Merced DA’s office handgun a ‘nonissue’

An issue investigated by the California attorney general’s office into whether Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse II violated any laws by storing a firearm in his office is considered closed, Merced Sheriff Vern Warnke said.

“I was informed this week that the matter is now a nonissue,” Warnke said in an interview this week. “I’m glad they made the determination, and we’re looking forward to moving on to other issues.”

Warnke said state prosecutors did not present a formal report on the matter, only informing the sheriff that Morse’s firearm question was not an issue they would pursue.

Morse on Thursday said the findings simply proved what he had known all along. “There was never any question of the legality of my possessing a handgun in my office,” the district attorney said. “This was a complete nonissue created by a few people with a political agenda.”

Warnke agreed, saying “it was possible there were some people behind this with a political agenda,” though he declined to name them.

“This was put on my desk when I first took office, and there had been some (political) issues then. I’m the new sheriff, it’s a new era now, and I’m in total agreement with the attorney general and with Larry that this is a nonissue,” Warnke said.

Warnke, who assumed command of the Sheriff’s Department in late December, said he became aware at that time of questions regarding Morse and a .38-caliber handgun he had kept in his Main Street office for about three years.

The issue, Warnke said, was whether a person who is not a sworn peace officer could keep a gun in a county-owned government building. Morse also was not in possession of a valid concealed-carry weapons permit, according to city records.

Deputies said California Penal Code section 171b prohibits anyone from bringing a firearm into a “public building.” However, that section of the Penal Code does not formally define whether “public building” refers to any building owned by government or any building accessible to the general public.

The firearm issue was raised during the investigation that resulted in the arrest of Morse’s son, Ethan, on homicide charges. Ethan Morse was determined to be innocent of the charges by a Merced County judge and freed in November. Ethan Morse’s arrest record was ordered to be sealed and destroyed earlier this week.

The case created politically charged fallout between Morse and members of the Sheriff’s Department who investigated the case against his son. Tensions spiked in August of last year when Morse asked state prosecutors to look into one of the detective’s timecards and whether inaccuracies on those timecards were a criminal matter.

Supporters of the deputies suggested Morse raised the timecard issue in retaliation for his son’s arrest. Morse’s backers felt the deputies raised the firearm question as a reprisal for the timecard dispute.

Both sides denied revenge was behind raising those issues.

State prosecutors determined that both the timecards and the firearm incidents were nonissues and that no laws had been violated.

Both Morse and members of the Sheriff’s Department have acknowledged “obvious tension” between their offices, but both sides have said they are committed to working together in the interest of public safety in Merced County.

“This (firearm) issue was something that was handed to me; it happened before I was sheriff, and I felt the best thing was to have an independent group look at it and make the determination,” Warnke said. “Now that’s been done, and I hope to move forward with our working relationship.”

This story was originally published March 26, 2015 at 11:19 PM with the headline "Merced DA’s office handgun a ‘nonissue’."