United States v. Steven Duarte

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 22-50048

Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No. 2:20-cr- 00387-AB-1 v.

STEVEN DUARTE, AKA Shorty, OPINION

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California André Birotte, Jr., District Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted En Banc December 11, 2024 Pasadena, California Filed May 9, 2025 Before: Mary H. Murguia, Chief Judge, and Kim McLane Wardlaw, Johnnie B. Rawlinson, Sandra S. Ikuta, John B. Owens, Ryan D. Nelson, Daniel P. Collins, Lawrence VanDyke, Holly A. Thomas, Salvador Mendoza, Jr. and Roopali H. Desai, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Wardlaw; Concurrence by Judge R. Nelson; Concurrence by Judge Collins; Partial Concurrence and Partial Dissent by Judge VanDyke SUMMARY *

Criminal Law

The en banc court affirmed Steven Duarte’s conviction for felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). During the pendency of this appeal, the Supreme Court decided New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), in which…