United States v. Eddie Jackson Houston, Jr.

After a jury trial in the district court, Houston was convicted of receipt of a firearm by an ex-felon, a violation of 18 U.S.C. App. § 1202(a)(1). In 1972, he had been convicted in a California court for illegal possession of firearms by an ex-felon, in contravention of Cal. Penal Code § 12021 (West Supp. 1976). Subsequently, in 1975, he purchased a .30 caliber M-l rifle, which had been shipped in interstate commerce. The Government charged that because his previous state conviction constituted a felony as defined by 18 U.S.C. App. § 1202, Houston’s receipt of the firearm was a violation of federal law.

On appeal, Houston contends that application to him of 18 U.S.C. App. § 1202 by reason of the previous California conviction is unconstitutional and is contrary to the intent of Congress. He also assigns as error certain instructions given to the jury. We reject these contentions and affirm the conviction.

The state offense of which Houston was convicted, Cal. Penal Code § 12021 (West Supp. 1976), is punishable by “imprisonment in a state prison not exceeding 15 years, or in a county jail not exceeding one year or by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500), or by both.”…