Opinion ID: 215896
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Russell Booker

Text: In 1998, Russell Booker pled guilty in the district court in Skowhegan, Maine, to one count of simple assault against his then-wife, Cheryl Booker. Tracking the language of Maine's assault statute, Me. Rev.Stat. Ann. tit. 17-A, § 207, the criminal complaint alleged that Booker did intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly cause bodily injury or offensive physical contact to his wife. Booker was sentenced to a term of 364 days' incarceration, all but fourteen days of which was suspended, and a year's probation. In addition, the court fined Booker $570, ordered that he complete a domestic violence program, and forbade him any contact with his wife until both she and a domestic violence counselor approved contact in writing. Eight years later, in 2006, Booker accidentally shot a hunting companion with a.50-caliber black-powder rifle while deer hunting. Officers from the Maine Warden Service, who were called to investigate, questioned both Booker and his injured companion. In the course of that questioning, the officers learned that Booker was an avid hunter and owned a number of firearms. Based on this information and the record of Booker's prior domestic assault conviction, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms obtained a search warrant for Booker's residence. Federal officers executed the warrant and found seven firearms in a gun case in Booker's home. In January 2008, a federal grand jury indicted Booker on two counts of knowing possession of a firearm by an individual convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9). Booker pled not guilty. He proceeded to file a series of motions to dismiss the indictment, arguing, inter alia, that (1) since Maine's simple assault statute reaches reckless as well as intentional conduct, a conviction pursuant to the statute does not necessarily involve a sufficient mens rea to qualify as a predicate misdemeanor crime of domestic violence within the meaning of § 922(g)(9); and (2) § 922(g)(9)'s restriction on individual possession of firearms violates the Second Amendment. The district court denied each of Booker's motions. After the Supreme Court issued its opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 128 S.Ct. 2783, 171 L.Ed.2d 637 (2008), Booker moved for reconsideration of his argument for dismissal under the Second Amendment, which the court again denied. In September 2008, Booker entered into a conditional plea agreement. He reserved the right to appeal a number of the district court's orders, including those disposing of his motions to dismiss the indictment. Following a change-of-plea hearing, the court accepted Booker's conditional plea. In June 2009, the district court entered judgment and sentenced Booker to three years' probation and a $1000 fine.