United States v. McAdory, No. 18-30112 (9th Cir. 2019)
Annotate this CaseThe Ninth Circuit reversed defendant's felon in possession conviction under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). In United States v. Murillo, 422 F.3d 1152 (9th Cir. 2005), a felony was a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year as defined by the statute of violation. In light of intervening authority not previously available to the district court or the parties, the panel explained that United States v. Valencia-Mendoza, 912 F.3d 1215 (9th Cir. 2019), now defines "punishable by" as the sentence to which the defendant is actually exposed under Washington's mandatory sentencing scheme, explicitly overruling Murillo. The panel held that it was bound by Valencia-Mendoza and none of defendant's prior convictions actually exposed him to a term of imprisonment exceeding one year.
Court Description: Criminal Law. The panel reversed a criminal judgment in a case in which the defendant was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), and remanded with instructions that the district court vacate the conviction and dismiss the indictment. An offense qualifies as a predicate felony for conviction under § 922(g)(1) if it is “punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding on year.” The panel concluded that it is bound by United States v. Valencia-Mendoza, 912 F.3d 1215 (9th Cir. 2019), which defines “punishable by” as the sentence to which the defendant is actually exposed under Washington’s mandatory sentencing scheme, and which explicitly overruled United States v. Murillo, 422 F.3d 1152 (9th Cir. 2005) (holding that “punishable by” is defined by the state statute of violation). The panel held that because none of the defendant’s prior convictions had standard sentencing ranges exceeding one year, and none was accompanied by written findings of any of the statutory factors that would justify an upward departure, the defendant had no predicate offenses within the meaning of § 922(g)(1). UNITED STATES V. MCADORY 3
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