United States v. Jimmy Torres

Jimmy Torres appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence of a handgun that was found during an inventory search in the air filter compartment of a vehicle occupied by Torres. Torres, who has a criminal history that included previous felony convictions, was charged with one count of unlawful possession in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g)(1). He entered a guilty plea pursuant to a plea agreement in which he reserved the right to appeal the denial of his suppression motion. Torres now appeals that denial as well as his sentence. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm the denial of Torres’s motion to suppress, but vacate Torres’s sentence and remand for resentencing in light of the conceded unconstitutionality of section 2K2.1(a)(2) of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

BACKGROUND

On April 24, 2012, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (“LVMPD”) officers responded to a call from dispatch regarding a domestic battery occurring in a moving car in Las Vegas, Nevada. An individual had called 911 to report a male driver pulling the hair of a female passenger. The caller told dispatch that the vehicle had turned into a private…