United States of America v. Joshua Willis

Denver, Colorado criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with one count of possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) which prohibits felons from possessing firearms.



Defendant moved to dismiss the indictment against him under New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022). The district court denied his motion. He pled guilty to the charge but preserved his right to appeal the motion to dismiss. The district court sentenced Defendant to twenty-four months' imprisonment and three years' supervised release.



In his 2023 appeal, Defendant brought both a facial and an as-applied challenge to the constitutionality of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). While Defendant's appeal was pending, we decided Vincent v. Garland, 80 F.4th 1197 (10th Cir. 2023)

(hereinafter Vincent I), in which we held that the Supreme Court's decision in Bruen does not expressly overrule United States v. McCane, 573 F.3d 1037 (10th Cir. 2009)—which upheld § 922(g)(1)'s constitutionality. After we issued Vincent I,

Defendant filed an unopposed motion to expedite decision. In that motion, he acknowledged that Vincent I forecloses Second Amendment challenges to § 922(g)(1) but contended that an expedited decision would allow him to promptly

petition for rehearing so that he may receive timely relief from his sentence if he succeeded. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we granted Defendant's motion to expedite decision and affirmed the district court's decision upholding the constitutionality of § 922(g)(1). United States v. Willis, No. 23-1058, 2024 WL 857058 (10th Cir. Feb. 29, 2024).

Affirmed