-fee retainer to appear which includes attending the Arraignment and the Pretrial Conferences. If trial preparation becomes necessary, there will also be an additional Trial Retainer. Felonies can be more expensive.

    Arraignment. If you retain a criminal defense lawyer before the Arraignment, we can often waive arraignment so that you will not need to attend. If you must go to the Arraignment without representation, you will normally plead not guilty and bail is often discussed. Even if you have already been released on personal recognizance or have already posted bail, you should have counsel when you appear for the Arraignment. There are situations where the judge might order a new bail bond.  This situation results from a violation of your terms of release. Examples are getting a new DUI right after you are released from jail on another DUI. Or attempting to contact a victim where there is a No Contact Order.

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  • The Lochner Era in Supreme Court History

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    Prepare.
    Preparation, then action!

    What is Substantive Due Process?

    Constitutional law recognizes fundamental principles which are ordained by our Creator. There was a time, however, in the early 1900s when the U.S. Supreme Court only applied the Bill of Rights to state & municipal governments in order to restrict the Progressive agenda.

    Constitutional Law during the Lochner era. From 1897 through 1937, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a number of cases involving economic issues where the court  struck down state regulations that restricted business owners. Child labor laws and minimum wage laws, for example, were held to violate the freedom of contract, a liberty interest under the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment guarantees life, liberty and property and requires due process under the law before state governments can invade such interests. At one time, the Court  consistently held that the 14th Amendment only guaranteed fundamentally fair procedural safeguards. But the Lochner  era cases found that freedom of contract was a substantive liberty interest under the U.S.Constitution

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  • Restoring Gun Rights & Vacating Convictions

    We handle criminal cases, including felonies, and firearms law. We can also help get some convictions vacated:

    INSTRUCTIONS FOR VACATING MISDEMEANOR AND GROSS MISDEMEANOR CONVICTIONS

    Washington law permits vacating some misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor convictions.

    When the court vacates a conviction, you are released from penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense- but not from the prohibition against possessing firearms.

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  • Spokane Criminal Defense Law Firm

    Criminal Defense. A big component of our Spokane area criminal defense practice is dedicated to restoring the right to own firearms. Up until a few years ago, the NICS did not recognize restoration of rights for non-felony domestic violence convictions entered in Washington state. With many Domestic Violence (DV) convictions, a person is still prohibited by Washington state law from possessing firearms under RCW 9.41.040 (2)(a)(i).

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    Domestic Violence. The Domestic Violence convictions that prohibit possession of firearms under Washington state law are the following crimes when committed by one family or household member against another, after July 1, 1993: Assault in the fourth degree, coercion, stalking, reckless endangerment, criminal trespass in the first degree, or violation of the provisions of a protection order or no-contact order restraining the person or excluding the person from a residence. (more…)

  • Armed Defense Training Association

    Gun News – ADTA Article

    The Washington Arms Collectors featured the Armed Defense Training Association in the October, 2016 edition of the GunNews.  We asked the author, Ed Streit, the current ADTA President and a founding member of the citizen self-defense group, to send us the article.  The Action Training Group, Inc. in Eastern Washington and North Idaho follows the model created several years ago when the ADTA founders, including Spokane-area criminal defense lawyer, Mark Knapp, first started exploring ways to create a gun range in Federal Way, Washington.  The following is the complete article from the GunNews.

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  • Criminal Defense Team Sends Message to Spokane County

    Criminal Defense Team Sends Message to Spokane County

    Gerlach Acquittal and the Right to Carry

    Gail Gerlach Acquitted of First Degree Manslaughter

    Gerlach’s Acquittal Sends Strong Message on self-defense

    Criminal defense lawyers in Spokane paid close attention when Gail Gerlach was acquitted of first-degree manslaughter charges. Defense lawyers, Richard Lee and David Stevens, sent a clear message to prosecutors when the Spokane-area resident was acquitted of First Degree Manslaughter for shooting 25 year old Brendon Kaluza-Graham on March 25, 2013. The shot killed Kaluza-Graham who was driving away in Gerlach’s vehicle. Gerlach left the vehicle running while getting ready to take his wife to work.  (more…)

  • British Benghazi in Afghanistan 1842

    FROM KABUL TO JALALABAD IN 1842

    Central Asia is a very large stage from which originated the legendary Mongolian armies, the Turks that seized the ancient Byzantine empire and many fabled cities that had rarely been visited by Westerners even in the 1800s. In Washington DC and other modern world capitals, officials wring their hands and discuss Afghanistan’s reputation for breaking formidable occupation forces like the British and Russians. President Obama campaigned with promises to finish the job in Afghanistan. A good promise that may be EXHIBIT “A” in the case we can call “CHARACTER COUNTS VS. INDECISION AND VACILLATION.

    In 1840, Sir William Macnaghten, preparing to leave his duties in Afghanistan and begin a new job in Bombay, stated that Afghanistan was quiet from “Dan to Beersheeba”. In Kabul, British officers and their wives and children played cricket, held concerts and enjoyed steeplechases and skating far from the heat of India from where most of them had come. Macnaghten was an experienced political officer but he and the other political were unaware that the combination of coercion and subsidies the British lavished on many tribes could not offset womanizing, drinking and other British pastimes that greatly offended the Islamic mullahs and not a few Afghani husbands. Warnings went out that “their mullahs are preaching against us from one end of the country to the other” but Macnaghten chalked the warnings up to alarmism with potential to needlessly hinder his career. (more…)

  • Warrior Heart

    ActionDrillsFernan

    Long before I attended law school, I began reading the Bible. The following is a short excerpt of an electronic book that we are offering to provide at no charge. Just request a copy of The Warrior Heart at the email address on our Homepage.

    “He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.”

    Psalms 18: 34

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  • Expungement of Convictions, Gun Rights & Criminal Defense in Spokane, Washington

    Restoration of Gun Rights.

    As a Spokane Criminal Defense attorney, Mark Knapp often gets calls regarding restoration of gun rights, expungement and the right to possess firearms under Washington state law. In Washington state, expungement does not restore the right to possess firearms. A Petition to Restore the Right to Possess Firearms is the procedure that is required pursuant to RCW 9.41.040.

    Since 1993, the Law Firm of Mark Knapp PLLC has specialized in NFA Gun Trusts and working with courts to restore clients’ right to possess firearms in Washington.

    See Press Release from Top Attorneys of North America.

    Washington State Firearms Attorney.

    We have been focused on gun rights for the last fifteen years. With 32 years of practicing law, we know how to navigate the many pitfalls and potential problems that arise in the process of restoring gun rights. Although some situations seem simple, it is best to have an attorney handling your case that focuses on firearms issues and restoration of gun rights.

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  • Gray Men & Patriots

    Being a Spokane area Firearms Lawyer who shoots with many folks from law enforcement and military backgrounds, I am acquainted with a few people in law enforcement. As the political and legal environment becomes more hostile to law enforcement officers, it has become apparent to me that cops and armed citizens need to look out for each other.

    I told one law enforcement acquaintance that the John Birch Society is a good source of information with which to study the vast influence of the Council on Foreign Relations. CFR members occupy key roles in the corporate, academic and media-political complex. The CFR’s elite members constitute a virtual hiring hall for government, military, the most well endowed tax-exempt foundations and law enforcement at the federal and international levels.

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