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http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_6015596
Student denies gun charges
Monterey Park man enters not-guilty plea
By Dan Abendschein Staff Writer
ALHAMBRA - An East Los Angeles College student pleaded not guilty to six weapons counts on Tuesday.
Matthew Corwin, 23, was arrested last month after students and faculty alerted authorities to pictures of Corwin holding and firing multiple firearms on a Web site.
Corwin was the Associated Student Union president at the school, and also founded a gun enthusiast's club called Students for the Second Amendment.
He was charged withthree counts of possession of an assault weapon, two counts of possession of a deadly weapon, and one count of receiving stolen property.
Corwin initially faced 12 counts of weapons possession, and of sales of illegal weapons, but six charges were dropped after investigators determined that his Browning machine .30-caliber was legal.
The weapons found at his Monterey Park home that were alleged to be illegal were an AK-47, two AR-15s, a throwing star, and a pair of sap gloves, which are leather gloves with steel in the knuckles.
Corwin's lawyer, Chuck Michel, claims that investigators who initially believed Corwin was a threat to students on campus, now realize he is nothing more than a gun enthusiast.
"Any notion that Corwin was a danger to anyone at the school has been done away with," said Michel. Corwin was arrested about two weeks after the Virginia Tech shootings that killed 32 people.
Michel said that Corwin's case now rests on determining whether the weapons he possessed were legal. Michel has
filed a motion with the court to let an expert examine the weapons to make the determination.
The legality of the AK-47 and AR-15s
hinge on whether a detachable magazine is legal on the weapons Corwin possessed, according to Michel.
Michel also said that it was unclear what the gloves were, suggesting they might have been intended for weight lifting.
Corwin, who is out of police custody on $120,000 bail, is asking the East Los Angeles College administration to return to school next semester. A former military police officer, he may go to Iraq instead, depending how his case turns out.
Corwin expected to be reinstated to active duty service and sent to Iraq this summer, according to Michel.
Several blogs devoted to gun-owners' rights and other Second Amendment issues have rallied to Corwin's defense.
"Wrongfully accused, wrongfully imprisoned, and held for days without even being charged, Matthew Corwin is now a sad testimony to a climate of fear," reads a post that has appeared on several blog sites.
The message originated at the
calguns.net Web site, which Corwin used to post to.
The site also advertises a legal defense fund set up by Corwin's attorney to help pay his legal fees.
A preliminary hearing in the case will be held July 11 at the Alhambra Courthouse.
dan.abendschein@sgvn.com
(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2105