Opinion ID: 3036543
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: conviction on count one

Text: Our primary concern is the government’s appeal of the judgment of acquittal as to Count Two. We diverge, however, from our main inquiry to address certain representations made by the government for the first time during oral argument before the en banc panel. Solely on the basis of those stateUNITED STATES v. OGLES 2491 ments the dissent concludes that Ogles’ conviction on Count One “is plainly and simply a ‘wrongful conviction.’ ” Dissent at p. 2504 (quoting Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78, 88 (1935)). We disagree. During oral argument, the government suggested for the first time that a defendant cannot be convicted under both § 922(b)(3) and § 922(a)(1)(A)—i.e., as a licensed and unlicensed dealer—with regard to the same conduct. The government stated that when the case was charged and indicted, it believed Ogles was appropriately charged with both counts. Although the government claimed that it re-evaluated its position in light of the three-judge panel opinion, it continued to press its original position as late as the filing of its response to the petition for rehearing en banc. The government’s current position is unclear. On the one hand, the government advised that Ogles’ conduct is best understood as “unlicensed” and thus falls under § 922(a)(1)(A) (Count Two), on which he was acquitted, rather than under § 922(b)(3) (Count One), on which he was convicted. At the same time, the government represented that it would concede the invalidity of the § 922(b)(3) conviction only if we conclude that double jeopardy does not bar the government’s appeal, and if we agree with the government’s legal theory as to the merits of § 922(a)(1)(A) and remand the acquitted Count Two for a new trial. Although the dissent interprets these representations as a “concession”—which we must accept—that the § 922(b)(3) conviction is invalid, Dissent at p. 2507, to take that position is to fall into one of two traps. One trap is to read a non-concession as a concession. When a party says that it would concede a point but only if we already agreed with that party’s position, the party has made no concession at all. This logic may be more distasteful when applied to government counsel, but the logic still remains. [1] The other trap is, in effect, to allow ourselves to be “bound by the government’s statement of the law.” Dissent at 2492 UNITED STATES v. OGLES p. 2505. We are not bound by a party’s concession as to the meaning of the law, even if that party is the government and even in the context of a criminal case. See United States v. Miller, 822 F.2d 828, 832 (9th Cir. 1987) (“Even if a concession is made by the government, we are not bound by the government’s erroneous view of the law.” (internal quotation marks omitted)). The district court properly understood the statute. See Caldwell, 49 F.3d at 252 (holding that a gun dealer’s license under 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(1)(A) is not location-specific). In this