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Court Sidesteps Guideline Ex Post Facto Issue

By Jonathan Byrne

US v. Myers: Myers pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. The firearm at issue was one that had been listed in 18 USC 921(a)(30) as part of the assault weapons ban that lapsed in 2004. Applying the 2006 version of the Sentencing Guidelines (which were in effect at sentencing), the district court enhanced Myers's sentence six levels because the firearm was capable of accepting a large capacity magazine. Myers objected, arguing that the 2005 version of the Guidelines, in effect at the time of the offense, should be used. That version of the Guidelines did not have the large magazine enhancement, but applied a six-level enhancement if the firearm was listed in 921(a)(30). Since that section had lapsed before he committed the offense, Myers argued that the 2005 enhancement was no longer in effect and ex post facto prohibitions applied to prevent his sentence from being enhanced...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Circuit Blog on January 20, 2009 (boomark / email).