US v. Locke:
Locke was charged with possession of a firearm after having been convicted of a
misdemeanor crime of domestic violence (“MCDV”). There was no dispute that he
possessed a gun or that he did so after having been convicted in Virginia of
assault and battery against a household member. However, Locke argued that
conviction could not count as a MCDV because of a provision that exempted
convictions where the defendant had been “entitled to a jury trial” and did not
“knowingly and intelligently waive” that right. Locke argued that he made no
such waiver. The district court rejected Locke’s argument and he was convicted
at trial.
A divided Fourth Circuit affirmed
Locke’s conviction. The court explained that in the Virginia Juvenile and
Domestic Relations Court (“JDR”) where Locke was prosecuted he did not have a
right to a trial by jury. Since there was no such right, there was nothing for
Locke to waive and he couldn’t take advantage of the exemption to the MCDV
definition. While Locke would have had such a right had he taken an appeal from
his conviction to the circuit court, since he did not he never had such a
right. The court went on to hold, applying the “presumption of regularity” of
guilty pleas that Locke could not demonstrate any infirmity in his state
conviction anyway.
Judge Berger (sitting by designation
from SDWV) dissented. She argued that Virginia generally provided a right to a
jury trial for persons like Locke who were charged with a Class A misdemeanor
and that state courts had upheld the JDR system against constitutionally
challenges only because the appeal to the circuit court maintained the
defendant’s right to trial. Thus, Locke did have a right to a jury trial that
he never waived.
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