US v. Kelly, No. 09-3712

By FindLaw Staff on November 22, 2010 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Felon in Possession Conviction Partially Reversed

In US v. Kelly, No. 09-3712, the court affirmed in part defendant's conviction and sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm, holding that, whether well-founded or not, defendant's doubts about an officer's credibility were not for the court to resolve. However, the court reversed in part where the lack of ad hoc findings in this case violated the principle of individualized fact-finding mandated by Bender.

As the court wrote: "A jury convicted A.J. Kelly of being a felon in possession of a firearm, in

violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), and Kelly was sentenced to 115 months' imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release. Kelly appeals his conviction on the ground there was insufficient evidence of his possession or control of a firearm."

Related Resources

Read the Eighth Circuit's Decision in US v. Kelly, No. 09-3712