Opinion ID: 797298
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Importance of United States v. Ford

Text: 20 The constructive amendment issue, in my opinion, is governed by this court's prior decision in United States v. Ford, 872 F.2d 1231 (6th Cir.1989), which is virtually on all fours with the facts of the present case. In Ford, the indictment charged the defendant with possession of a firearm on or about September 28, 1987. At trial, the government presented evidence that the defendant possessed a firearm during an incident of domestic violence on September 28, 1987. However, the government also presented evidence that the defendant had purchased a firearm on November 2, 1986, and that he had shot himself in the hand on August 9, 1987. The judge instructed the jury that it was sufficient if the defendant possessed the firearm on a date reasonably near the date alleged in the indictment. During deliberations, the jury asked whether it could find the defendant guilty if he possessed the firearm on August 9, 1987. The judge instructed the jury that the critical factor was whether the defendant possessed a firearm after he had been convicted of a felony, and that the time frame could include any date between November 2, 1986 and September 28, 1997. 21 On appeal, this court properly found that this instruction resulted in a constructive amendment of the indictment, which was per se prejudicial. The court acknowledged that proof of the exact date was not required as long as a date reasonably near the date alleged was established, but then stated a very important rule that governs the present case: 22 [W]e believe the reasonably near rule . . . contemplates a single act the exact date of which is not precisely known by the grand jury and, therefore, does not need to be proved with exactitude. Here, the November 1986 (purchase), August 1987 (incident on highway), and September 1987 (domestic violence) events involved substantially separate incidents of alleged possession. Absent language indicating the grand jury's intent to permit a conviction based on more than one incident of criminal conduct, a court cannot assume that a grand jury would have included in its indictment an additional incident of criminal conduct. See Bain, 121 U.S. at 10, 7 S.Ct. at 786. It is therefore possible that the jury convicted Ford based on an incident of possession not intended by the grand jury to be part of the charge. This frustrates the fifth amendment grand jury indictment guarantee. It is also possible that some jurors may have found that Ford possessed a firearm on September 28, 1987, while others may have found possession on August 9, 1987, and others on still another date all within the time period stated in the district judge's instruction. It is therefore uncertain whether the guilty verdict returned on Count III was unanimous as is required by Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 31(a). 23 We therefore hold that the modification of the possession charge in Count III at trial by the court constituted a constructive amendment of the indictment. This constructive amendment was prejudicial per se and warrants reversal of Ford's conviction on Count III. 24 Ford, 872 F.2d at 1236-37 (emphasis added) (footnote omitted).