United States v. Brenden Vermilyea

MEMORANDUM

Appellant Brenden Vermilyea appeals from his conviction by a jury for one count of Possession of Firearm by a Prohibited Person and one count of Possession of Ammunition by a Prohibited Person in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g)(1). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm.

Vermilyea contends that the district court’s jury instruction regarding prohibited possession of a firearm violated due process by relieving the government of the obligation to prove all elements of the offense where the instruction stated that (1) “a general court martial conviction is a crime that satisfies section 922(g)(1) if the crime for which a defendant is court-mart-ialed was punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” and (2) “imprisonment includes a term of confinement in a military institution.” We conclude that under United States v. MacDonald, 992 F.2d 967 (9th Cir. 1998), the issue of whether a court-martial conviction is a crime under § 922(g)(1) is a matter of law. The jury instructions were an accurate statement of the law under MacDonald, see 992 F.2d at 970 , and did not relieve the government of the obligation to prove that Vermilyea was…