United States v. Norris

319 F.3d 1278, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 2977, 2003 WL 356784
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 19, 2003
Docket02-3047
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 319 F.3d 1278 (United States v. Norris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Norris, 319 F.3d 1278, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 2977, 2003 WL 356784 (10th Cir. 2003).

Opinion

PAUL KELLY, JR., Circuit Judge.

Defendant-Appellant Donald E. Norris pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). In so doing, Mr. Norris reserved his right to appeal the district court’s order denying his motion to dismiss his indictment for lack of a qualifying conviction. Following his guilty plea, the district court sentenced Mr. Norris to 41 months of imprisonment followed by a three-year term of supervised release. On appeal, Mr. Norris claims that the district court erred in denying his motion to dismiss. Additionally, Mr. Norris contends that the district court erred in calculating his criminal history category and that it mistakenly applied a four-level enhancement to his base offense level for possessing a firearm in connection with another felony. See U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(5). Our jurisdiction arises under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a), and we affirm.

Background

In August of 2000, Kansas City, Kansas police officers (“the officers”) responded to a report of shots fired near Mr. Norris’ residence. Upon arriving at the scene, a neighbor informed the officers that he observed Mr. Norris fire a handgun several times before leaving in his automobile. While the officers were still at the scene, Mr. Norris returned to his residence and was promptly taken into custody for outstanding warrants. In a statement to the officers, a passenger in Mr. Norris’ vehicle reported that Mr. Norris had fired the gun at an unknown individual who ran behind his residence. Further investigation resulted in the recovery of several shell casing from the ground and a semi-automatic handgun from under the passenger seat of Mr. Norris’ vehicle.

Mr. Norris thereafter was charged in federal court with violating 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), which prohibits the possession of a firearm by a person who has been convicted of a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year. The indictment was predicated upon two prior state-court theft convictions — one in February of 1999, and the other in September of 1999 — which were, according to the indictment, punishable by more than one year of imprisonment under Kansas law then in effect. I R. Doc. 1 at 1. Mr. Norris filed a motion to dismiss the indictment on the ground that the two convictions were not for crimes punishable by more than one year. Specifically, Mr. Norris argued that because the maximum presumptive sentences for his February and September convictions were seven and nine months respectively, and because the Kansas Supreme Court in State v. Gould, 271 Kan. 394, 23 P.3d 801 (2001), held unconstitutional the portion of the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act authorizing upward departures, his prior convictions were not qualifying convictions under § 922(g)(1). I R. Doc. 13 at 4-5. The district court denied the motion to dismiss, holding that the court in Gould expressly held that its opinion would not be retroactive beyond June 26, 2000, and that, accordingly, Mr. Norris’ two convictions “clearly were punishable by imprisonment for a term ex *1281 ceeding one year under state law.” II R. at 12.

After reserving his right to appeal the district court’s ruling, Mr. Norris pleaded guilty and proceeded to sentencing. At sentencing, Mr. Norris objected to the application of a four-level enhancement for possession of a firearm in connection with another felony offense and the calculation of his criminal history category. Regarding the four-level enhancement, Mr. Norris argued that contrary to the statement of the passenger in his vehicle, he did not fire the gun at anyone and that he therefore did not possess or use the firearm in connection with another felony under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(5). Mr. Norris also argued that the witness’ statement did not provide a sufficient factual basis to justify application of the enhancement.

Regarding the calculation of his criminal history category, Mr. Norris argued that the pre-sentence report (“PSR”) improperly assessed two criminal history points each for two of his prior convictions that resulted in probation. Noting that both sentences of probation were revoked on the same day, Mr. Norris argued that under Application Note 11 to U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2, which governs the criminal history calculation where a revocation of probation applies to multiple sentences, he should have been assessed a total of three rather than four criminal history points. 1

The district court first overruled Mr. Norris’ objection to the four-level enhancement, holding that the witness’ statement was sufficient to support application of the enhancement. As to his criminal history calculation objection, the district court began by acknowledging that the question was not “open and shut in terms of how to read this particular guideline section.” IV R. at 21. Nevertheless, the district court overruled the objection, holding that because the state court imposed more than one sentence upon revocation, Application Note 11 was therefore inapplicable. IV R. at 23-24.

Discussion

1. The Motion to Dismiss

On appeal, Mr. Norris first argues that the district court erroneously denied the motion to dismiss his indictment for lack of a qualifying conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Whether a prior conviction was for a “crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” is a question of law we review de novo. See United States v. Hall, 20 F.3d 1066, 1068 (10th Cir.1994).

As noted above, § 922(g)(1) prohibits any person who has been convicted of a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year to, inter alia, “possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm....” Section 921(a)(20) of Title 18 further provides that “what constitutes a conviction of such a crime shall be determined in accordance with the law of the jurisdiction in which the proceedings were held.” Mr. Norris was convicted of felony theft in state court in February of 1999 and again in September of 1999. He correctly points out that under Kansas’ sentencing guidelines for non-drug offenses, K.S.A. § 21-4704, the presumptive maximum sentences for these two offenses were seven and nine months respectively. However, at the time of these convictions, Kansas law permitted upward departures by the trial court up to “double the maximum duration of the presumptive imprisonment term.” K.S.A. § 21-4719(b)(2).

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Bluebook (online)
319 F.3d 1278, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 2977, 2003 WL 356784, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-norris-ca10-2003.