Court Opinion

ID: 9481583
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:24:37.315995+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:48:26.245012
License: Public Domain

MULLEN, District Judge,
dissenting:
I agree with the conclusions of the majority in all portions of the opinion except Part II, which holds that the trial court did not err in preventing Etheridge from presenting to the jury evidence that a state judge told him that he could use firearms for hunting purposes only. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.
I believe that the trial court should have allowed Etheridge to present the proffered evidence to the jury that he used the guns only for hunting and Etheridge’s own proffered testimony that a state judge told him upon a prior arrest that he could possess firearms for the limited purpose of hunting. I find the reasoning in United States v. Brady, 710 F.Supp. 290 (D.Colo.1989), persuasive in concluding that reliance upon a state trial judge’s statement of the law, even federal law, can be a defense under the due process clause to prosecution for conduct conforming to the judge’s statement of the law. Therefore, I conclude that Etheridge should have been permitted to present evidence on the issue to the jury. Refusal to permit evidence on this issue was error, which necessitates a reversal of the conviction in this case.
United States v. Bruscantini, 761 F.2d 640 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 904, 106 S.Ct. 271, 88 L.Ed.2d 233 (1985), relied upon by the majority, held that the rule in Cox v. Louisiana, 379 U.S. 559, 85 S.Ct. 476, 13 L.Ed.2d 487 (1965), and Raley v. Ohio, 360 U.S. 423, 79 S.Ct. 1257, 3 L.Ed.2d 1344 (1959), did not apply to a case such as this one, in which a state judge allegedly furnished advice about a federal law, and limited the due process protection to cases *324in which the government that advises and the government that prosecutes are the same.
As explained in Brady, the holdings in Cox and Raley were intended to prevent fundamental unfairness and injustice. Brady, 710 F.Supp. at 295-96. The focus on the due process inquiry should be upon the unfairness of punishing an individual who conforms his actions to advice given by a judge acting within his jurisdiction. Because a state judge is required to honor both state and federal law in state court proceedings, a person is entitled to rely upon a state judge’s statement of federal law as well as state law.
I make no judgment as to the quality or credibility of the evidence offered by Ether-idge. The court records showing the dismissal of an arrest warrant are certainly less than compelling. However, Etheridge stood ready to testify as to what the state judge told him. I think that the jury was entitled to hear that evidence and other evidence and make its own credibility determinations.
Because the trial judge erroneously prevented Etheridge from presenting evidence on a matter that, if believed, could have constituted a defense to the charge, I would reverse. Therefore, I respectfully dissent.