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9th Cir.: no exception to felon in possession
Posted by David Hardy · 5 September 2006 07:44 PM
The 9th Circuit has affirmed a refusal to give a jury instruction that a felon is not guilty of possession if the possession was brief and for a lawful reason. The DC Circuit has allowed such instructions; the 1st, 4th, 7th and now 9th have not.
The defendant's story, which had some BIG holes (but has to be treated as if true for this purpose) was that he found a gun near a school, took it home, unloaded it, and went off to the police station to report it.