United States Third Circuit

Defendant's conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm and sentence as a career offender to 120 months' imprisonment are affirmed in part and vacated in part and remanded where: 1) defendant is not entitled to a new trial on a rifle charge as all of the Pelullo factors indicate that there was no prejudicial spillover from the pistol charge to the rifle charge; 2) district court's decision to admit evidence that defendant was wearing a bullet-proof vest at time of the arrest was not arbitrary or irrational; 3) defendant's statements regarding his prior possession of firearms were admissible for a proper purpose under Rule 404(b) as evidence of defendant's motive for possessing a weapon, the statements are relevant under Rule 402, and the district court's finding under Rule 403 that the danger of unfair prejudicial effect did not substantially outweigh the probative value of the statements was not arbitrary and irrational; 4) a new trial is not warranted because it is highly probable that prosecutorial misconduct did not contribute to the judgment; 5) defendant's sentence is vacated and remanded for resentencing as his earlier conviction for reckless conduct, standing alone, does not qualify as a crime of violence; and 6) defendant's claim that the felon-in-possession statute is unconstitutional is rejected.

Appellate Information

• Argued 01/29/2010
• Decided 07/14/2010
• Published 07/14/2010

Judges

• JORDAN, J.

Court

• United States Third Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Renee Pietropaolo, Robert L. Eberhardt