A jury will on Friday begin deciding who to believe in the case of a 54-year-old Ansonia man accused of illegally possessing stun guns.
The man, Charles Spencer, testified Thursday (June 6) during his trial at Superior Court in Milford that the first time he had seen the weapons was during the trial itself.
But police say Spencer knew stun guns were in his house as early as 2010, when they found them after raiding the home while searching for evidence in a drug and gun case.
Thursday marked the trial’s third and final day of testimony.
Spencer faces six counts of possession of an electronic defense weapon by a convicted felon, as well as a single count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
The crimes are punishable by more than 30 years in prison.
The items were 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.
He’s not allowed to possess stun guns because he has a previous felony drug conviction on his record.
Click here to read more background from a previous story.
Proceedings continued Thursday with Assistant State’s Attorney John Kerwin resting his case, after which Spencer’s lawyer, Joseph Merly, called Spencer’s girlfriend to the stand.
The girlfriend, Marleen Jackson, then told jurors that the stun guns police charged Spencer with possessing were in fact hers — and that she never informed Spencer of their existence prior to his arrests for possessing them.
Jackson said she met Spencer late in 2009 and had moved most of her things into Spencer’s house at 126 Howard Ave. by the time his house was searched by police the following April.
Those belongings, she said, included several stun guns she had bought over the Internet.
Jackson said she bought the stun guns for a number of reasons: one to use for her own protection, one to give to her daughter, and two to ship to Spencer’s daughter, who she said had been the victim of a robbery.
But she never gave any of them away, and the items instead found their way to Spencer’s house as she gradually moved in with him.
That landed Spencer in hot water a few months into the couple’s courtship, when police came to his house looking for one of his sons in connection to an investigation into a drug dealing crew.
They didn’t find Spencer’s son, but returned two weeks later to execute a search warrant they obtained for his house, found the stun guns Jackson said she had bought, and charged Spencer with illegally possessing them since he had felony drug convictions on his record.
Jackson testified that she knew about Spencer’s arrest on the charges — she arranged for a bondsman to get him out of jail the day he was arrested — but continued buying stun guns and storing them at Spencer’s house.
She testified she also ordered a Zap Stun Cane off the Internet for a “collection” of “all different kinds of gadgets” she said she has.
“I’m an online shopaholic,” Jackson said. “My kids say I have CSD: compulsive shopping disorder.”
Jackson said she used the stun cane for protection while walking between her house and Spencer’s.
Merly also asked Jackson whether she was the owner of an aerosol can with a false bottom seized during the 2010 raid.
Police say the can had marijuana residue on it, and charged Spencer with possession of drug paraphernalia as a result.
Jackson said the can was hers, prompting Judge Denise Markle to order the jury out of the courtroom before advising Jackson she had a Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself.
Judge Markle delayed Jackson’s testimony for about a half-hour and asked Public Defender Ken Bunker to explain to Jackson her rights, after which he said in court he advised her against answering Merly’s questions regarding the aerosol can.
Jackson then returned to the witness stand and said she’d waive her rights against self-incrimination, then again said the can was hers, but that she had never put marijuana in it.
Kerwin, while cross-examining Jackson — and later Spencer — asked about the couple’s living arrangements.
Jackson said her legal residence was at 179 Howard Ave., but that she spends most of her time with Spencer.
She testified that both she and Spencer receive Section 8 rent subsidies from the government for their two separate addresses on Howard Avenue, though she spent most of her time at Spencer’s home.
Kerwin also seemed puzzled by Jackson’s testimony that she needed a stun gun for protection while walking two large Rottweilers.
Jackson stuck by her earlier testimony.
Spencer himself then took the stand and said the first time he had seen most of the stun guns was Thursday, though they had been entered into evidence during the trial earlier in the week.
“I don’t know what they took,” Spencer said about his arrest in 2010, adding that police never asked him about the stun guns then.
Merly then asked Spencer if he had any understanding of what a Taser is.
“I’ve seen them on ‘Cops,’ that’s about it,” Spencer replied.
Spencer said he had seen the Zap Stun Cane before, when Shelton Police Detective Ben Trabka was searching the home June 1, 2012 and asked him and Jackson whose it was.
Spencer said Jackson said the cane was hers.
“I just looked at Marleen and said ‘Why? What is it? Why did you get it?’” Spencer said. “She just said ‘I like things.’”
Spencer denied admitting to police that the stun guns were his, or that he told Trabka the weapons were for protection against aggressive dogs.
“I got two Rottweilers,” Spencer said. “Two of them. Well-trained. Better than police dogs … I don’t need no Tasers.”
Spencer also testified he had never seen the false-bottomed aerosol can Jackson had testified was hers.
“I don’t want to be bothered with ladies’ stuff,” he said.
