Well, shame on me. I clearly mis-read. Thanks for the correction!
I've been keeping quiet on this until now. You're completely wrong in your statement above. Neither the inscription nor the logo were deemed admissible by the trial judge. The jury never heard about them.
Daniel Shaver shooting video tells us much more than the verdict
From the article (a real editorial from a real newspaper, not a gunblog, a gun rights organization, a discussion forum or Wikipedia):
The problem wasn't that it was admitted (it wasn't). The problem is that the guy's attorney spent a big pile of his money, and a lot of time, keeping it out of court. Words directly from the lawyer himself, IIRC--that idiot dustcover wound up costing $15,000 in billable legal fees.
Muss Muggins said:This guy was gonna pay a ton no matter what. Until I see a detailed billable hour statement, or a link to an attorney quote, I simply don't believe your statement.
Some observers took this as a sign gun modifications don’t matter in court. Au contraire, for at least four reasons.
1: Brailsford’s brilliant defense attorney, Michael Piccarreta, told me it took at least 10 hours of his time to craft and argue the successful motion in limine, not counting the research time of his paralegals and of his expert witness, Manny Kapelsohn.
In March of 2018, Manny was on the Panel of Experts I run on deadly force and firearms training at the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association annual conference, and I asked him to brief our audience of police instructors on the Brailsford case. Manny, an attorney himself, estimated the cost of winning just that one motion was between $15,000 and $20,000. Attorney Piccarreta, by the way, credited Kapelsohn with doing a superb job of explaining relevant issues to the jury.
Okay, so maybe just the expert witness that got hired to testify on that motion. Sue me.
The attorney spent ten hours himself. His paralegals don't work for free, plus whatever Kapelsohn himself charged. And if Kapelsohn traveled, you're gonna have to house and feed him. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure Piccarreta gets more than $200 an hour.
The entire affair is expensive, yeah, but you wouldn't cheerfully overpay $15,000 on a house, either.
If both the facts and the law are against you, you deserve the punishment. Ask for a plea bargain and be glad to get it.