APPELLATE COURT REJECTS STIPULATION OF ELEMENTS TO AN OFFENSE

Joemon D. Higden was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. In order to convict him the government had to prove three elements:

(1) the defendant has been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
(2) the defendant knowingly possessed the firearm; and
(3) the firearm had travelled in interstate commerce.

The prosecution and the defense stipulated to the first and the third elements. Instead of instructing the jury on all three elements and telling them that the parties stipulated to the existence of two of the elements, the judge told the jury that their sole job was to determine whether the prosecution had proved the second element by beyond a reasonable doubt.

The jury hung and a second trial was scheduled. when the judge indicated he planned to follow the same regime in the second trial the U. S. attorney objected and appealed to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The Third Circuit ruled that the procedure was wrong since the jury must find the existence of all of the elements. The Court, citing the Sixth Amendment. The Court said that every defendant is entitled to a jury determination of each element. But here the defendant stipulated to two elements and agreed that the jury would only be asked to find that he knowingly possessed the gun. The advantage to the defendant is that the jury would not find out that he is a convicted felon. Protecting Higden’s right to have a jury determine every element of the offense actually hurts him. The trial judge realized that but sadly the appellate court did not.