The prosecution put the man on trial, and the defense countered by putting the gun on trial ("hair trigger", no external safety, decocker not noticeable enough, etc.).
It is interesting that the guy was charged with possession of the gun, but not held responsible for what happened with the gun while it was in his possession. I believe the "gun wrapped in t-shirt" story was his third story as to what happened, and the previous two stories involved him knowing that he had a gun in his had? I guess the third time is a charm.
I recently read an article written by the defense attorney listing several cases of accidental discharges from handguns (from putting gun in holster, from shirt catching on the trigger, etc.), so he must have been successful in convincing the jury that the gun could go off so easily that unwrapping the shirt/cloth made it go off and therefore the defendant is not responsible for the act when it happened. I suppose anyone charged with a gun crime should now deploy the t-shirt defense.
We will probably see more "blame it on the gun" defenses in the near future. Then comes more California gun legislation to "make guns safer."
. I wonder what the presidential tweet will be.
