CRM/LAW C144 Chapter WALL, BRIGHAM, and HERAS: Case Briefs

• School: UC-Irvine
• Department: Criminology, Law and Society
• Course: CRM/LAW C144
• Professor: Meeker

Document Summary

The defendant, who had a prior felony conviction, was charged with violating 18 usc. 922(g)(1), which made it a felony for a person with a previous felony conviction to possess a gun that had traveled in interstate commerce. The court thought not, concluding: the government uses a cut-and-paste approach, taking the firearm possession by one conspirator, adding it to the felon status of another conspirator, and thereby creating a substantive offense for that second conspirator. It is a significant expansion of the pinkerton doctrine that appears to be difficult to limit. Bluitt rejected the defendant"s advice, saying that he wanted to let people know we are serious. : bluitt fired twice, killing the teenager. Because of bluitt"s hardheaded and erratic nature, the prosecution argued and the jury found that the defendant could reasonably foresee that bluitt, once set in motion, might knowingly kill someone other than his assigned target. Defendant was convicted of first degree murder.