Nature of Prior Not Dependant on Defendant's Actual Sentence But On Potential Sentence

U.S. v. Hill, 2008 WL 3876846 (8/22/08) (Published) - Upon the government's rehearing petition, the 10th reverses its prior decision in light of the Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Rodriquez, 128 S. Ct. 1783 (2008). The 10th previously ruled the defendant could not be a felon in possession of a firearm since his prior conviction was for a crime punishable by only 11 months under Kansas' guidelines, given the defendant's particular criminal history. But the 10th now says you look at the offense, not the offender's particular characteristics, in which case the Kansas guideline range was 7 to 23 months. § 922(g)(1) speaks in terms of a crime punishable by imprisonment of more than one year. Thus it focuses on the offense, not the offender. Rodriquez supports this conclusion, the 10th says. In the ACCA context, the Court refused to hold the maximum punishment is limited by the defendant's guideline range.