Lewis v. United States

Summary

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of Sean Brown and Sophia Lewis’s motions to dismiss weapons-related charges based on statutory immunity for voluntarily and peaceably surrendering firearms and ammunition. The court held that Lewis presented no evidence of a clear and unequivocal intent to surrender the items, and that Brown failed to satisfy the statutory requirements because one firearm was loaded and his conduct was ambiguous. The court also confirmed jurisdiction over the interlocutory appeal.

Holdings

1. Denial of a motion to dismiss on grounds of statutory immunity supports an interlocutory appeal, giving the court jurisdiction over the pretrial matter.
2. Lewis was not entitled to statutory immunity because the record contained no evidence that she clearly and unequivocally intended to deliver and abandon the weapons and ammunition to police or took any step to satisfy the statutory surrender requirements.
3. Brown was not entitled to immunity because he failed to prove both compliance with the statute's surrender requirements and a clear and unequivocal intent to deliver and abandon the firearms and ammunition to police.
4. The court declined to construe D.C. Code § 7-2507.05(a) broadly to provide immunity for the Title 22 prohibited-weapon offenses because Brown failed to establish immunity for the Title 7-related unregistered-firearm and unlawful-ammunition offenses.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Brown was entitled to immunity from arrest and prosecution under D.C. Code § 7-2507.05(a) when one firearm was loaded and his conduct did not clearly and unequivocally demonstrate an intent to deliver and abandon the weapons and ammunition to police.
2. Whether Lewis was entitled to statutory immunity based on her own conduct or derivatively on any immunity that might have been available to Brown.
3. Whether denial of a pretrial motion to dismiss on statutory-immunity grounds was immediately appealable.

Disposition

affirmed