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Jack Witt Voris v. United States

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 18-10410 · judgment July 7, 2020

Certiorari denied · April 5, 2021
Pre-decision estimate: 3% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

In United States v. Ladner, this Court applied the rule of lenity to hold that a defendant who wounded two officers with a single gunshot could only be guilty of one assault under 18 U.S.C. § 111. The questions presented are:

  1. Whether firing multiple gunshots in a single assaultive act can be construed as multiple, distinct offenses under 18 U.S.C. § 111 as the Ninth Circuit held, or whether the number of offenses depends upon the actual number of distinguishable assaultive acts as the First, Fourth, Sixth, Eighth, Tenth, and D.C. Circuits have held.

  2. Whether the Ninth Circuit’s definition of a firearm “use” under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A) is proper, or whether the definition of “use” as applied in the Second, Sixth, Seventh, and D.C. Circuits is proper.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Joshua Fisher Hamilton
Hernandez & Hamilton, PC

For respondent
Brian H. Fletcher
Acting Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Apr 05 2021
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Mar 16 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/1/2021.
  3. Mar 12 2021
    Reply of petitioner Jack Witt Voris filed. (Distributed)
  4. Feb 26 2021
    Brief of respondent United States of America in opposition filed.
  5. Jan 28 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including February 26, 2021.
  6. Jan 27 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from January 27, 2021 to February 26, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
  7. Dec 14 2020
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including January 27, 2021.
  8. Dec 11 2020
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from December 28, 2020 to January 27, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
  9. Nov 19 2020
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including December 28, 2020.
  10. Nov 18 2020
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from November 27, 2020 to December 28, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
  11. Oct 23 2020
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 27, 2020)