Court: Wakefield Chief Within Rights To Deny Man License To Carry

WAKEFIELD, MA — A Supreme Judicial Court judge recently affirmed a decision that the former police chief could consider past incidents in determining a local man's suitability to carry a gun despite no convictions, ending a back-and-forth legal battle.

In 2019, then-Chief Richard Smith denied Adam DeSisto's application for a license to carry. The chief said DeSisto was "unsuitable" following his alleged involvement in two 2011 drug deals and being charged with heroin possession in 2012.

DeSisto had been granted a license to carry in 2006, but according to court documents was seen by police in 2011 participating in two drug deals involving Percocet with a confidential informant. DeSisto was never charged.

The following year, police stopped DeSisto's car after seeing a passenger engage in what appeared to be a drug deal. The passenger told police he was helping DeSisto, who he called "drug sick," according to the documents. DeSisto was charged with possessing half a gram of heroin, but the charge was dismissed after a motion to suppress was allowed by agreement.

In August 2012, DeSisto's license to carry was revoked on the grounds he was "unsuitable."

DeSisto reapplied for the license in 2019, but Smith found that "DeSisto is still unsuitable to hold an LTC (license to carry) as nothing has changed since 2012," saying there was no evidence DeSisto had addressed "previous issues."

DeSisto successfully challenged Smith's denial in court, with a district court judge determining the 2011 incidents amounted to nothing more than reasonable suspicion of drug activity and the 2012 charge shouldn't be considered because it was suppressed and that the evidence was "too thin" and "too stale" to be considered a palpable risk.

The judge said Smith only had "generalized concern about the potential for harm of mixing guns and narcotics . . . [i]n light of the amount of time that ha[d] passed since the illegal uncharged conduct occurred and the absence of any evidence of [DeSisto's] present unsuitability."

The judge also said DeSisto had been gainfully employed since the charge and did not have a record of violence, mental health issues or mishandling a weapon.

But Smith asked for the Superior Court to review the lower court's decision. A judge reinstated Smith's denial of DeSisto's application, ruling the district court judge "improperly substituted her judgment for that of the licensing authority."

The judge said Smith still felt like DeSisto posed a public safety risk due to his alleged drug history and no evidence of rehabilitation. Ricciuti also said while the 2011 and 2012 incidents cannot be directly used to disqualify DeSisto's application since there were no convictions, they can be considered by Smith when determining DeSisto's suitability.

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi. Subscribe to Wakefield Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook.