Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Flaherty, Jr. announces a jury has returned a guilty verdict in the gun trial of 37-year-old Bernard Brooks of Buffalo before Erie County Court Judge Sheila A. DiTullio. 

After deliberating about two hours, jurors convicted Brooks of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree. 

On September 13, 2015, at approximately 4:00 a.m., Buffalo Police Officers Shawn McCabe and Terrence Ciszek, observed a black Chevy Impala careen across the street, hit a light pole and then go back across the street and hit a building at the corner of Bailey Avenue and Kerns in the City of Buffalo.  

Officers responded to the scene within seconds and saw the defendant exit the crashed vehicle with a pistol in a holster on his hip.  After seeing the officers, Brooks jumped back in his vehicle and discarded the gun under the front driver’s seat.  The defendant later admitted to the officers he found the gun three days ago and was trying to sell it. 

Brooks faces a maximum of 15 years in prison when he is sentenced by Judge DiTullio on October 20, 2016 at 9:30 a.m. 

Acting DA Flaherty commends Buffalo Police Officers Shawn McCabe, Terrence Ciszek, James Hosking and David Rodriguez for their thorough investigative work. 

Assistant District Attorneys Brian D. Langenfeld and Danielle E. Phillips prosecuted the case.