Also known as: felons in possession · felon-in-possession · felon in possession of firearm · prohibited possessor
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A federal criminal offense committed when a person previously convicted of a felony knowingly possesses a firearm or ammunition shipped or transported in interstate commerce.
Finn Fletcher faces trial for felon in possession after officers find a handgun in his vehicle. He offers a written stipulation admitting his prior felony status. The prosecutor seeks to introduce the full judgment naming the prior offense as assault. The court grants Fletcher's Rule 403 motion and accepts the stipulation instead.
Farid Farahani is arrested on suspicion of felon in possession. Officers seize his cell phone at the scene and later search its contents without a warrant. Data from the phone leads them to a storage unit containing the firearm. Farahani moves to suppress the evidence obtained from the phone.
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Felipe Figueroa, previously convicted of a felony, is charged with felon in possession after purchasing a rifle at a gun show. He moves to dismiss the indictment, arguing the statute violates his Second Amendment rights. The court denies the motion and the case proceeds to trial on the possession element.
Felicia Fuentes is taken into custody for felon in possession after a traffic stop reveals a pistol. Officers read her Miranda warnings before questioning her about the gun's ownership. She makes incriminating statements that the government later seeks to introduce at trial.
Fumiko Fujimoto is prosecuted for felon in possession based on videos she posted online showing her handling firearms. She moves to dismiss, claiming the charge infringes protected speech. The court rejects the motion and allows the case to go forward on the possession facts.
Fiona Foster is convicted of felon in possession. At sentencing the government introduces evidence of her earlier felony to increase the statutory maximum. Foster objects that the prior conviction must be proved to a jury. The court overrules the objection and imposes the enhanced sentence.
The government must establish that the defendant was previously convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison, that the defendant knowingly possessed a firearm or ammunition, and that the firearm or ammunition traveled in interstate commerce.
Supporting sources
A court may exclude such evidence under Rule 403 when its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. This occurs most often when the defendant offers to stipulate to felon status, leaving only the bare fact of a qualifying conviction at issue.
Supporting sources
The stipulation does not automatically bind the government, but it sharply reduces the probative value of additional details about the prior conviction. Courts therefore frequently exclude the name and nature of the offense under Rule 403 once a stipulation is offered.
Supporting sources
…United States , 242 U. S. 470, 491 (1917))); see also United States v. Bass , 404 U. S. 336, 347-350 (1971) (saving ambiguous felon-in-possession statute by requiring gun to have crossed state line); Scarborough v. United States , 431 U. S. 563, 575 (1977) (interpreting same statute to require only that gun passed "in interstate…