After a short trial and even quicker deliberations, a Butler County jury Monday found a Cranberry Township man guilty of illegally carrying a gun without a permit.

Philip Royer Jr., 58, acted as his own attorney and took the stand, creating the uncommon situation where he questioned himself.

Separately, he is facing another trial for keeping his mother in a chest freezer in his home after her death in 2006.

William Wilson, a Cranberry Township police officer, told the five-man, seven-woman jury Monday before Judge Tim McCune that he stopped Royer on September 2006 after Royer failed to use a turn signal.

When Wilson asked Royer if there any firearms were in the vehicle, Royer told him there was a gun. Wilson ordered Royer out of the vehicle, and found a Smith and Weston 40 mm pistol with magazine and ammunition in the visor.

Wilson said Royer told him he did not have a license to carry a weapon.

Royer, from the witness stand, said he was going to go shoot the final rounds of ammunition at state game lands and then drive to Washington, Pa., to trade in his gun for a new one. That, he said, was a legal reason for him to have the gun in his Jeep Cherokee that morning.

Attorney Jerry Cassady was appointed by the court to act as stand-by counsel. He conferred with Royer when needed, but did not speak to the jury or present evidence.

Royer told the jury that during a search of his home in August — referring to the day police allegedly found the body of 90-year-old Bobbie Royer in his freezer — police saw the gun and money.

"I believe they must of believed I was dealing drugs,"Royer said. "This was just an excuse to search my vehicle for guns and money."

Additionally, he argued he was never told by the county sheriff's office that his license to carry a weapon had expired in 2002.

Prosecution and Royer's defense took about 90 minutes. The jury took about 15 minutes to find Royer guilty.

He is scheduled for sentencing July 2.

Royer's other trial, where he is charged with abuse of a corpse and attempted theft, has been rescheduled. He is also representing himself in that case.