Domingo Rosario Figueroa v. United States

Background

On June 10, 2016, Domingo Rosario Figueroa filed a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, a procedure allowing a federal prisoner to challenge a sentence. On September 12, 2019, he asked for permission to amend that petition to add a claim that his Count 8 conviction should be vacated in light of Rehaif v. United States, 139 S. Ct. 2191 (2019). The government opposed the request.

Court’s reasoning

Figueroa acknowledged that he had not raised the argument on direct appeal. The court nevertheless found that he had established cause and prejudice sufficient to overcome that procedural default. The court stated that cause may exist when the Supreme Court overturns a longstanding legal interpretation that lower courts had broadly accepted. It concluded that Rehaif had overturned an interpretation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) that every federal appeals court to address the issue had adopted. The court also found prejudice because the jury had been instructed that the government did not need to prove that Figueroa knew the crime was punishable by imprisonment for more than one year.

Ruling and deadlines

Judge Valerie Caproni granted Figueroa’s application for leave to amend. The order did not decide whether the Rehaif claim would ultimately succeed or whether the Count 8 conviction would be vacated. Figueroa was ordered to file the amended petition by February 7, 2020. If the government opposed the amended petition, its opposition was due February 21, 2020, and Figueroa’s reply was due March 6, 2020.