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RandySF

(57,612 posts)
Mon Jun 24, 2019, 12:25 AM Jun 2019

While her husband was in jail, she turned in his guns to cops. That got her arrested.

A divorce battle in Bartow, Florida, is getting uglier by the day.

According to a police report from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, on June 15, Courtney Irby went to her estranged husband’s home — while he was behind bars on charges that he tried to ram her with his car — and retrieved two guns.

Her actions got her arrested. When she turned the guns in to the Lakeland Police Department for safekeeping, she was arrested on burglary and theft charges.

The arrest affidavit says the fashion writer ⁠— who does charity work for orphanages ⁠— admitted going to Joseph Irby’s residence, a place she’d never been. She told cops she took the guns out of his place because “he wasn’t going to turn them in.”

Contacted in jail, Irby, 35, said he wanted to press charges against his ex, who had been granted a restraining order against him. At the time of his June 14 arrest outside the Bartow courthouse, the police report said that Irby had said she was “in fear of her life.”

Courtney Irby, 32, was charged with armed burglary of a dwelling and grand theft of a firearm.




https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article231826428.html#storylink=cpy

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While her husband was in jail, she turned in his guns to cops. That got her arrested. (Original Post) RandySF Jun 2019 OP
Gunners, even here, are supportive of police in this case. Hoyt Jun 2019 #1
She illegally entered his house and took his property Jake Stern Jun 2019 #2
I'd give her a Freedom Medal. Her husband sounds like a typical sicko gunner. Hoyt Jun 2019 #3
In the past, Hoyt didn't have much respect for the property of others. Marengo Jun 2019 #6
SHe should have waited until he killed her with them malaise Jun 2019 #7
Well he was sitting in jail fescuerescue Jun 2019 #13
I know but we all know people escape from prison malaise Jun 2019 #23
Or he would have posted bail and killed her. Blue_true Jun 2019 #24
Absolutely malaise Jun 2019 #30
Now he doesn't have to fescuerescue Jun 2019 #25
Figures with Polk County. They have Grady Judd as Sheriff, a Joe Arpaio clone Tommy_Carcetti Jun 2019 #4
Legislator Asks for No Prosecution of Courtney Taylor Irby Celerity Jun 2019 #5
If I were her, I would take refuge somewhere far, far away. smirkymonkey Jun 2019 #33
If it was that easy for her to get the guns, he had no business having them in the 1st place. Kaleva Jun 2019 #8
Lots of things are easy to get fescuerescue Jun 2019 #12
Guns don't protect themselves! hunter Jun 2019 #20
I haven't seen any gun fetish in this thread fescuerescue Jun 2019 #21
Nope, I don't respect certain sorts of "property rights." hunter Jun 2019 #27
You win the thread malaise Jun 2019 #31
+1000 smirkymonkey Jun 2019 #34
Let's hope that her taking a stand fescuerescue Jun 2019 #40
I've never suffered "discretion and common sense." hunter Jun 2019 #42
So customerserviceguy Jun 2019 #47
Certainly a tool to terrorize slaves, wives, children and other "property..." hunter Jun 2019 #49
I wonder how the gun customerserviceguy Jun 2019 #50
I don't give a fuck. hunter Jun 2019 #53
I'm unaware of a gun safety course that says guns should be easy to take by someone.... Kaleva Jun 2019 #43
I'm also unaware of such a thing fescuerescue Jun 2019 #56
Apparently the owner of the guns didn't take one either Kaleva Jun 2019 #57
Most Likely he'll be a felon soon fescuerescue Jun 2019 #58
Wouldn't all property held by either party be jointly until the court decides the divorce? LiberalFighter Jun 2019 #9
His home was not joint property hack89 Jun 2019 #10
SO she robbed him while he was in jail fescuerescue Jun 2019 #11
He tried to ram her with his fucking car. Ilsa Jun 2019 #15
I wonder sarisataka Jun 2019 #17
Yea that's why he was in jail fescuerescue Jun 2019 #18
I agree with what another poster said. I doubt any jury will convict her. Kaleva Jun 2019 #46
His guns should have been removed by Law Enforcement. Caliman73 Jun 2019 #14
I bet she will sleep easier Ilsa Jun 2019 #16
You live in Georgia if I remember your past posts. Blue_true Jun 2019 #26
Yeah, too easy. Ilsa Jun 2019 #48
I sure hope that he can't get the guns back or buy others. Blue_true Jun 2019 #55
perhaps fescuerescue Jun 2019 #19
So, a guy tries to ram his estranged wife with a car, which in Blue_true Jun 2019 #28
I'm not talking about concerns fescuerescue Jun 2019 #39
Well, looks like she was not willing to wait until police chalk out her body. Blue_true Jun 2019 #41
Mom took grandma's guns years before the courts declared grandma a danger to herself and others. hunter Jun 2019 #32
Well that's why guns need to be registered to the owner. nt UniteFightBack Jun 2019 #44
Like I said, because it is Florida, this is likely moot. Caliman73 Jun 2019 #54
I would have done the same thing she did. leftyladyfrommo Jun 2019 #22
She tried to do what she thought was right. nt Blue_true Jun 2019 #29
No jury will convict her. nt leftyladyfrommo Jun 2019 #35
I hope not. I even hope that prosecutors will just reduce the charges and Blue_true Jun 2019 #37
Why are we producing so many violent men? leftyladyfrommo Jun 2019 #36
I am not sure that more violent men are being produced. Blue_true Jun 2019 #38
I'm pretty sure they've always been violent. nt UniteFightBack Jun 2019 #45
This message was self-deleted by its author Freelancer Jun 2019 #51
Just the opposite here in NJ. no_hypocrisy Jun 2019 #52

Jake Stern

(3,145 posts)
2. She illegally entered his house and took his property
Mon Jun 24, 2019, 02:42 AM
Jun 2019

You’re free to argue until the cows come home how she is justified in doing so but while the law is an ass, it’s still the law.

If you feel strongly that there should be an exception in B&E/Burglary laws for people in her situation or to give teeth to their red flag law then petition Florida legislators to make those changes.

fescuerescue

(4,448 posts)
13. Well he was sitting in jail
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 04:44 PM
Jun 2019

Self defense is a hella argument to make when the victim, the guns and the perpetrator are in 3 different geographies which of which is a jail.

Blue_true

(31,261 posts)
24. Or he would have posted bail and killed her.
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 06:44 PM
Jun 2019

There needs to be a law where if a person gets granted a restraining order from a second person due to violence or threats, that order can require confiscations of weapons.

Tommy_Carcetti

(43,080 posts)
4. Figures with Polk County. They have Grady Judd as Sheriff, a Joe Arpaio clone
Mon Jun 24, 2019, 07:09 AM
Jun 2019

He’s the guy who threatened to arrest people in the middle of a hurricane evacuation. A truly bad man whose idea of “law and order” is ass-backwards.

Celerity

(42,643 posts)
5. Legislator Asks for No Prosecution of Courtney Taylor Irby
Mon Jun 24, 2019, 07:37 AM
Jun 2019
https://www.lkldnow.com/legislator-asks-for-no-prosecution-of-courtney-taylor-irby/

The case of a Lakeland woman who was arrested when she went to the Lakeland Police Department to turn in firearms she took from her estranged husband’s home has caught the attention of a state legislator. Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, D-Orlando, said she will ask State Attorney Brian Haas not to prosecute.

“The case of Courtney Taylor Irby demonstrates once more the dangerous linkage between intimate partner violence and access to firearms,” Eskamani wrote in a blog post on Medium. “Court records show that Irby applied for a temporary injunction against her husband and the two were in the process of a divorce. She was actively protecting herself and her family from an estranged husband who had not turned over his firearms to law enforcement, and was arrested for it. We should be outraged by her arrest, and Irby should not be prosecuted by the local State Attorney’s office.”

In an email to LkldNow, Eskamani said she will write a letter to Haas asking him not to prosecute and added, “We aren’t done advocating for her.”


Courtney Taylor Irby

The case has generated heated arguments on Facebook (here, here and here) between people outraged over the arrest of a woman seeking protection for herself and her children and those who support the arrest since she entered a home where she didn’t live and took possessions.

snip
 

smirkymonkey

(63,221 posts)
33. If I were her, I would take refuge somewhere far, far away.
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 07:35 PM
Jun 2019

This guy is going to be pissed once he found out she took his guns and turned them into the police. He was already a serious threat to her being an abusive, gun-humping, asshole who was going through a divorce. Now he will probably escalate once he gets out of jail.

There is no time more dangerous for a woman in an abusive relationship then when she attempts to leave and take control of her life. I wish her all the best.

hunter

(38,264 posts)
20. Guns don't protect themselves!
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 06:03 PM
Jun 2019

In my community guns are one of the few things people will break into houses for.

"Forget the Dog, Beware of Owner!" gun signs are like an invitation.

The gangsters buy their home electronics at Best Buy like everyone else. In this part of California guns are a little harder to get.

Past days when some kid would force open a window to take a VCR (as happened to us once) are long gone. Everybody's got home electronics now. The criminal class has better than mine.

If I was taking guns from a bat-shit dangerous relative or ex maybe I'd quietly destroy them.

Guns, what guns? He had guns?

Meet Mr. Lincoln arc welder. He turns useless gun metal into art.

If these words are ever used against me, I'm okay with that. Few of my gun fetishist relatives, friends, or exes made it through to the 21st century. A shocking number of them died by their own hand.

The Relationship Between Firearm Availability and Suicide
March 2, 2018

Summary: Empirical research on the causal effects of firearm availability on the risk of suicide is consistent with the claim that firearms increase suicide risk, but this research cannot yet rule out some other explanations for observed associations between guns and suicide. There are, however, theoretical or logical arguments for believing firearms elevate suicide risk that are sufficiently compelling that individuals and policymakers might reasonably choose to assume that gun availability does increase the risk of suicide.

https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/analysis/essays/firearm-availability-suicide.html



As this thread demonstrates, gun fetishes are disgusting.


fescuerescue

(4,448 posts)
21. I haven't seen any gun fetish in this thread
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 06:08 PM
Jun 2019

Maybe you are talking about me.

I'm just talking points of law. this lady used poor judgement and broke laws because other laws didn't suit her.

That's just a bad idea.

hunter

(38,264 posts)
27. Nope, I don't respect certain sorts of "property rights."
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 06:59 PM
Jun 2019

Never have, never will.

Or certain "laws."

The history of the U.S.A. is toxic with bad laws and property rights.

wikipedia

fescuerescue

(4,448 posts)
40. Let's hope that her taking a stand
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 08:50 PM
Jun 2019

Doesn't end up tagging her a felon for life.

I have strong feelings on certain laws myself. Some that I violate on a regular basis (see my user name for a hint).

But discretion and common sense is why I don't march into the police station and announce my disregard.

I hope it works out for this woman, as she has the deck stacked against her.

hunter

(38,264 posts)
42. I've never suffered "discretion and common sense."
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 09:15 PM
Jun 2019

Not here on DU, and not with the police, though fortunately with the police not so much past my early twenties when my life was pretty raw.




hunter

(38,264 posts)
49. Certainly a tool to terrorize slaves, wives, children and other "property..."
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 11:47 PM
Jun 2019

As I said, gun fetishes are disgusting.

hunter

(38,264 posts)
53. I don't give a fuck.
Wed Jun 26, 2019, 10:02 AM
Jun 2019

Gun fetishes are disgusting.

You know the point I'm making.

Are you afraid for your guns?

Kaleva

(36,146 posts)
43. I'm unaware of a gun safety course that says guns should be easy to take by someone....
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 09:16 PM
Jun 2019

who gained access to the premises by breaking and entering.

fescuerescue

(4,448 posts)
56. I'm also unaware of such a thing
Thu Jun 27, 2019, 04:29 PM
Jun 2019

But burglars generally don't take gun courses.

And they rob because it easier than working for those things.

Kaleva

(36,146 posts)
57. Apparently the owner of the guns didn't take one either
Thu Jun 27, 2019, 07:44 PM
Jun 2019

If he did, he ignored part of what was taught. Guy had no business having guns and hopefully, he'll be prohibited from owning such for hte rest of his life.

fescuerescue

(4,448 posts)
11. SO she robbed him while he was in jail
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 04:42 PM
Jun 2019

and used the cops to "fence" to loot.

And for justification she used "in fear of her life" from a guy that is sitting behind bars.

Lemme guess. She didn't consult a lawyer beforehand.

Ilsa

(61,675 posts)
15. He tried to ram her with his fucking car.
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 05:01 PM
Jun 2019

Sounds to me like she had reason to be afraid of him for herself and her children. How many murders of moms and children could have been stopped if the police had required all of the weapons in a household to be turned over.

Sounds to me like the police now have the weapons in safekeeping (like they keep evidence), and they are not selling them.

Oh, here's a DU post about a grandfather shooting his daughter over a baby gate:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212216007

sarisataka

(18,205 posts)
17. I wonder
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 05:12 PM
Jun 2019

Will he get the car back? Will anyone say anything if it is returned to him?

For the record- I believe he should be banned from owning firearms

fescuerescue

(4,448 posts)
18. Yea that's why he was in jail
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 06:02 PM
Jun 2019

Yes they do have the weapons for evidence. They will be critical in her robbery trial.

But I get your point. This guy shouldn't have access to those weapons. I agree with that. However at the moment he has no access to them and it's not even banned for him to own them since he's awaiting trial. Innocent until proven guilty and all that.

I'm not sure on what legal basis the police would have to search his home. The cops can't just search his home on her word alone. The cops need a warrant and probable cause. And since he's not accused of any gun crime, even if the cops had proof he owned them, it's a "so what?". He's sitting in jail, apart from weapons that he legally owns in a home he legally owns/rents.

Is that how it should be? Nope.

But the things are a matter of rule of law. She's just can't go break laws because other laws don't suit her.

She probably should have chatted with an attorney.


Caliman73

(11,690 posts)
14. His guns should have been removed by Law Enforcement.
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 04:54 PM
Jun 2019

He was under a restraining order for domestic violence and he was in jail for what I assume is assault with a deadly weapon for trying to ram her with his car (right outside the courthouse I believe). His guns should have been removed legally by law enforcement. I understand her motive and reasoning, but breaking into his home and taking them is against the law. I hope that she gets a slap on the wrist and I hope he loses the guns for good.

It is Florida however so...

Ilsa

(61,675 posts)
16. I bet she will sleep easier
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 05:03 PM
Jun 2019

for her children's safety, now that the weapons are held by the police.

Blue_true

(31,261 posts)
26. You live in Georgia if I remember your past posts.
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 06:57 PM
Jun 2019

I live in Florida. You should know how easy it is for someone to get a gun in Georgia and Florida. He could be let go at 11am and have the gun that he likely will kill her with by noon. It is insane.

Ilsa

(61,675 posts)
48. Yeah, too easy.
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 10:57 PM
Jun 2019

Still, I think I'd try. The current charges against might help deprive him of an opportunity to buy more weapons.

Blue_true

(31,261 posts)
55. I sure hope that he can't get the guns back or buy others.
Wed Jun 26, 2019, 09:57 PM
Jun 2019

But he tried to hurt or kill that woman next. If nothing is done by authorities about that reality, he likely will find a way to kill her at some point. She is a fashion blogger, according to the article, she likely has youtube and social media presence, so going underground to hide from the guy would be difficult for her.

fescuerescue

(4,448 posts)
19. perhaps
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 06:03 PM
Jun 2019

But the cops aren't psychic. They can't confiscate guns they don't know about or have reasonable proof that exist. Unlikely that a home search warrant would have been issued based on her word alone in case that doesn't involve guns in the first place.

Blue_true

(31,261 posts)
28. So, a guy tries to ram his estranged wife with a car, which in
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 07:01 PM
Jun 2019

that case being used as a deadly weapon, and she should have no concerns about him having guns?

Honestly, I hope that she gets the slightest slap on the wrist ever given, and that he gets his guns taken away as well as his right to be caught with a gun within six feet of him.

fescuerescue

(4,448 posts)
39. I'm not talking about concerns
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 08:45 PM
Jun 2019

Talking about points of law.

I have tons of concerns about alot of people. Almost none of which are actionable by police.

Without a witness or admission by her partner, the police were pretty much powerless here.

Blue_true

(31,261 posts)
41. Well, looks like she was not willing to wait until police chalk out her body.
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 09:09 PM
Jun 2019

Florida laws can be strange. If she has a real cold fear of the guy, there is only so much that she can do. Looks like she moved to tip that balance a little.

The guy is in jail for trying to hurt or kill her, then he asked that charges be pressed for her taking his guns and giving them to police. Does not sound like a guy who has her best interests at heart, in fact, he sounds like a guy who would kill her in an instant if he could get away with it.

She did the right thing, even if the "law" says that it wasn't. I am not ok with stealing people's stuff, she didn't steal the guns, IMO, if she had they likely would never be found again. She took the guns and gave them to police, the same police who the guy had apparently refused to turn the guns in to.

hunter

(38,264 posts)
32. Mom took grandma's guns years before the courts declared grandma a danger to herself and others.
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 07:35 PM
Jun 2019

My grandma had the good fortune of being a white woman when she was forcibly removed by police and paramedics from the home she fully owned. Otherwise they'd likely have shot her dead. But she still had her kitchen knives, and damn, she had some fierce knife skills. She knew how to neuter a man, if not with her tongue, than by bloodier means.

Cleaning out grandma's house, not easy because my grandma was a hoarder, my mom and my sister found another gun. Fortunately grandma hadn't remembered where she's stashed it when the cops knocked on her triple bolted steel door.

I'm a quarter of my grandma, sometimes just as paranoid, but I'll never need a gun because I don't let anyone I'd care to shoot live in my head.

I've shot food, as my grandmothers and great grandmothers did, but not in the 21st century.



Caliman73

(11,690 posts)
54. Like I said, because it is Florida, this is likely moot.
Wed Jun 26, 2019, 12:29 PM
Jun 2019

In California, if you are the subject of a restraining order, especially for violence, you cannot possess firearms. Family can petition to have any firearms removed.

I understand that it is logistically difficult, but we are talking about a perpetrator that has already shown that he does not care about protective orders. I think LE needs to be proactive in that case. Though I am willing to bet there is no provision in Florida law that allows LE to remove firearms, hell, they'll probably give him a new one as he is leaving custody.

leftyladyfrommo

(18,815 posts)
22. I would have done the same thing she did.
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 06:18 PM
Jun 2019

And fuck the law. If I felt like my children and myself were in real danger from this guy I would have stolen his guns. Only I would have found a river to throw them in.

Blue_true

(31,261 posts)
37. I hope not. I even hope that prosecutors will just reduce the charges and
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 08:33 PM
Jun 2019

settle with her to pay a small fine.

leftyladyfrommo

(18,815 posts)
36. Why are we producing so many violent men?
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 08:28 PM
Jun 2019

It's every day some violent asshole kills his significant other or his children.

I don't get it.

Blue_true

(31,261 posts)
38. I am not sure that more violent men are being produced.
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 08:36 PM
Jun 2019

News today travels the world within seconds. We see happenings that were not reported locally or nationally prior to the Internet and 24x7 news cycles.

Response to UniteFightBack (Reply #45)

no_hypocrisy

(45,771 posts)
52. Just the opposite here in NJ.
Wed Jun 26, 2019, 07:08 AM
Jun 2019

I had a client about a decade ago who was dating a women with issues.

He broke up with her and refused her phone calls. She started stalking him.

To get his attention, she called the police, claimed DV, and got a temporary restraining order.

While my client didn't own any weapons, guns, etc., the police raided HIS MOTHER'S HOUSE where he was staying, ACROSS THE STATE LINE (NY), and confiscated TWO RIFLES (non-operable) and a PISTOL that belonged to his late father. They actually belonged to his sister as the Will left them to her.

My client didn't know how to use any of these weapons but the police took them and still have them as he never bothered to pick them up.

Epilogue: We went to court and got the restraining order lifted as the ex-girlfriend (who claimed to be in fear of her safety) had contemporaneously sent a video of herself crying and begging my client to call her.

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