FILED U.S. COURT OF AP P EALS E LEVEN T HC IRC UIT AUGUST 26, 2005 THOMAS K. KAH

N CLERK [ DO NO T P UB L I S H] I N THE UN I TE D STATE S C OU RT OF APPE ALS F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C IR C U IT

________________________ N o. 05- 10106 N on -A rgum entC al endar

________________________ D . C . D o c k e tN o . 0 4 - 0 0 1 8 4 - C R - J - 2 5 - MMH U N I T E D S T A T E S O F A M E R I C A , P la in tif f - A p p e lle e , v ersu s L A M O N T L E E N E L S O N , D e f e n d a n t- A p p e lla n t.

________________________ A pp ea l fr om the U ni t ed S t at es D i stri ctC ou rt f orthe M i ddl e D i s tr i c tof F l or i da

_________________________ ( A u gu s t 26, 2005) B efo re B IR C H , B A R K E T T an d K R A V IT C H , C i rcu i tJu d g es. P E R C U R I A M: L am o n tL ee N el so n ap p eal s h i s co n v i ct i o n fo r p o ssessi o n o f a fi rearm b y aTh eindic tment l iste d f our pri or c onvictio ns . N e lso n did not challeng etheindic tment. 1 2 c onvi c t e d f

e l on, i n vi ol a t i on of

18 U . S . C . §§ 922( g) a nd 924( e ) . F orthe r e a s ons th a t f o llo w , w e a f

f irm . I. O n M a y 2 8 , 2 0 0 4 , N e l s o n w a s f o u n d i n Fl o r i d ai n p o s s e s s i o n o f af i r e a rm. S u b s e q u e n tly , N e ls o n w a s in d ic te d f o rb e in g ap r e v io u s lyc o n v ic te d f e lo n in pos s e s s i on of

af i r e a rm , i n vi ol a t i on of

18 U . S . C . §§ 922( g) a nd 924 ( e ) . A tthe 1 tri al , N el son st i pu l at ed thathe had b ee n con vi ct ed of a f el on y f or pu rposes of that el em entof the offens e. A dd i t i on al l y, A T F agentN i chl os C here m et a t es t i fi ed that the f i r e a rm w a s m a nuf

a c tur e d i n M a s s a c hus e tt s . T he j uryf ound N e l s on gui l ty , a nd th e co u rtsen t en ced h i m t o th e m an d at o ry m i n i m u m sen t en ce o f 1 8 0 m o n th s’ i m pri sonm ent , t o b e f

ol l ow ed by three ye ar s s up ervi se d rel ea se . T hi s app ea l f o llo w e d . II. O n ap p e a l, N e ls o n a r g u e s f o rth e f ir s t tim e th a t § 9 2 2 ( g ) is f a c ia llyin v a lid because C on gres s f

ai l ed t o d ef

i ne com m er ce as “ i nt er st at e or f orei gn com m er ce ” an d i s o th erw i se u n co n st i tu t i o n al b ecau se C o n g ress ex ceed ed i t s co m m erce clause po w eri n enact i ng the st atut e by f ai l i ng t o requi re thatthe po ss es si on of the fi re arm s u b s ta n tia llya f

f e c t in te r s ta te c o m m e r c e .Here, the inter state nexus was established by the ATFag ent’s testimony that the gun 2 was manuf

actured in Massachusetts and found in F lorida. 3 Al th o u g h g e n e r a l l y ac o n s t i tu t i o n a l c h a l l e n g e i s s u b j e c tt o d e n o v o r e v i e w, w he n ade f

e nda ntf a i l s t o r a i s e the obj e c t i on be f or e the di s tr i c tc ourt , w e r e vi e w f or p l ai n erro r. U n i t ed S t at es v . W al k er, 5 9 F . 3 d 1 1 9 6 , 1 1 9 8 (1 1 th C i r. 1 9 9 5 ); see al so U ni t ed S t at es v. H al l , 31 4 F . 3d 56 5, 56 6 (11 th C i r. 20 02 ). “ P l ai n err or occurs w h er e ( 1 ) th er e is a n erro r; (2 ) th at is p lain o r o b v io u s; (3 ) a ff ec ti n g th e d ef

en d an t’ s s u b s ta n tia l r ig h ts in th a t it w a s p r e ju d ic ia l a n d n o t h a rm le s s ; a n d ( 4 ) th a t s e r io u s ly af fe ct s the fa i rnes s, i nt egri ty, or pu bl i c r eput at i on of the j ud i ci al proceedi ng s. ” H a ll, 3 1 4 F .3 d a t 5 6 6 . A s N el son con ce des, w e have consi st ent l y uph el d the const i tut i on al i ty of § 9 22 (g) a gai nstthe chal l enges thatN el son rai se s on app ea l . S ee , e. g. , U ni t ed 2 S t at es v . P et ers, 4 0 3 F . 3 d 1 2 6 3 , 1 2 7 7 (1 1 th C i r. 2 0 0 5 ); U n i t ed S t at es v . N i ch o l s, 124 F . 3d 1265, 1266 ( 11th C i r . 1997) ; U ni t e d S t a t e s v. M c A l l i s t e r , 77 F . 3d 387, 3 8 9 - 9 0 ( 1 1 th C i r . 1 9 9 6 ) . Ac c o r d i n g l y , Ne l s o n c a n n o te s t ab l i s h an ye rr o ra n d we A F F I R M hi s c onvi c t i on. AF F I RME D.