Gun permit appeals board has its hands full

In April 2011, Dillon Herman, drunk in downtown New London at 3 a.m., accused another man of stealing his truck. Herman took out a Glock Model 23 he was carrying in the waistband of his pants and chased the man, who fell several times while trying to escape. Herman fired a shot at the man, but missed, police said.

The truck was never stolen. It was found parked on Bank Street and its keys were in Herman’s pockets, police said.

Herman was arrested on a slew of charges, including felonies. About a week later, he also had his pistol permit taken away.

As he started his trip through the justice system, Herman, 25, who lives in Preston, also did what hundreds of other Connecticut residents do every year when their permits are revoked or their applications are denied: He appealed to the Board of Firearms Permit Examiners to get his permit back.

The seven-member board functions like a court, but the only decisions members make are whether to back the decision to not grant or take away a pistol permit.

Almost 120 appeals are pending in front of the board. Normally, the board meets monthly, handling about 15 appeals at a time, but its backlog has gotten so large that two extra meetings have been added in June.

Reasons for losing the permits usually involve an encounter with police, such as an arrest for driving drunk with a gun in a car or when police are called for domestic dispute and notice guns are kept in the house, even if they’re not used.

In early August 2012, just before a 90-day deadline, the board received a letter from Herman appealing the decision. He and the state then each submitted evidence in preparation for a hearing.

Herman got his pistol permit in April 2011, according to the questionnaire he filled out as part of his appeal. He only had it for a year before the incident in New London.

The state submitted a copy of the New London police affidavit justifying Herman’s arrest. Herman filled out a questionnaire in October in which he wrote: “I feel the charges against me are false and will be dropped.”

Herman’s hearing was held on April 25 at state police headquarters in Middletown, almost nine months after he submitted his appeal. He was one of nine people appealing a permit being taken away. Five others appealed the denial of their applications to get a permit.

The board meetings begin at noon and go on for hours, sometimes into the evening.

The seven board members are appointed by the governor. The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection commissioner (who oversees the state police), the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection commissioner (who oversees hunting), the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association and two gun groups — the Connecticut State Rifle and Revolver Association and Ye Connecticut Gun Guild — each nominates a member. In addition, two members of the public serve on the board.

The chairman, who must be a lawyer, is Joseph Corradino, an assistant state’s attorney in Bridgeport. Corradino was the choice of the DESPP commissioner.

The board members sit behind a table facing an audience of several dozen people roughly evenly split between police officers and civilians.

At hearings, each side — the person appealing, and the state or a local police chief — present documents and call witnesses to back up their claims. The two parties to the appeal and their witnesses sit across the table from board members.

The witnesses, including the person making the appeal, are questioned by someone from their side, then the opposite side, and usually by board members. Questioning is much less formal than in a courtroom.

Herman could have had a lawyer represent him, as many appellants do. State Police Sgt. Paolo D’Alessandro, who is a lawyer, has represented the state at the hearings for the past 18 months.

After all the witnesses have spoken, Chairman Corradino sums up the testimony, then members briefly explain their decisions.

Members vote either to “uphold the issuing authority,” which means they agree with the board decision to revoke or deny a permit, or to “overturn the issuing authority,” which means they let someone have or keep a permit.

Often, the board members add “for now” to their decision upholding the issuing authority. That means a person lost the appeal but has the right to get the permit after an unspecified “reasonable period.”

Anyone losing an appeal can take their case to court. They also have the right to apply for a gun permit again after waiting a year.

On the day of Herman’s hearing, four of the five people appealing their denials won their cases, and the appellant in the fifth denial was told he could reapply two weeks later. Of the other permits revoked, four appeals were denied, two appeals were supported, one appeal was withdrawn and one was continued to June.

Herman lost his appeal by default because he wasn’t present at the hearing. He was in prison, awaiting trial.

On May 6, a week and a half after his hearing, Herman accepted a plea bargain in his case. He pleaded no contest to attempted second-degree assault and third-degree assault. The other original charges were dropped. He faces up to 18 months in prison when he is sentenced July 22.

Also that day, Herman’s bail was dropped from $75,000 to a promise to appear and he was admitted to a residential substance abuse treatment center, where he is required to stay until he is sentenced.

Because attempted second-degree assault is a felony, Herman will no longer qualify for a pistol permit unless he someday gets a pardon.