Fremont County District Court No. 16CR724. Honorable Ramsey
Lama, Judge.
COUNSEL:
Philip
J. Weiser, Attorney General, Grant R. Fevurly, Assistant
Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Mallika L. Magner, Alternate Defense Counsel, Crested Butte,
Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant.
Roman
and Rothenberg [*] , JJ., concur.
OPINION
Page 723
J.
JONES, JUDGE
[¶
1] Defendant, Curtis Edward Whisler, appeals the
judgment of conviction entered after the trial court found
him guilty of possession of a weapon by a previous offender
(POWPO). We affirm. In so doing, we reject Whisler's
contention that his testimony that he had passed two
background checks when buying two of the guns at issue
entitled him to assert the affirmative defense of mistake of
law as to all of the weapons.
I.
Background
[¶
2] While executing a search warrant of Whisler's
home, a police officer found methamphetamine and four guns,
all of which Whisler owned. Because Whisler had a prior
felony conviction, the People charged him with a single count
of POWPO.
[¶
3] Before trial, Whisler endorsed the affirmative
defense of mistake of law. He also waived his right to a
jury.
[¶
4] During the bench trial, a police officer
testified that he found the following four firearms in
Whisler's home while executing a search warrant: a "
Charles Day 12-gauge" shotgun, a " Marlin 22
Magnum" rifle, a " 410" shotgun, and a "
22-caliber Ruger" pistol. The prosecutor introduced the
guns into evidence.
[¶
5] Whisler testified in his defense. He admitted
that he had a prior felony conviction for attempted
possession of a controlled substance. And he admitted that he
had possessed the four guns. But he also testified that
• he bought the 12-gauge shotgun at a Walmart in
Cañon City about ten to twelve years earlier after
...