Richard E. Brown v. United States

In 1973, Brown was indicted by a federal grand jury for violations of the Gun Control Act (Act), 18 U.S.C. § 921 et seq.. The indictment charged that Brown purchased a semi-automatic rifle by making false written statements on the document required for purchase of the weapon, and by submitting false identification to the federally licensed gun dealer. Specifically, Brown was charged with falsely stating on the document that his name was Robert Young (Count I), falsely stating on the same document that he had never been convicted of a felony (Count II), and producing a false California driver’s license to prove identity (Count III). A jury found Brown guilty on all three counts and the trial judge sentenced him to the maximum five-year prison term on each. The sentences on Counts I and II were to run consecutively, while the sentence on Count III was to run concurrently with those on Counts I and II. Following his imprisonment, Brown brought a motion to vacate the sentence, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 , claiming that the consecutive sentences for Counts I and II violated Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit law. It is from the denial of that motion that Brown appeals. The first of…