Gun Charges
Dear Gulfport Mississippi Public Defender’s Office
The above image is a National Crime Information Center (NCIC) record (“rap sheet”) indicating two arrests occurred for possession of a firearm in Gulfport, Mississippi. It appears from the above that an arrest was made by the Gulfport police department on December 7, 2015, and that another arrest was made by the Harrison county sheriff’s department on October 13, 2016. But the Gulfport police department is located within Harrison county and is therefore the same as the Harrison county sheriff’s department. The “charge description” for the December 7, 2015 charge is vague, reference being made only to the arrest date.
The October 13, 2016 arrest does not have an “arrest case number”, indicating that there was no arrest made and there was no arrest report filed. This is because October 13, 2016 is the date of extradition, when the Harrison county sheriff’s department transported Jack Terry from Dothan, Alabama to Gulfport, Mississippi. The charge description here for the October 13, charge is “unlawful possession of a firearm”.
Actual charge
On December 7, 2015, Terry was arrested by the Gulfport police department and charged with disturbing the peace and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. The disturbing the peace charge was for waving the knife in public. Terry pled guilty to the misdemeanor and was released on $1000 bail on the major offense.
An indictment was returned on June 27, 2016 on the December 7, 2015 charge of possession of a hunting knife. Terry IS NOT indicted for possession of a firearm or handgun. When Terry was extradited on October 13, 2016, bail was reinstated and Terry was released. The matter was listed for trial in March of 2017.
Nothing contained within the governing court rules of criminal procedure bars institution of prosecution against “…any person who shall abscond or flee from justice, or shall absent himself from this state or out of the jurisdiction of the court, or so conduct himself that he cannot be found by the officers of the law, or that process cannot be served upon him.” MS Code § 99-1-5(3) (2025)
The law in Mississippi governing this issue requires two years from the date of the offense to formally commence prosecution. This is well known.
The technician or employee who posted the false weapons charges to the NCIC should be identified and held accountable, and the matter should be thoroughly investigated to determine whether that operator or others submitted any false charges on any other occasions.
CFS BlackBook does not accuse the Gulfport Mississippi court house of being complicit in any of the actions and circumstances as described herein. It is hoped that the matter can be resolved by in camera review of the issues presented.