Charles Spencer of Ansonia faces up to 30 years in prison after a jury on Friday convicted him of six counts of illegally possessing stun guns.
The six-member jury at Superior Court in Milford arrived at the decision after about two hours of deliberations.
Spencer has a prior felony drug conviction on his record, which prohibited from having weapons such as stun guns.
After the verdicts were read, Judge Denise Markle ordered Spencer, 54, held in lieu of bonds totaling $50,000 and scheduled his sentencing for Aug. 16.
Spencer asked Judge Markle to release him on a written promise to appear in court, saying he was in poor health and his eyesight was failing.
“As I say, Mr. Spencer, I think a surety bond is in order. Whether you meet that bond is up to you. It’s a very reasonable bond, sir,” the judge said.
He was then taken into custody by judicial marshals.
Jurors declined to comment on the case while leaving the courthouse.
Outside the courthouse Spencer’s lawyer, Joseph Merly, said that while he was disappointed with the verdict, “We don’t always get the verdicts we like, and you have to respect the jury system.”
“I thought reasonable doubt lives in this case,” he said. “The state had to prove that he knowingly possessed (the stun guns and aerosol can). I thought the state’s case was very weak on the ‘knowingly’ aspect of it.”
Assistant State’s Attorney John Kerwin was happy with the result.
“I appreciate the jury giving this case the attention it deserved,” he said. “I agree with their decision, obviously.”
Kerwin said he hadn’t decided how much prison time he’ll ask Judge Markle to give Spencer, but that he’d look over a pre-sentence investigation ordered by the judge and then come up with a recommendation.
Friday marked the fourth day of Spencer’s trial on six counts of possession of an electronic defense weapon by a convicted felon and a single count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
The charges stem from six stun guns and a false-bottomed aerosol can seized from Spencer’s home during searches of the residence in 2010 and 2012, during separate police investigations into a Valley-wide drug dealing crew allegedly led by one of Spencer’s sons.
Friday’s proceedings began with closing arguments from Assistant State’s Attorney John Kerwin and Spencer’s lawyer, Joseph Merly.
Kerwin began his summation by asking jurors to close their eyes and think “What’s in my bedroom?”
“Basically, that’s what this case is about,” Kerwin said. “It’s about what the defendant knew was in his bedroom at the time of the two searches.”
Spencer’s girlfriend had testified Thursday that she had bought the stun guns and never told Spencer of their existence until he had been arrested for possessing them.
But Shelton Police Detective Ben Trabka had testified on the first day of the trial that Spencer, during the 2010 search of his home, had admitted the stun guns were his.
Kerwin attacked the credibility of both Spencer and his girlfriend, Marleen Jackson, saying several times that aspects of their testimony Thursday didn’t make sense.
“She doesn’t want to see him convicted,” Kerwin said of Jackson. “She’s going to come in and testify, I would submit, in a way that’s going to help him.”
Merly, in turn, attacked the credibility Kerwin’s police witnesses.
“You know who else has an interest in the outcome of this case? Detective Trabka,” he said, noting that while he didn’t think Trabka’s testimony was “sinister,” he added: “Let’s not make it seem like police are robots.”
Merly also took issue with the thought exercise Kerwin asked the jurors to engage in, then came up with one of his own.
“Close your eyes and picture what your spouse or significant other had in the room,” he said. “Do you go through the dressers? … My wife could have a bazooka in her closet and I wouldn’t know.”
