A Brandon man is attempting to get his gun rights back after serving nearly nine years in prison for killing his infant son in 2005.
Joshua Poling was indicted for capital murder in Rankin County for the 2005 death of his son, 8-month old James Poling. (The obituary for little James is posted below.) He pleaded guilty to manslaughter due to culpable negligence in December, 2007. Circuit Judge Samac Richardson sentenced Poling to a prison term of twenty years, but gave him credit for time served. Poling served over two years in the Rankin County jail since he could not post bond of $500,000. The Mississippi Department of Corrections granted Earned Supervised Release to Poling on September 20, 2014. He did not have to apply for parole.
Poling filed a petition for certificate of rehabilitation in Rankin County Circuit Court on July 13, 2017. He is attempting to regain his rights to possess a firearm. The petition cites Section 97-37-5(3) of the Mississippi Code. That section states:
(3) A person who has been convicted of a felony under the laws of this state may apply to the court in which he was convicted for a certificate of rehabilitation. The court may grant such certificate in its discretion upon a showing to the satisfaction of the court that the applicant has been rehabilitated and has led a useful, productive and law-abiding life since the completion of his sentence and upon the finding of the court that he will not be likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety.
The court file, petition, and little James's obituary are posted below. The petition is assigned to Judge John Emfinger. Judge Emfinger was a Rankin County Assistant District Attorney when the case was prosecuted.
Oddly enough, the Clarion-Ledger reported Poling's arrest but did not report his indictment nor conviction.
23 comments:
FTS!
Has he shown that he has been rehabilotated? Has he shown that he is leading a law abiding life?
If so, then yes. That's what the law provides. If not, then no. What's the question for it being here - nothing news here, happens regularly across the state.
Don't like the law - work to change it. Otherwise, the process will proceed.
Deer season is just around the corner. Gotta get those food plots in this weekend and get gun right restored by end of October.
I hope he gets the certificate, because it is useless. I think it only applied to hunting long guns. But it is useless because it is also a federal felony for a convicted felon to carry any firearm. If he gets the certificate, maybe he served more time in federal prison.
If he is on supervised release, he hasn't completed his sentence, just his incarceration. Come back in 2025 after the 20 years is done and ask again.
The law is the law. If you don't like it quit electing judges that softball sentences and quit electing lawmakers that weaken the laws that would give murderers the rope or the needle.
He's still prohibited under federal law.
What's the question for it being here - nothing news here, happens regularly across the state.
Editor's discretion. Get over it.
With Judge Emfinger there is not even a 'fat' chance he is allowed any rights back-
This baby was a beautiful soul. Anyone that can MURDER a BABY and then sit and "mourn" with the family is SICK.
This man is SICK.
I can never thank the Rankin County Sheriff's Department and District Attorney for their swift action on this heartbreaking case. My only complaint is that this SICK MURDERER is out free on the streets to live his life.
He could petition the legislature to reinstate sufferage rights and I know the Rankin delegation and THAT SHIT AINT HAPPENING!
"happens regularly across the state."
You must be much better informed than most of us.
Name two other scum convicted of killing their own baby who successfully got their right to carry back.
We can wait
Johnny Williams did the same thing in Hinds County, beat a child to death. He is serving a life sentence that was recently upheld by the Mississippi Court of Appeals. A person in Rankin County does this and is out of jail asking for his rifle. A guess all of our criminal justice systems could use some improvement.
David Clark was D.A. at the time.
Blame MDOC. It was MDOC that released him.
The state shouldn’t deny this man his constitutional rights, in my opinion. How will Josh protect his life and property? Every American should have access to firearms; he’s done his time and should have his rights restored.
I'm sure you'd take the same stance if the petitioner was a Jackson ghetto street thug who was convicted of carjacking.
A few weeks ago we were saying the killers of the young child deserved the death penalty. Today we are debating if another child killer should be able to have a gun. The only real difference is the race of the parties involved. A while back a white lady left her child in the car, the child died. No charges against her. A black male left his child in the car, his child died as well. Today he is a convicted felony.
But if a person raises an issue about race, they are race baiting or playing the race card. Mississippi is truly a confused state.
@5:18 pm.... even without access to guns, he will have a better chance of protecting himself than BABY James did. That 8 MONTH OLD BABY NEVER stood a chance at the hands of his OWN father.
What did this man do to his baby? How did the murder happen?
Manslaughter - culpable negligence. That ain't murder.
When you start arguing that a convicted felon who has shown himself to be violent and have no regard for human life hasn't given up his " right" to bear arms, then you've gone over to the freak show level of politics.
And KF is right, if this guy wasn't whiter than snow or had killed the baby's mother ( as long as she was pretty), you'd all be livid! But, no, he just killed a helpless baby because the baby annoyed him.
He can have his fucking gun back when Anna gets her baby boy back.
@1:20am if you'll notice he was INDICTED for Capital Murder and pled to a lesser charge of Manslaughter. Also, it's interesting to note that Jim Kitchens was his attorney at the time...
Hmmmm Jim Kitchens = Champion of the Domestic Violence Sleaze...??
I have absolutely ZERO pity for this despicable "human"
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