In re Parsons

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed the dismissal of Robert Adam Parsons’s petition to regain the ability to possess a firearm. The court held that his misdemeanor domestic assault conviction constituted a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9), and that his civil rights had not been restored within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)(B)(ii). Because firearm possession would violate federal law, the court concluded that relief was unavailable under West Virginia Code § 61-7-7(c).

Holdings

1. A person convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence who did not lose his or her civil rights as a result of the conviction cannot have those rights restored for purposes of the exception in 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)(B)(ii).
2. The term civil rights in 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)(B)(ii) generally refers to the rights to vote, hold elective office, and sit on a jury, rather than the right to possess a firearm.
3. A violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9) does not require the underlying state misdemeanor statute to include a qualifying domestic relationship as an element; it is sufficient that the misdemeanor was committed against a person in one of the relationships specified in 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)(A)(ii).
4. Parsons's domestic-assault conviction was a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)(A), and his firearm possession was prohibited by 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9); therefore, West Virginia Code § 61-7-7(c) did not authorize restoration of his firearm-possession ability.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a person convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence who never lost the civil rights to vote, hold elective office, or serve on a jury can invoke the civil-rights-restoration exception in 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)(B)(ii).
2. Whether the term civil rights in 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)(B)(ii) includes the right to possess a firearm.
3. Whether a misdemeanor domestic-violence predicate offense must include a qualifying domestic relationship as an element of the offense under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)(A)(ii).
4. Whether Parsons's domestic-assault conviction and relationship with the victim qualified him for the federal firearm prohibition in 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9), thereby precluding relief under West Virginia Code § 61-7-7(c).

Disposition

affirmed