Source: http://openjurist.org/86/f3d/309
Timestamp: 2015-11-30 17:11:06
Document Index: 93347077

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2113', '§ 2113', '§ 2113', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 921', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 1', '§ 921', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 101', '§ 921', '§ 217', '§ 991', '§ 994', '§ 235', '§ 994']

86 F3d 309 United States v. L Kirvan | OpenJurist
86 F. 3d 309 - United States v. L Kirvan HomeFederal Reporter, Third Series 86 F.3d
86 F3d 309 United States v. L Kirvan 86 F.3d 309
UNITED STATES of America, Appellee,v.Gary L. KIRVAN, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 678, Docket 95-1251.
Argued Dec. 5, 1995.Decided June 18, 1996.
Friday, February 7, 1992 was a busy day for the Central Trust Co., a Rochester, New York bank. At 10:45 a.m. Mary Ellen Boone, an experienced teller, had just completed a business transaction with a customer when, looking up, she suddenly saw a man, later identified as defendant Gary L. Kirvan, pointing a shiny black gun at her. The parties describe this gun as a .44 caliber black powder revolver, a replica of an antique. Defendant placed the gun, together with a note, on the counter before her. The note demanded all her cash and Kirvan ordered her to "[d]o what the note says or you're dead." She handed him all her 100s, 50s, and 20s and, upon his waving the gun at her and telling her to "[k]eep going," she gave him, in addition, all the 10s, 5s, and singles in her top drawer. After the defendant stuffed this cash amounting to $2,527 in his pockets, he fled. Later, he was apprehended while committing another armed bank robbery in Lebanon, Tennessee.
An indictment dated April 30, 1992 charged Kirvan and two others with various offenses for their involvement in the crime committed in Rochester. Kirvan was charged with committing bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a), bank larceny in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(b), armed bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(d), and with carrying or using a firearm in connection with a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). He was tried separately before a jury in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York (Telesca, C.J.). Before trial the government moved, in the interest of justice, to dismiss the charge of carrying or using a firearm in a crime of violence because § 924(c) does not apply to "antique firearms," see 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3). The district court granted the motion. The jury returned a guilty verdict for bank robbery and armed bank robbery, and therefore did not reach the bank larceny charge.
At the sentencing hearing, the trial court noted that the bank robbery and armed bank robbery convictions merged, and it sentenced defendant only for the latter conviction. The probation department recommended a five-level upward adjustment under § 2B3.1(b)(2)(C) of the United States Sentencing Guidelines (U.S.S.G. or Guidelines), which applies to robberies during which the defendant "brandished, displayed, or possessed" a firearm. The defendant objected to the upward adjustment, contending that the weapon used in the robbery was not a "firearm" for purposes of § 2B3.1(b)(2)(C) because it was an "antique." Instead, defendant contended, the use of the weapon warranted only the three-level upward adjustment for use of a dangerous weapon specified in U.S.S.G. § 2B3.1(b)(2)(E).
The government agreed that the gun was an antique, but nonetheless maintained it was a firearm under the Guidelines. In imposing the five-level upward adjustment, the district court reasoned that the antique gun fell within the relevant definition of "firearm," see U.S.S.G. § 2B3.1 Application Note 1 (incorporating definition of "firearm" in U.S.S.G. § 1B1.1 Application Note 1(e)), and that the exclusion of antiques from the coverage of the Gun Control Act, see 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3) (1994), was inapplicable. Defendant now appeals the sentence enhancement as inappropriate under Guidelines § 2B3.1. We affirm.
I. Guidelines Construction
This appeal requires us to decide whether an antique gun is a "firearm" for purposes of the five-level enhancement set forth in U.S.S.G. § 2B3.1(b)(2)(C). We analyze this provision of the Guidelines in light of what is an allegedly contrary provision contained in the Gun Control Act of 1968, Pub.L. No. 90-618, § 101, 82 Stat. 1213 (1968) (codified at 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3) (1994)) (Gun Control Act or Act), a statute passed by Congress.
The Sentencing Commission, created under the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, Pub.L. No. 98-473, § 217(a), 98 Stat.2017-26 (1984) (codified at 28 U.S.C. §§ 991-98 (1994)), promulgates the Guidelines under an express delegation of rulemaking authority from Congress. See 28 U.S.C. § 994(a)(1). The Guidelines "are the equivalent of legislative rules adopted by federal agencies." Stinson v. United States, 508 U.S. 36, 45, 113 S.Ct. 1913, 1919, 123 L.Ed.2d 598 (1993). Because they determine what sentences individual defendants receive, the Guidelines have the force and effect of law. Congress was empowered to revoke or amend any Guidelines within the 180-day waiting period established by § 235(a)(1)(B)(ii)(III) of the Sentencing Reform Act, 98 Stat.2031-32, or, for that matter, at any time. See Mistretta v. United States, 488 U.S. 361, 393-94, 109 S.Ct. 647, 666, 102 L.Ed.2d 714 (1989); cf. 28 U.S.C. § 994(p) (current provision for Congressional consideration of amendments). Hence, the Commission's Guidelines may be trumped by an Act of Congress. For example, when a sentence is fixed by statute, a contrary Guideline would be ineffective. See Stinson, 508 U.S. at 47, 113 S.Ct. at 1920 (noting validity of a Guideline unless it contravenes federal statute or Constitution, or is plainly erroneous).