Carter

BACKGROUND

On November 2, 2002, in response to a report of a person with a gun, San Francisco police officers were dispatched to UNITED STATES v. CARTER 11477 an area near the intersection of Sixth and Market Streets, where they observed a man, later identified as Carter, throw a black metal object into a city trash can. Officers took Carter into custody without incident and recovered the discarded object, which they preliminarily identified as a loaded .25 cal- iber Beretta handgun with a defaced serial number. In place of the serial number was “a bright silver patina” that, accord- ing to the district court, rendered the serial number “unobserv- able to the naked eye.” Forensic examination of the weapon confirmed that the firearm was, indeed, a .25 caliber Beretta semiautomatic pistol. The laboratory report, dated November 26, 2002, indicated that the serial number, though “partially defaced,” was “discernible with the use of microscopy,” and revealed it to be BU12070V.

Carter pleaded guilty to a one-count indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm. 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Prior to his sentencing hearing, Carter filed a memorandum…