FISHER, Circuit Judge.
The Government appeals from the order of the District Court dismissing the indictment against Melissa Huet ("Huet") with prejudice. Huet was charged with aiding and abetting possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and § 2. The District Court dismissed the indictment on the basis that: (1) it failed to state an offense for aiding and abetting under § 922(g)(1) and § 2; and (2) even if it did state an offense, the charge violated Huet's rights under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. For the reasons set forth below, we will reverse and remand.
On June 5, 2008, a federal grand jury sitting in the Western District of Pennsylvania returned a three-count indictment against Huet and her paramour, Marvin Hall ("Hall"). Counts One and Two, respectively, charged Hall with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), and transfer of unregistered firearms, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 5861(e). Count Three ("Count Three" or "the Indictment") charged Huet with knowingly aiding and abetting the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)
The allegations in the Indictment stem from an undercover FBI investigation into the activities of Morgan Jones ("Jones") in Clarion County, Pennsylvania. The investigation focused on attempts to purchase illegal firearms and explosive devices for criminal activities, as well as the potential manufacturing and detonation of explosive devices. During their probe, FBI agents met Hall and Huet, who lived together. Over the next nine months, agents gathered evidence allegedly connecting Hall and Huet to various criminal activities, and on June 6, 2008, a valid search warrant (the "search warrant") was executed on the couple's Clarion County home. Agents
Although Huet is legally permitted to possess a firearm, Hall was convicted in 1999 of possessing an unregistered firearm, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d), and is therefore prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm. After being informed of the raid, Huet allegedly told investigators that the guns in the house belonged to her and that it was not illegal for her to purchase weapons. Despite Huet's assertions that she alone possessed the SKS rifle, the Government sought and obtained an indictment charging Hall with illegal possession of the weapon, and Huet with aiding and abetting Hall's possession.
Huet moved to dismiss Count Three pursuant to Rule 12(b)(3)(B) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
In granting Huet's Rule 12 motion, the District Court stated that "notably absent from the Indictment ... [were] any facts setting forth how defendant Huet aided and abetted defendant Hall in his unlawful possession of the SKS rifle." United States v. Huet, No. 08-0215, 2010 WL 4853847, at *5 (W.D.Pa. Nov. 22, 2010). The District Court did not limit its inquiry to the four corners of the Indictment, however, and examined additional information to discern the Government's theory of the case. The District Court looked to materials produced pursuant to Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, as well as record evidence from Hall's case. Specifically, the Court relied upon statements set forth in the affidavit of probable cause supporting the search warrant,
The District Court had jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3231. We have jurisdiction over the District Court's order dismissing the Indictment under 18 U.S.C. § 3731. "[W]hen reviewing a motion to dismiss an indictment, our standard of review is mixed." United States v. Shenandoah, 595 F.3d 151, 156 (3d Cir. 2010) (citations omitted). We exercise plenary review over the District Court's legal conclusions and review any challenges to its factual findings for clear error. Id. Here, the primary question is not whether the District Court's findings of fact were erroneous, but whether the District Court was entitled to find and weigh facts at all. This is a legal question, over which we exercise plenary review. Id. We also exercise plenary review over a constitutional challenge to the application of a statute. United States v. Marzzarella, 614 F.3d 85, 88 n. 2 (3d Cir.2010) (citing United States v. Fullmer, 584 F.3d 132, 151 (3d Cir. 2009)).
We first address the Government's contention that the District Court erred in concluding that, under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12(b)(3)(B), Count Three failed to state an offense for aiding and abetting a felon in possession of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and § 2.
Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 7(c)(1) requires only that an indictment "be a plain, concise, and definite written statement of the essential facts constituting the offense charged." "[T]he Federal Rules `were designed to eliminate technicalities in criminal pleadings and are to be construed to secure simplicity in procedure.'" United States v. Resendiz-Ponce, 549 U.S. 102, 110, 127 S.Ct. 782, 166 L.Ed.2d 591 (2007) (quoting United States v. Debrow, 346 U.S. 374, 376, 74 S.Ct. 113, 98 L.Ed. 92 (1953)). Although detailed allegations may have been required under a common law pleading regime, they "surely are not contemplated by [the Federal Rules]." Id.
"It is well-established that `[a]n indictment returned by a legally constituted and unbiased grand jury, ... if valid
In determining whether an indictment validly states the elements of the offense, we need not blindly accept a recitation in general terms of the elements of the offense. United States v. Panarella, 277 F.3d 678, 685 (3d Cir. 2002). "Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12(b)(3)(B) allows a district court to review the sufficiency of the government's pleadings to ... ensur[e] that legally deficient charges do not go to a jury." United States v. Bergrin, 650 F.3d 257, 268 (3d Cir.2011). Although the Government is not required to set forth its entire case in the indictment, "if the specific facts" that are alleged "fall beyond the scope of the relevant criminal statute, as a matter of statutory interpretation," the indictment fails to state an offense. Panarella, 277 F.3d at 685; see United States v. Schiff, 602 F.3d 152, 162-66 (3d Cir.2010) (finding that indictment alleging "failure to rectify misstatements of others" did not, as a matter of statutory interpretation, state an offense under 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b) and SEC Rule 10b-5). However, the scope of a district court's review at the Rule 12 stage is limited. "[A] pretrial motion to dismiss an indictment is not a permissible vehicle for addressing the sufficiency of the government's evidence." United States v. DeLaurentis, 230 F.3d 659, 660 (3d Cir.2000) (citations omitted). "The government is entitled to marshal and present its evidence at trial, and have its sufficiency tested by a motion for acquittal pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29." Id. at 661. There is no criminal corollary to the civil summary judgment mechanism. Id. In evaluating a Rule 12 motion to dismiss, a district court must accept as true the factual allegations set forth in the indictment. United States v. Sampson, 371 U.S. 75, 78-79, 83 S.Ct. 173, 9 L.Ed.2d 136 (1962); United States v. Besmajian, 910 F.2d 1153, 1154 (3d Cir.1990). "Evidentiary questions— such as credibility determinations and the weighing of proof—should not be determined at this stage." Bergrin, 650 F.3d at 265 (internal marks and citation omitted). Thus, a district court's review of
To survive Huet's motion to dismiss, the Government was required to adequately set forth the elements of aiding and abetting a felon in possession under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and § 2. To establish a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2, the government must prove: "(1) that the substantive crime has been committed; and (2) that the defendant charged with aiding and abetting knew of the commission of the substantive offense and acted with intent to facilitate it." United States v. Petersen, 622 F.3d 196, 208 (3d Cir.2010) (citation omitted). Section 922(g)(1), the statute setting forth the substantive offense, requires proof that: (1) the defendant has been convicted of a crime of imprisonment for a term in excess of one year; (2) the defendant knowingly possessed the firearm; and (3) the firearm traveled in interstate commerce. United States v. Higdon, 638 F.3d 233, 239-40 (3d Cir.2011). Because § 922(g)(1) is not a specific intent statute, an individual can be convicted as an aider and abettor under § 922(g)(1) and § 2 if she knew or had reason to know that she was aiding and abetting possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. See United States v. Xavier, 2 F.3d 1281, 1286-87 (3d Cir.1993). Thus, a valid indictment under § 922(g)(1) based on an aiding and abetting theory must allege that: (1) the principal, who had been convicted of a crime carrying a term of imprisonment in excess of one year, knowingly possessed a firearm that had traveled in interstate commerce, Higdon, 638 F.3d at 239-40, and (2) the defendant knew or had reason to know that the principal was prohibited from possessing a firearm, Xavier, 2 F.3d at 1286-87, and rendered actual aid or assistance to the principal in possessing the firearm, United States v. Nolan, 718 F.2d 589, 592 (3d Cir.1983).
In this case, we conclude that the Indictment adequately set forth the required elements under § 922(g)(1) and § 2, with "sufficient factual orientation" to allow Huet to prepare her defense and invoke double jeopardy. See Kemp, 500 F.3d at 280. Count Three lists all required elements of the offense. It alleges that: (1) Hall, the principal, had previously been convicted for Possession of Unregistered Firearms, an offense punishable by a term of imprisonment in excess of one year, and that he knowingly possessed a firearm (the SKS rifle) which had traveled in interstate commerce, see Higdon, 638 F.3d at 239-40; and (2) Huet knowingly aided and abetted Hall's possession of that firearm, see Petersen, 622 F.3d at 208; Xavier, 2 F.3d at 1286-87. Count Three also includes the required "factual orientation": it specifies the time period during which the violation occurred ("on or about August 10, 2007, to on or about January 11, 2008"), see Urban, 404 F.3d at 771, and identifies the specific weapon involved, see McCarty, 862 F.2d at 144. No more was required to allow Huet to prepare her defense and invoke double jeopardy. See Kemp, 500 F.3d at 280. Accordingly, we will reverse the order of the District Court granting Huet's Rule 12(b)(3)(B) motion to dismiss for failure to state an offense.
First, although the District Court purported to make a purely "legal" determination based on "undisputed" facts, Huet, 2010 WL 4853847, at *2, the language of its memorandum opinion makes clear that it engaged in factfinding and determined that, based on those facts, the Government would not be able to prove its case. The District Court speculated as to the evidence the Government would introduce at trial, and concluded that such evidence "[did] nothing to advance the cause that defendant Huet knew, or had reason to know that defendant Hall was a felon in possession and that her owning a weapon somehow aided or abetted him in his unlawful possession of the SKS rifle." Id. at *7. By doing this, the District Court failed to adhere to the fundamental principle that in reviewing the sufficiency of an indictment, a court must accept as true all of the facts alleged. Panarella, 277 F.3d at 681; see United States v. Gallagher, 602 F.2d 1139, 1142-43 (3d Cir. 1979). "Evidentiary questions—such as ... the weighing of proof—should not be determined at [the motion to dismiss] stage." Bergrin, 650 F.3d at 265 (citation omitted).
Unlike other cases in which we have affirmed a district court's dismissal of an indictment as insufficient, Huet's case does not involve a question of whether the facts alleged in the indictment fall beyond the scope of the relevant criminal statute as a matter of statutory interpretation. See Panarella, 277 F.3d at 685; see also Schiff, 602 F.3d at 161, 167 (holding that failure to rectify the misstatements of others does not state an offense under federal securities laws and thus the government could not proceed on such a theory); Gov't of the Virgin Islands v. Greenidge, 600 F.2d 437, 438 (3d Cir.1979) (finding indictment for assault with intent to commit rape under 14 V.I.C. § 295(3) insufficient where the facts alleged showed that the person the defendant assaulted was not the same person he attempted to rape).
Moreover, although we have left open the possibility that, in limited circumstances, a district court may be able to address the sufficiency of the government's evidence in a pretrial motion to dismiss, this case does not present such a scenario. See DeLaurentis, 230 F.3d at 660 (acknowledging that district courts may be able to address sufficiency of the evidence if there is a stipulated record or if immunity issues are implicated).
Second, the District Court erred to the extent that it imposed a heightened pleading standard for offenses under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and § 2. The District Court dismissed Count Three based on its determination that "[t]he facts in the Indictment fail[ed] to set forth any allegations to support the conclusion that ... Huet aided and abetted ... Hall in his unlawful possession of the SKS rifle." Huet, 2010 WL 4853847, at *7. The District Court faulted the Government for failing to include "any specifics" as to how Huet aided Hall, and determined that the Government simply "charge[d] its conclusion." Id. at *4. Although some offenses must be pled with greater specificity than the "plain, concise, and definite written statement" contemplated by Rule 7(c)(1), we have never held aiding and abetting a felon in possession under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and § 2 to be such an offense, and we decline to do so now.
In arguing for a heightened pleading standard, Huet attempts to distinguish the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Resendiz-Ponce, 549 U.S. 102, 127 S.Ct. 782, 166 L.Ed.2d 591 (2007). In that case, the issue was whether an indictment alleging attempted illegal reentry into the United States under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) had to allege a specific overt act. Id. at 103-04, 127 S.Ct. 782. The Court held that the government did not have to include such an allegation because the use of the word "attempt," coupled with the specification of the time and place of the defendant's attempted reentry, was sufficient to put the defendant on notice of the charges against him. Id. at 108, 127 S.Ct. 782. The Court distinguished the heightened pleading requirements under 2 U.S.C. § 192, which makes it illegal for a witness summoned before a congressional committee to refuse to answer any question "pertinent to the question under inquiry." Id. at 109, 127 S.Ct. 782. Because
Moreover, the District Court's suggestion that Abuelhawa v. United States, 556 U.S. 816, 129 S.Ct. 2102, 173 L.Ed.2d 982 (2009), altered the pleading requirements for offenses involving accomplice liability is a mischaracterization of the Supreme Court's holding in that case. In Abuelhawa, the Court held that making a misdemeanor drug purchase over the telephone does not constitute "facilitation" of drug distribution under 21 U.S.C. § 843(b). Id. at 2104. Nowhere in the Abuelhawa opinion did the Court address the pleading requirements under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 7. Nor did the decision modify the law of accomplice liability under 18 U.S.C. § 2. The elements of aiding and abetting under § 2 remain the same. The Abuelhawa Court simply addressed a narrow question regarding the scope of the term "facilitate" under § 843(b). 129 S.Ct. at 2104. We decline to extend its holding any further.
We turn now to Huet's Second Amendment challenge. The Second Amendment provides: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." U.S. Const. amend. II. In District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 595, 128 S.Ct. 2783, 171 L.Ed.2d 637 (2008), the Supreme Court held for the first time that the Second Amendment confers an individual right to keep and bear arms.
Applying these principles, the Court invalidated a District of Columbia law that completely banned handgun possession in the home and required any lawful firearm to be kept disassembled and bound by a trigger lock at all times, rendering it inoperable. Id. at 628-35, 128 S.Ct. 2783. The Court explained that "the inherent right of self-defense [is] central to the Second Amendment[,]" and the challenged law impermissibly extended to the home, "where the need for defense of self, family, and property is most acute." Id. at 628, 128 S.Ct. 2783. Although the Court did not decide on a level of scrutiny to be applied in cases involving Second Amendment challenges, it rejected rational basis review. Id. at 628 n. 27, 128 S.Ct. 2783. The Court explained that the Second Amendment "elevates above all other interests the right of law-abiding, responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home." Id. at 635, 128 S.Ct. 2783.
In United States v. Marzzarella, we articulated a two-step analysis for Second Amendment claims under Heller:
614 F.3d 85, 89 (3d Cir.2010) (internal citations omitted).
Under the Marzzarella framework, the "presumptively lawful" regulatory measures identified by the Supreme Court in Heller carry the presumption of validity because they regulate conduct "falling outside the scope of the Second Amendment's guarantee." United States v. Barton, 633 F.3d 168, 172 (3d Cir.2011) (citing Marzzarella, 614 F.3d at 91) (explaining that this is a better reading of Heller than one that would require "presumptively lawful" regulations to satisfy every level of constitutional scrutiny). In other words, the longstanding limitations mentioned by the Court in Heller are exceptions to the right to bear arms. Marzzarella, 614 F.3d at 91.
The constitutional question here is presented in an unusual way due to the procedural posture of the case. The District Court's characterization of Huet's challenge as an as-applied attack is somewhat misleading. In contrast to a facial attack, an as-applied challenge "does not contend that a law is unconstitutional as written but that its application to a particular person under particular circumstances deprived that person of a constitutional
Huet argues that based on the circumstances of her case, she cannot constitutionally be charged with aiding and abetting a felon to possess a firearm. Specifically, she contends that the Government's only evidence is that she possessed the SKS rifle in her home while living with a convicted felon. The District Court agreed, finding that "to permit [the] Indictment to go forward" would be to "countenance[e] the total elimination of the right of a sane, non-felonious citizen to possess a firearm, in her home, simply because her paramour is a felon." Huet, 2010 WL 4853847, at *11.
We disagree. We cannot say that an indictment which properly alleges aiding and abetting a felon in possession under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and § 2 violates the Second Amendment under Heller. Applying Marzzarella, a properly-brought aiding and abetting charge does not burden conduct protected by the Second Amendment. See 614 F.3d at 89. The District Court's characterization of the Indictment as seeking to criminalize the otherwise legal possession of a firearm by a non-felon simply because she lives with a felon is misleading. The Indictment does not allege that Huet's possession of the SKS rifle violated the law; rather, it alleges that Huet aided and abetted Hall to possess the firearm. We are mindful of the risk that felon dispossession statutes, when combined with laws regarding accomplice liability, may be misused to subject law-abiding cohabitants to liability simply for possessing a weapon in the home. However, in this case, the District Court's determination that the Government overreached was premature. Huet's arguments regarding the circumstances of her possession must await further development of the evidentiary record.
Huet's argument that her status as a non-felon brings her case within the scope of Second Amendment protection is unavailing. Relying on our decision in United States v. Barton, 633 F.3d 168 (3d Cir.2011), Huet argues that, as a person legally entitled to own a firearm, she is categorically different than a felon, and thus cannot be charged under § 922(g)(1) for possessing a firearm. This argument is flawed. Huet's status in relation to prohibited persons is irrelevant. She is correct that her circumstances distinguish her from "persons historically barred from Second Amendment protections"; she is not barred from Second Amendment protection at all. The Government readily concedes that Huet would not violate § 922(g)(1) simply by possessing a firearm. She would, however, violate § 922(g)(1) and § 2 by aiding and abetting a felon to possess a firearm. Count Three charges her with the latter. Thus, the fact that
Because the conduct alleged in Count Three is beyond the scope of Second Amendment protection, our inquiry under Marzzarella is complete. See 614 F.3d at 89. We need not conduct a means-end inquiry. See id. However, in Marzzarella, we cautioned that because Second Amendment jurisprudence is "in its nascency," we must tread carefully when deciding whether to find conduct not explicitly identified by the Heller Court as subject to "presumptively lawful" restrictions as unprotected by the Second Amendment. Id. at 101. In other words, prong one of Marzzarella (whether conduct is protected by the Second Amendment) should be applied with caution. Because we could not be certain that the provision at issue in Marzzarella, 18 U.S.C. § 922(k), which prohibits possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, regulated conduct not protected by the Second Amendment, we declined to decide the case on prong one. Id. at 94-95. However, because it is clear to us that the allegations in Count Three fall outside the scope of Second Amendment protection, we do not hesitate to base our decision on prong one of Marzzarella in this case.
Our primary concern in Marzzarella was one of line-drawing, specifically, whether a firearm with an obliterated serial number was a "dangerous and unusual weapon." 614 F.3d at 87, 94-95. Although the Court in Heller stated that possession of "dangerous" firearms is not protected, it did not define what constitutes a "dangerous" firearm. See 554 U.S. at 627, 128 S.Ct. 2783. In Marzzarella, we noted the difficulty in determining whether a gun with an obliterated serial number was "dangerous" or "unusual." 614 F.3d at 101. On the one hand, because an unmarked firearm is equally effective as a marked firearm, thus giving law-abiding citizens no reason to prefer the former over the latter, unmarked firearms "have value primarily for persons seeking to use them for illicit purposes." Id. at 95 (citations omitted). On the other hand, the absence of a serial number seems categorically different than other "dangerous" characteristics, such as a sawed-off barrel on a shotgun. Id. Although a sawed-off shotgun "is dangerous and unusual in that its concealability fosters its use in illicit activity, it is also dangerous and unusual because of its heightened capability to cause damage." Id. (citing United States v. Amos, 501 F.3d 524, 532 (6th Cir.2007) (McKeague, J., dissenting)).
Huet's case presents no line-drawing problem. Because § 922(g)(1) and § 2 do not restrict the right of possession of the aider and abettor, Count Three simply does not implicate Huet's rights under the
For the foregoing reasons, we will reverse the order of the District Court granting Huet's motion to dismiss and remand for further proceedings. We hold that: (1) Count Three was sufficient to state an offense for aiding and abetting a felon in possession under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and § 2; and (2) Count Three does not violate the Second Amendment.