United States v. Justin Werle

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 20-36005 Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. Nos. v. 2:20-cv-00184-WFN 2:14-cr-00041-WFN-

JUSTIN CURTIS WERLE,

Defendant-Appellant.

OPINION

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington Wm. Fremming Nielsen, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted October 4, 2021 Seattle, Washington

Filed June 3, 2022

Before: A. WALLACE TASHIMA, MILAN D. SMITH, JR., and JACQUELINE H. NGUYEN, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Milan D. Smith, Jr. SUMMARY *

28 U.S.C. § 2255

The panel vacated the district court’s summary denial of a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion in which Justin Curtis Werle seeks to vacate his felon-in-possession-of-a-firearm conviction under 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(a)(2) and 922(g)(1), and remanded for an evidentiary hearing.

Werle sought to vacate the conviction because he pled guilty without being informed of the mens rea element announced in Rehaif v. United States, 139 S. Ct. 2191 (2019)—i.e., that the Government must prove not only that the defendant knew he possessed a firearm, but also…