Smith v. United States

CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedFebruary 24, 2021
Docket3:20-cv-00374
StatusUnknown

This text of Smith v. United States (Smith v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. United States, (D. Nev. 2021).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 8 9 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Case No. 3:16-CR-00008-RCJ 10 Plaintiff, 3:20-CV-00374-RCJ

11 vs. ORDER 12 BRANDON SMITH, 13 Defendant. 14

15 Defendant moves this Court to vacate, set aside, or correct his conviction and sentence 16 under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, arguing that Rehaif v. United States, 139 S. Ct. 2191 (2019), retroactively 17 rendered the indictment fatally defective and invalidated his guilty plea. Thorough review of the 18 record demonstrates conclusively that Defendant is not entitled to relief. The Court therefore 19 denies the motion, but the Court does issue a partial certificate of appealability as one of the claims 20 is currently subject to a circuit split and the Ninth Circuit has yet to directly consider this issue. 21 FACTUAL BACKGROUND 22 Between 2005 and 2012, Defendant had amassed two felony convictions and numerous 23 other misdemeanor convictions. Presentence Rep. ¶¶ 32–46. For one of these felony convictions, 24 Defendant actually served a prison sentence greater than one year in length. Id. at ¶ 37. In 2016, 1 Defendant was indicted on one count: Felon in Possession of Ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2 §§ 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2). (ECF No. 1.) The factual basis of this count in the indictment states: 3 On or about December 21, 2015, in the State and District of Nevada, BRANDON SMITH, defendant herein, having been convicted of a crime punishable by 4 imprisonment for a term exceeding one year in the Second Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada in and for the County of Washoe; to wit: on or about May 5 21, 2009, of Larceny from a Person not Amounting to Robbery; did knowingly possess 6 rounds of Federal Cartridge Co. ammunition and 6 rounds of RUAG 6 Ammotec/Dynamit Nobel ammunition, said possession being in and affecting commerce; in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(l) and 7 924(a)(2). 8 (Id.) In 2017, Defendant entered a plea agreement with the understanding that the Government 9 only needed to prove: “First: The defendant knowingly possessed ammunition; Second: The 10 ammunition had been shipped from one state to another; and, Third: At the time the defendant 11 possessed the ammunition, the defendant had been previously convicted of a crime punishable by 12 a term of imprisonment exceeding one year.” (ECF No. 22.) This was the correct test under Ninth 13 Circuit caselaw at that time. See, e.g.¸ United States v. Enslin, 327 F.3d 788, 798 (9th Cir. 2003). 14 In 2019, however, the Supreme Court issued Rehaif, holding that the Government must also prove 15 that a defendant knew he was a felon at the time of possession for such a conviction. 139 S. Ct. at 16 2200.1 17 LEGAL STANDARD 18 A prisoner in custody “may move the court which imposed the sentence to vacate, set aside 19 or correct the sentence” where the sentence is unconstitutional or unlawful, the court lacked 20 “jurisdiction to impose such sentence,” “the sentence was in excess of the maximum authorized 21 1 Defendant claims that Rehaif mandates that the Government must also prove both that a defendant knew that his felon status prohibited him from possessing ammunition. This is error. 22 Following Rehaif, the entirety of the Government’s burden for a conviction under § 922(g)(1) is to prove “(1) the defendant was a felon; (2) the defendant knew he was a felon; (3) the defendant 23 knowingly possessed a firearm or ammunition; and (4) the firearm or ammunition was in or affecting interstate commerce.” United States v. Benamor, 937 F.3d 1182, 1186 (9th Cir. 2019), 24 1 by law, or is otherwise subject to collateral attack.” 28 U.S.C. § 2255(a). This remedy is available 2 only where the error is jurisdictional, constitutional, contains “a fundamental defect which 3 inherently results in a complete miscarriage of justice,” or includes “an omission inconsistent with 4 the rudimentary demands of fair procedure.” Hill v. United States, 368 U.S. 424, 428 (1962). A 5 petitioner must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, any grounds for vacating or modifying 6 a sentence. Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 468–69 (1938). 7 A court should deny the petition without an evidentiary hearing if the record “conclusively 8 show[s] that the prisoner is entitled to no relief.” § 2255(b); accord Shah v. United States, 878 9 F.2d 1156, 1160 (9th Cir. 1989). Otherwise, a court should serve notice upon the government and 10 grant a hearing to make the necessary findings of fact and conclusions of law to rule on the petition. 11 § 2255(b). 12 Upon denial, a court should determine whether to issue a certificate of appealability. Rules

13 Governing § 2255 Proceedings 11(a). A certificate is appropriate when the applicant has “made a 14 substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.” 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2). That is, the 15 petitioner must show that “reasonable jurists could debate whether . . . the petition should [be] 16 resolved in a different manner or that the issues presented [are] ‘adequate to deserve 17 encouragement to proceed further.’” Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000) (quoting 18 Barefoot v. Estelle, 463 U.S. 880, 893 (1983)). 19 ANALYSIS 20 Defendant argues that the failure of the indictment to include an allegation that Defendant 21 knew he was in the class of persons covered by § 922(g)(1) deprives the Court of jurisdiction and 22 renders his conviction unconstitutional. Specifically, he claims the criminal prosecution based on

23 the defective indictment violated his Fifth Amendment right not to be tried absent a valid 24 indictment from a grand jury and his Sixth Amendment rights to notice and effective assistance of 1 counsel. Defendant further argues that his plea was unknowing and involuntary. Finding that it has 2 jurisdiction, that Defendant’s challenge to his plea is procedurally defaulted, and that Defendant’s 3 guilty plea waived the remaining challenges, the Court denies the motion. 4 I. The Court has Subject-Matter Jurisdiction 5 Defendant’s first argument is that the defect in the indictment deprived this Court of 6 jurisdiction over his case. Although he is correct that the indictment in this case is defective, this 7 defect does not affect jurisdiction. Framing the issue in such a way is not without consequence 8 because, if true, Defendant did not waive it—he could not have. See, e.g., Louisville & Nashville 9 R.R. Co. v. Mottley, 211 U.S. 149, 152 (1908); see also United States v. Ratigan, 351 F.3d 957, 10 962 (9th Cir. 2003) (analyzing subject-matter jurisdiction of a criminal case despite procedural 11 default). Defendant notes that district courts have jurisdiction over “all offenses against the laws 12 of the United States,” 18 U.S.C. § 3231, and argues that, since the indictment fails to state an

13 offense, this Court lacks jurisdiction. While prior Ninth Circuit cases have held that a failure to 14 state a claim in an indictment is a jurisdictional issue, see, e.g., United States v. Montilla, 870 F.2d 15 549, 552 (9th Cir.

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Bluebook (online)
Smith v. United States, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-united-states-nvd-2021.