U.S. v. Gayle

• Decision Date: 27 August 2003
• Docket Number: Docket No. 02-1095.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Kirk GAYLE, Ann-Marie Richardson, Defendants, Rohan Ingram, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

342 F.3d 89

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Kirk GAYLE, Ann-Marie Richardson, Defendants, Rohan Ingram, Defendant-Appellant.

Docket No. 02-1095.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued: June 18, 2003.

Decided: August 27, 2003.

PHILIP L. WEINSTEIN, Legal Aid Society, Federal Defender Division Appeals Bureau, New York, NY, for Defendant-Appellant.

DAVID M. GRABLE, Assistant United States Attorney (Barbara D. Cottrell, Senior Litigation Counsel, William C. Pericak, Assistant United States Attorney, of counsel), for

GLENN T. SUDDABY, United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, Albany, NY, for Appellee.

Before: McLAUGHLIN, LEVAL, KATZMANN, Circuit Judges.

KATZMANN, Circuit Judge.

Before us is a discrete issue of first impression for this Circuit: whether the "convicted in any court" element of the federal statute which prohibits the possession of a firearm by a person convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), includes convictions entered in foreign courts. Specifically, we consider whether defendant-appellant Rohan Ingram's 1996 conviction in Canada constitutes a predicate offense under § 922(g)(1). As a matter of statutory interpretation, we conclude that foreign convictions cannot constitute predicate offenses under § 922(g)(1). We find the statutory language to be ambiguous and, upon consulting the statute's legislative history, conclude that Congress did not intend "in any court" to include foreign courts. We therefore reverse the judgment of conviction with respect to the felon-in-possession count and remand for resentencing on the surviving counts.

BACKGROUND

We recite only those facts relevant to whether Ingram's prior conviction in Canada qualifies as a predicate offense for his felon-in-possession conviction. On February 16, 2001, Ingram was arrested in a Plattsburgh, New York, hotel upon suspicion that he had entered illegally the United States from Canada. Soon after his arrest, authorities discovered a large quantity of firearms stored in boxes in his hotel room.¹ Ingram subsequently was charged in a superseding indictment with conspiracy to export defense articles designated on the United States Munitions List in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, 22 U.S.C. § 2778; conspiracy to travel with intent to engage in the illegal acquisition of firearms, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 922(a)(1)(A), 924(n); and being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2).

The predicate offense underlying the felon-in-possession count was Ingram's 1996 conviction in Canada for violating § 85(1)(a) of the Canadian Criminal Code for use of a firearm in the commission of an indictable offense. The defense moved to dismiss the felon-in-possession count, maintaining that, because his prior felony conviction did not occur in the United States, Ingram was not a felon within the meaning of the statute. Acknowledging a circuit split on the issue, the Government argued that Ingram's conviction in Canada constitutes a conviction "in any court" under the terms of § 922(g)(1). After receiving briefing from the parties, the District Court denied Ingram's motion to dismiss. United States v. Ingram, 164 F.Supp.2d 310 (N.D.N.Y.2001). Following the reasoning of the Sixth and Fourth Circuits, the District Court concluded that § 922(g)(1)'s "in any court" language unambiguously includes foreign courts. Id. at 316-17; see United States v. Atkins, 872 F.2d 94, 96 (4th Cir.1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 836, 110 S.Ct. 116, 107 L.Ed.2d 77 (1989); United States v. Winson, 793 F.2d 754, 757-59 (6th Cir.1986). Accordingly, the court held that Ingram's prior Canadian conviction was a proper predicate offense for § 922(g)(1). Id.²

On October 5, 2001, a jury found Ingram guilty on all three counts. Ingram moved for a judgment of acquittal, which was denied on February 5, 2002. On January 30, 2002, Ingram was sentenced to 78 months' imprisonment, to be followed by a three year term of supervised release, and a special assessment of $300.

DISCUSSION

The lone issue for us to resolve is whether Ingram's 1996 conviction in a Canadian court can satisfy the element of the statute that requires a conviction "in any court." The federal felon-in-possession statute was enacted as part of the Gun Control Act of 1968, Pub.L. No. 90-618, 82 Stat. 1213 (1968). That statute currently provides, in relevant part,

(g) It shall be unlawful for any person—

(1) who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;

. . . .

to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.

18 U.S.C. § 922 (emphasis added). In 1996, Ingram was convicted for violating § 85(1)(a) of the Canadian Criminal Code, which criminalizes the use of a firearm in commission of an indictable offense and carries a maximum imprisonment term of fourteen years. If this conviction were entered by an American court, it would qualify as a predicate offense under § 922(g)(1) because the crime was "punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year." The determinative issue therefore becomes whether the phrase, "convicted in any court," refers solely to convictions by courts in the United States or includes foreign convictions as well. Because a question of statutory interpretation is at issue, we review the District Court's conclusion de novo. See United States v. Rood, 281 F.3d 353, 355 (2d Cir. 2002).

Although we have yet to decide this issue, our sister Circuits that have addressed the scope of § 922(g)(1)'s "in any court" language have differed in their interpretation. The Third, Fourth, and Sixth Circuits, along with two district courts, have concluded that "in any court" encompasses foreign courts. See United States v. Small, 333 F.3d 425, 427-28 (3d Cir.2003); Atkins, 872 F.2d at 96; Winson, 793 F.2d at 757-59; United States v. Jalbert, 242 F.Supp.2d 44, 47 (D.Me.2003); United States v. Chant, Nos. CR 94-1149, CR 94-0185, 1997 WL 231105, at *1-*3 (N.D.Cal. Apr.4, 1997). Conversely, the Tenth Circuit has invoked the rule of lenity to conclude that § 922(g)(1)'s "in any court" language is sufficiently ambiguous that foreign convictions cannot serve as predicate offenses for sentencing enhancements under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e). See United States v. Concha, 233 F.3d 1249, 1253-56 (10th Cir.2000).³

Statutory construction begins with the plain text and, if that text is unambiguous, it usually ends there as well. United States v. Velastegui, 199 F.3d 590, 594 (2d Cir.1999) (citations omitted), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 823, 121 S.Ct. 67, 148 L.Ed.2d 32 (2000); see Connecticut Nat'l Bank v. Germain, 503 U.S. 249, 254, 112 S.Ct. 1146, 117 L.Ed.2d 391 (1992) ("When the words of a statute are unambiguous, then, this first canon is also the last: `judicial inquiry is complete.'" (quoting Rubin v. United States, 449 U.S. 424, 430, 101 S.Ct. 698, 66 L.Ed.2d 633 (1981))). Most of the courts that have found "in any court" to include foreign courts have stressed the unambiguously expansive nature of the phrase. See, e.g., Atkins, 872 F.2d at 96 ("`Any' is hardly an ambiguous term, being all-inclusive in nature."); United States v. Small, 183 F.Supp.2d 755, 760 (W.D.Pa.2002) ("`Any' court means any court and there is nothing in the plain and unambiguous language of Section 922 indicating that Congress intended to exclude foreign convictions from such a broad term."), aff'd, 333 F.3d 425 (3d Cir.2003); Jalbert, 242 F.Supp.2d at 47 ("The phrase `any court,' on its face, encompasses foreign as well as domestic courts."). In addition, several courts have interpreted "in any court" as including military courts. See United States v. Martinez, 122 F.3d 421, 424 (7th Cir.1997); United States v. MacDonald, 992 F.2d 967, 969-70 (9th Cir.1993); United States v. Lee, 428 F.2d 917, 920 (6th Cir.1970), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 1017, 92 S.Ct. 679, 30 L.Ed.2d 665 (1972). In reaching this holding, the Seventh Circuit likewise emphasized the broad, all-encompassing nature of the phrase, "in any court":

Looking to section 922(g)(1), we find nothing that defines or limits the term "court," only a requirement that a conviction have been "in any court" in the course of prohibiting possession of firearms by a felon. Certainly "any court" includes a military court, the adjective "any" expanding the term "court" to include "one or some indiscriminately of whatever kind"; "one that is selected without restriction or limitation of choice"; or "all." Webster's Third New International Dictionary, 1991.

Martinez, 122 F.3d at 424.

Our textual analysis of what constitutes a predicate offense under § 922(g)(1), however, does not end with the words "in any court." "The text's plain meaning can best be understood by looking to the statutory scheme as a whole and placing the particular provision within the context of that statute." Saks v. Franklin Covey Co., 316 F.3d 337, 345 (2d Cir.2003); see Auburn Hous. Auth. v. Martinez, 277 F.3d 138, 144 (2d Cir.2002) ("The meaning of a particular section in a statute can be understood in context with and by reference to the whole statutory scheme, by appreciating how sections relate to one another."). Congress defined at § 921, the Gun Control Act's general statutory definition section, the sort of crimes that constitute predicate offenses for a § 922(g)(1) conviction:

The term "crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year" does not include—

(A) any Federal or State offenses pertaining to antitrust violations, unfair trade practices, restraints of trade, or other similar offenses relating to the regulation of business practices, or

(B) any State offense classified by the laws of the State as a...