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Ex Post Facto Still Applies to Guidelines

By Jonathan Byrne

US v. Lewis: Lewis was sitting in the driver's seat of a car parked in Richmond when three police officers approached. One of them saw an open beer bottle in the car. When Lewis rolled down the car window, officers smelled marijuana. Lewis was asked to exit the car but refused and had to be "removed . . . from the vehicle." After Lewis was in handcuffs, officers saw a pistol on the driver's side floorboard of the car. A computer check showed that Lewis was a convicted felon and he was subsequently charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.After an unsuccessful motion to suppress the firearm, Lewis was convicted following a jury trial. At sentencing the main issue was which version of the Guidelines applied - those in effect at the time of sentencing (2008 version) or those in effect at the time of the offense (2005 version)...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Circuit Blog on May 27, 2010 (boomark / email).