Panel Ruling Too Wrong for En Banc Correction: 4th Cir. Judges

A panel opinion holding that a trial court committed a structural error when it accepted a defendant’s plea for being a felon in possession of a firearm without first making sure he knew he was a felon with a gun was denied en banc review by the Fourth Circuit Tuesday.

In Rehaif v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government must prove a defendant charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm knew that he belonged to the class of persons barred from possessing guns. But here, when Michael Gary pleaded guilty, the trial ...