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Orange County prosecutors hadn’t seen the decision last night and couldn’t say if they’d appeal.

If it's not appealed it won't become case law - the ruling will only apply to this specific case although it does provide guidance for others. I doubt if it does get appealed and it will be interesting to see what happens to the other charge that is pending.

I need to read in detail the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004 to see if there is any reference to carrying off-duty. If there is not, then it will be interesting to see how this case unfolds.

Let's say for example that either the Coast Guard or The Department of Homeland Security has a specific policy that states that Coast Guard LEOs will not carry while off-duty unless they have specific written orders to do so. While this Petty Officer would be guilty of not following the rules and regs that were provided to him, and thus could be disciplined by the CG for such conduct, it does not necessarily mean that he would not be covered the the LEOSA which would recognize him under its definition of a LEO.

This could be very interesting indeed to watch how it plays out, if in fact it does proceed to trial. Hopefully, he has some legal coverage provided to him by an association he belongs to, or there is some national LEO organization going to bat for him because this could get very, very expense for him personally.

I spent 10 years in the Coast Guard with most all of my time specifically focused on Law Enforcement activities. I'm sure that his attorneys are defending him based upon the following:

14 U.S.C. § 2 authorizes the Coast Guard to enforce federal law. Further, the Coast Guard is exempt from and not subject to the restrictions of the Posse Comitatus Act which restrict the law enforcement activities of the other four military services.

14 USC 89 is the principal source of Coast Guard enforcement authority.

14 USC 143 and 19 USC 1401 empower Coast Guard petty officers, warrant officers, and commissioned officers as customs officers. This places them under 19 USC 1589a, which grants customs officers general law enforcement authority, General law enforcement authority includes authority to:

(1) carry a firearm;
(2) execute and serve any order, warrant, subpoena, summons, or other process issued under the authority of the United States;
(3) make an arrest without a warrant for any offense against the United States committed in the officer's presence or for a felony, cognizable under the laws of the United States committed outside the officer's presence if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing a felony; and
(4) perform any other law enforcement duty that the Secretary of the Treasury may designate.

I think that one of the key points to his defense will be what position that the Coast Guard itself takes in his case. What is their position regarding their off-duty LEOs and how this act applies to them. I'm sure that there must be some internal written documentation that addresses this as most departments and agencies did so after this act was signed into law.

It would not surprise me to find out that Homeland Security has specific directions for each of the member agencies that it oversees. The fact that his driver's license was suspended should have no bearing on this case at all. It would be no different than if a FBI agent's license was suspended. He would still be a Federal Agent and thus covered by the law, along with his agency's policy regarding off-duty carry.