A Conditional Discharge Is Not a Conviction for Purposes of the Federal Felon-in-Possession Law

In United States v. Smith, 939 F.3d 612 (4th Cir. 2019), the Fourth Circuit held that a defendant who received a conditional discharge for a prior felony was not “convicted” of that crime within the meaning of the federal felon-in-possession statute. He was therefore not a felon under that law, and thus not barred from possessing a firearm under it. The appellate court reversed his conviction. The case gives us an opportunity to review what we know (and don’t know) about the subsequent effect of conditional discharges and PJCs. Phil Dixon covered the facts of Smith in his Fourth Circuit case summaries here. In 2016 the defendant pled guilty to larceny by employee. On joint motion of the State and the defendant, the judge placed him on conditional discharge probation under G.S. 15A-1341(a4). He was twice caught with pistols during his probation, but before those violations were heard in state court he was indicted federally for being a felon in possession of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. 922(g). He was convicted in federal court and appealed. The Fourth Circuit reversed his conviction, holding that a defendant with a prior conditionally discharged felony for which judgment hasn't been entered has not been “convicted” within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). The court made that determination by considering whether a conditional discharge is a conviction as a matter of state law, as required under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20)(B) (“What constitutes a conviction of such a crime shall be determined in accordance with the [...]