Article by Josh Saul from NYPost.com
A convicted killer who tried to sneak a loaded gun into a Brooklyn courthouse dodged the rap — by claiming he had no idea the weapon was in his bag, sources told The Post.
Terrance Washington was on his way to Brooklyn Supreme Court on Nov. 26 to face an assault charge for allegedly breaking a man’s arm with a bat when a court officer operating a security X-ray machine detected the loaded .22-caliber handgun in his bag, court papers state.
Washington, 41, was slapped with felony gun charges.
But he was never indicted because the grand jury bought his excuse — that the bag wasn’t his and he didn’t know there was a gun inside, law-enforcement sources said.
“He said it wasn’t his bag and he borrowed his cousin’s bag. That’s why the gun was in there,” said a law-enforcement source.
The development left court officers fuming.
“It’s unbelievable,” said one frustrated officer.
Another added, “Imagine if a TSA agent found a bomb and the suspect said it wasn’t his bomb. It’s so messed up!”
Patrick Cullen, president of the state Supreme Court Officers Association said, “It’s disappointing that the safety of the public and the judges didn’t matter to the grand jury in this case.”
A spokeswoman for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office confirmed that a grand jury failed to indict Washington in the case.
Washington could have faced 15 years behind bars on the gun charge if tried and convicted.
The ex-con had been headed to court that day after being arrested near his home in the Kensington section last year for allegedly breaking a man’s arm with a metal baseball bat during an argument over fireworks, court papers state.
Washington also has past arrests for burglary, and has served a state prison stint on drug and murder raps. In 1989, at age 16, he pleaded guilty to killing a rival drug dealer in Flatbush, law-enforcement sources said.