United States Eleventh Circuit

Conviction and sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon are affirmed in part and vacated in part where the district court: 1) correctly adjudicated defendant's guilt in its 1989 order, defendant's nolo contendre plea was a conviction under Florida law; 2) correctly concluded that defendant's status as a convicted felon involved a question of law, rather than a question of fact for the jury; 3) did not engage in improper burden shifting because, had the case proceeded to trial, the government would still have been required to present evidence establishing defendant's conviction; 4) reasonably determined that the judge issuing the warrant did not abandon his judicial role; 5) did not err in denying defendant's motion to suppress; but 6) committed clear error by improperly calculating defendant's sentencing range based upon unsupported conclusions.

Appellate Information

• Decided 10/30/2008
• Published 10/30/2008

Judges

Court

• United States Eleventh Circuit

Counsel