Lawrence Johnson v. United States

In Dixon v. United States, 548 U.S. 1 (2006), this Court held that every “long-established common-law” affirmative defense is incorporated into the federal criminal code, even where a federal criminal statute “does not mention the defense.” Id. at 13-14. One settled common-law affirmative defense to illegal possession crimes is the so-called “innocent transitory possession” defense. Courts in New York, for example, have long recognized that citizens bear a civic duty to surrender dangerous weapons to the police. The New York Court of Appeals has thus recognized, for longer than a century, that innocent possession of a weapon for a reasonable period of time to convey it to law enforcement authorities is not a violation of the State’s illegal possession statutes. The first question presented—over which there is a persistent and openly recognized split among the federal circuits—is whether innocent transitory possession is an affirmative defense to illegal possession of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. 922(g). The second question presented—which arises only if the Court denies review of the first question— is whether the Court should hold this case pending decisions on the merits in United States v. Gary, No. 20- 444 (cert. granted Jan. 8, 2021) and Greer v. United States, No. 19-8709 (cert. granted Jan. 8, 2021).