A weapons case against a Morristown man was sent to the grand jury this week after the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office rejected a counter-plea from a public defender.
Authorities say Delmar Walker, 34, tossed a loaded revolver into a Flagler Street dumpster while running from police a day after Christmas 2019. Charges against him included unlawful handgun possession, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and obstructing the administration of law.
On Monday, Morris County Assistant Public Defender Tracy Denholtz countered a prosecution plea bargain by proposing that Walker plead to a fourth-degree charge of obstruction and serve 270 days in the Morris County Jail.
That was rejected by Morris Assistant Prosecutor Robert Graber.
Last month, Graber’s offer to Walker was five years in state prison, with no parole for at least 42 months, in exchange for a guilty plea to a second-degree offense known as “certain persons not to have weapons.”
That charge, which carries up to 10 years in jail upon conviction, pertains to persons barred from having weapons because of prior convictions for serious offenses. Walker has a burglary conviction, according to authorities.
Walker did not take Graber’s deal.
“This is going to be a trial case,” Denholtz told Superior Court Judge Stephen Taylor.
Taylor said he was sending one charge to the Morris County grand jury, which will determine whether to indict Walker. Another charge was remanded to Morristown municipal court.
Those charges were not described during the short proceeding. Denholtz declined to comment afterward, and the prosecutor’s office could not immediately provide clarification.
Denholtz also asked the judge to approve transferring Walker from the Morris County Jail to Damon House Inc., a substance abuse rehab program in Paterson. A bed will be available next week, the public defender said.
Taylor said he would consider the request at a separate hearing.
