United States v. Jawher, No. 19-1276 (8th Cir. 2020)
Annotate this CaseThe Eighth Circuit reversed defendant's conviction for possessing a firearm while being an alien illegally or unlawfully in the United States. The court held that, based on Rehaif v. United States, 139 S. Ct. 2191 (2019), the district court plainly erred by accepting defendant's guilty plea under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11, because the district court failed to advise defendant that the government would need to establish beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that he knew that he was illegally present in the United States, or to examine the record to determine whether there was a factual basis for finding such knowledge. Furthermore, the error affected defendant's substantial rights where, but for the error, he would not have pleaded guilty. Accordingly, the court vacated defendant's plea and remanded for further proceedings.
Court Description: [Melloy, Author, with Erickson and Kobes, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law. Under Rehaif v. United States, 139 S.Ct. 2191 (2019), the district court plainly erred in failing to advise defendant the government would need to establish beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that he knew he was illegally present in the U.S. and to examine the record to determine whether there was a factual basis for finding such knowledge; the error affected defendant's substantial rights as he has sufficiently established that but for the Rule 11 violation, there was a reasonable probability he would have gone to trial; defendant's plea and conviction are vacated, and the matter is remanded for further proceedings.
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