James Kauffman was arrested June 13, after he pulled a gun when law enforcement came to serve a search warrant at his practice on Ocean Heights Avenue.
But what he did with the gun and the intent behind it was at the center of a motion argued by his defense Friday.
The details of how Kauffman used the gun along with certain exceptions to the gun statute were misrepresented to the grand jurors who handed up the indictment, defense attorney Lou Barbone told Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury.
In addition to being able to have the gun at his place of business, the statute also “exempts possession when it is ‘between his dwelling and his place of business,’” Barbone wrote in the motion he presented. ”It is absurd to suggest that the state did not know that such an exemption applies.”
First Assistant Prosecutor Seth Levy said Kauffman was very clear about the purpose of pulling the gun — no matter where it was pointed.
“His purpose was to not allow (law enforcement) to do something,” Levy said. “He states that on camera for us multiple times. ‘I’m not getting arrested for this.’ That is a declaration that he is not going to follow lawful orders of police.”
Regardless of those words, they would be “meaningless if he doesn’t have that gun,” Levy added. “He accomplished his purpose by hold the gun.”
It is believed Kauffman thought law enforcement was coming to arrest him in the still-unsolved homicide of his wife, April Kauffman.
The veterans advocate and radio host was found dead in the couple’s Linwood home May 10, 2012.
Just a couple of weeks before the investigators came, a motion by the state tried to compel him to give DNA in the case.
The warrants instead were reportedly connected to an ongoing prescription fraud case that already had seen 11 guilty pleas, including a Margate doctor and an Atlantic City firefighter.
Unlike other warrants, Kauffman’s also mentioned a homicide, attorney Ed Jacobs previously confirmed.
DeLury said he will have a decision in the case some time by Dec. 15.
