Firearm conviction reversed

Charles Dedmon (former-ADO) and David Phillips of the Kansas City Federal Public Defender Office won in U.S. v. Hill, No. 07-3034 (10th Cir. January 16, 2008), reversing a Kansas firearm conviction. The question was whether the defendant was ineligible to possess a firearm because of a previous Kansas conviction. After discussing the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines in the aftermath of Apprendi and Gould, the Tenth Circuit concluded that a defendant with Mr. Hill's criminal history could not have been sentenced to more than 11-months and, therefore the previous conviction did not make Mr. Hill ineligible to carry a firearm:

Because it is no longer possible for a defendant to be sentenced to a term greater than the presumptive sentence based on an aggravating factor unless that factor is found beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury, Hill’s maximum sentence was eleven months. Had aggravating factors existed, the prosecution was required to make a motion to seek an upward departure under § 21-4718(b) and any aggravating factor had to be found beyond a reasonable doubt.4 The prosecution did not move for an upward departure and without that predicate step, Hill’s sentence could not be enhanced beyond his presumptive sentence range.

A nice discussion of the Guidelines and the impact of the Apprendi line of cases.

Thanks to David Freund for the tip.

Here is coverage on Federal Kansas Defender with a lot more practical implications.