Gates v. United States of America

Filing 38

ORDER: Mr. Gates's motion for an extension of time (Dkt. No. 35 ) is GRANTED, and the Court has considered his untimely reply brief (Dkt. No. 36 ). Grounds 13 and 14 of Mr. Gates's amended 28 U.S.C. § 2255 petition are DISMISSED. Mr. Gates's § 2255 motion is DISMISSED with prejudice. A certificate of appealability is DENIED. Signed by U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour. **6 PAGE(S), PRINT ALL** (Christopher Gates, Prisoner ID: 360360) (SR)

Case 2:20-cv-00446-JCC Document 38 Filed 07/21/22 Page 1 of 6

THE HONORABLE JOHN C. COUGHENOUR

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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CHRISTOPHER GATES,

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v.

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Petitioner,

CASE NO. C20-0446-JCC
ORDER

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

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Respondent.

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This matter comes before the Court on Mr. Gates’s amended 28 U.S.C. § 2255 petition

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(see Dkt. Nos. 1, 12–14) and his motion for an extension of time (Dkt. No. 35). Having

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thoroughly considered the briefing and the relevant record, the Court hereby GRANTS the

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motion for extension of time, DISMISSES the amended petition, and DENIES issuance of a

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certificate of appealability.

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I.

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BACKGROUND
The Court assumes familiarity with the underlying facts of Mr. Gates’s arrest,

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prosecution, conviction, and the instant § 2255 motion. (See Dkt. No. 6 at 1–3). After the Court

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dismissed Grounds 2, 3, and 4 of his original petition, (Dkt. No. 6 at 6), Mr. Gates moved to

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amend to assert 18 more grounds for relief. (Dkt. Nos. 8, 12–14). The Court denied a certificate

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of appealability as to Original Ground 1 and granted Mr. Gates’s motion to assert Amended

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Grounds 13 and 14, which are now his operative claims. (Dkt. No. 15 at 10–11).
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Grounds 13 and 14 depend on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Rehaif v. United

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States that a defendant does not commit the offense of being a felon in possession of a firearm if

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the defendant lacks knowledge of his felon status. See 139 S. Ct. 2191, 2195 (2019). Here, Mr.

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Gates’s Rehaif claim is based on his asserted belief that his civil rights had been restored. (Dkt.

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No. 30 at 4). Convictions for which civil rights have been restored do not confer “felon” status

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for purposes of the felon-in-possession statute, see 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20), so if Mr. Gates

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believed his rights had been restored as required to trigger § 921(a)(20), that could negate

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scienter.

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Mr. Gates’s only evidence for this assertion is a sworn declaration stating that he

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believed, upon his release from state custody for serving a 2012 state felony sentence, that he

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was no longer considered a “felon” under Washington State Law and was “entitled to restoration

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of [his] civil rights.” (Dkt. No. 14 at 1–2). “[F]urthering [his] belief that [his] civil rights had

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been restored” was that, in 2014, he successfully registered to vote and obtained a voter’s packet

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(although Mr. Gates does not state that he actually voted). (Id. at 2).

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II.

DISCUSSION

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A. Legal Standard

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The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 requires someone seeking

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habeas relief from a federal criminal judgment to file within a year of “the date on which the

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judgment of conviction becomes final.” 28 U.S.C. § 2255(f)(1). Mr. Gates concedes that

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Grounds 13 and 14 are time-barred and do not relate back to his original petition, but he alleges

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the statute of limitations does not apply because these grounds raise claims of actual innocence.

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(Dkt. No. 12 at 2–3).

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A credible claim of actual innocence can avoid the statute of limitations. See McQuiggin

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v. Perkins, 569 U.S. 383, 386 (2013). However, for assertions of actual innocence to serve “as a

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gateway to defaulted claims,” petitioners must show that, in light of new evidence, “it is more

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likely than not that no reasonable juror would have found petitioner guilty beyond a reasonable
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doubt.” House v. Bell, 547 U.S. 518, 537 (2006) (emphasizing that this standard is “demanding”

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and permits review only in “extraordinary” cases) (internal citation and quotations omitted).

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Unlike when deciding a motion for summary judgment, a court determining whether a petitioner

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has met the standard for actual innocence “may consider how the timing of the submission and

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the likely credibility of the affiants bear on the probable reliability of that [new] evidence.”

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Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298, 332 (1995).

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Rehaif interpreted 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) to require the Government to prove beyond a

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reasonable doubt that a defendant possessed scienter as to being a felon. United States v. Werle,

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35 F.4th 1195, 1202 (9th Cir. 2022) (citing Rehaif, 139 S. Ct. at 2200). To prevail on a Rehaif

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claim, defendants must identify an “objective basis in the record” that might have led a jury to

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believe the defendant was unaware of a qualifying felony. United States v. Harris, 2022 WL

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2593523 at slip op. 1 (9th Cir. 2022) (citing Werle, 35 F.4th at 1207 n.7) (emphasis added).

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B. Grounds 13 & 14

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Mr. Gates’s Rehaif claim of actual innocence is premised on 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20),

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which excludes from the definition of “crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding

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one year” any conviction for which a defendant’s civil rights have been restored, “unless such

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. . . restoration of civil rights expressly provides that the person may not . . . possess, or receive

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firearms.” (Emphasis added). 1 To determine whether a convicted felon’s civil rights have been

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restored, the Court looks to state law. See id; United States v. Gomez, 911 F.2d 219, 220 (9th Cir.

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1990).

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Mr. Gates asserts that he believed his civil rights had been restored because he had

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completed his state prison sentence and successfully registered to vote in 2014. (Dkt. No. 14 at

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2). But under Washington law, the right to vote is automatically restored following felony

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convictions in federal court “as long as the person is no longer incarcerated.” RCW 29A.08.520.

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To clarify, Mr. Gates is not asserting an affirmative defense that his civil rights had in fact been
restored; instead, he says he thought they had been and therefore he lacked scienter.
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All other civil rights––including the right to possess firearms––are restored only by the

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sentencing court’s issuance of a certificate of discharge, which may issue once the sentencing

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court receives notice that the offender has completed “all requirements of the sentence, including

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any and all legal financial obligations.” RCW 9.94A.637(1).

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State statutes that automatically restore civil rights “erase the ‘conviction’ for federal

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purposes only if state law fully restores the ex-prisoner’s right to possess weapons: when the

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restoration of civil rights occurs entirely by virtue of the statute books, other enacted statutes

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constitute express restrictions on the scope of the restoration.” United States v. Glaser, 14 F.3d

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1213, 1215 (7th Cir. 1994). Because Washington law creates separate tracks for restoring voting

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rights versus firearm ownership rights, RCW 29A.08.520’s automatic restoration of voting rights

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necessarily excludes the right to own or possess firearms, triggering the “unless” caveat in

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§ 921(a)(20). Therefore, Mr. Gates’s evidence establishes, at most, that he believed his civil

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rights had been restored in a way that “expressly provides that the person may not . . . possess, or

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receive firearms.” 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20). In other words, even if Mr. Gates believed what he

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now says he believed, he offers no evidence that he believed his right to possess firearms had

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been restored as would be needed to negate scienter.

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At a more basic level, while Mr. Gates may have genuinely believed he had completed

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the requirements of his state felony sentence, as he now claims, (see Dkt. No. 14 at 1–2), he

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undisputedly knew about that felony conviction. See United States v. Gates, CR15-0253-JCC,

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Dkt. No. 95 at 4 (W.D. Wash. 2015); Greer v. United States, 141 S. Ct. 2090, 2097 (“If a person

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is a felon, he ordinarily knows he is a felon.”). And because § 921(a)(20) “undoes” felony status

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only where civil rights have been affirmatively restored under state law, believing that you have

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completed the requirements of your sentence is essentially irrelevant if you do not also believe

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that you have undergone whatever process state law requires to actually “erase” your status as a

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felon under § 921(a)(20). Because Mr. Gates provides no evidence that he believed a certificate

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of discharge had issued, the evidence he cites to establish his lack of scienter is insufficient.
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Finally, Mr. Gates’s new evidence of actual innocence must be viewed in the context of

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other evidence that the jury would have heard (assuming Mr. Gates had not agreed to try the case

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to the bench on stipulated facts). In particular, the evidence would have also shown that, after

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police arrested him on June 15, 2015—for unlawfully possessing a firearm—state law

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enforcement arrested him again a week later and again found a firearm in his possession. See

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Gates, CR15-0253-JCC, Dkt. Nos. 27-1 at 4–5; 95 at 3.

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As a result, the Court FINDS that (1) there is no need for an evidentiary hearing and (2)

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Mr. Gates fails to establish that it is more likely than not that no reasonable juror presented with

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the evidence he now offers would have found him guilty of being a felon possessing a firearm.

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See Adams v. Harrison, 266 F. App’x 560, 9th Cir. 2008 (citing Griffin v. Johnson, 350 F.3d

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956, 966 (9th Cir. 2003) (affirming denial of evidentiary hearing where petitioner did not

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establish “that an evidentiary hearing would produce evidence more reliable or more probative

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than the [affidavits] before the district court” (alteration original)). Mr. Gates’s actual innocence

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claim fails, and his amended grounds for relief are thus time-barred.

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The Court also FINDS that no reasonable jurist could debate whether these grounds

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should have been resolved differently, precluding the issuance of a certificate of appealability as

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to Grounds 13 and 14. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(3); Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 327

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(2003).

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III.

CONCLUSION

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Accordingly, the Court ORDERS as follows:

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1. Mr. Gates’s motion for an extension of time (Dkt. No. 35) is GRANTED, and the

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Court has considered his untimely reply brief (Dkt. No. 36);
2. Grounds 13 and 14 of Mr. Gates’s amended 28 U.S.C. § 2255 petition are
DISMISSED;

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3. Mr. Gates’s § 2255 motion is DISMISSED with prejudice; and

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4. A certificate of appealability is DENIED.
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DATED this 21st day of July 2022.

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John C. Coughenour
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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ORDER
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