United States v. Cyril T. Hanna

Cyril T. Hanna appeals his jury conviction and sentence for unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g)(1). Hanna contends his conviction should be reversed because the government failed to produce (1) the grand jury testimony of the arresting officer, and (2) pretrial statements made by that officer that may have been inconsistent with his trial testimony. As grounds for his contentions, Hanna relied on (1) the Jencks Act, 18 U.S.C., § 3500 (e)(3); (2) Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 , 83 S.Ct. 1194 , 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963); and (3) his pretrial discovery request. Hanna argues also that 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g)(1) is unconstitutional both on its face and as applied to him, and that his sentence must be reversed because the district court erred in calculating his criminal history points. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we vacate Hanna’s conviction and remand to the district court for a determination of whether the government failed to disclose any impeachment evidence which could have been used to impeach the primary government witness.

I

Hanna’s conviction was based primarily on the testimony of the arresting officer Kitt…