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By Matthew Russell Lee, Previous Thread
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SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 6 – The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Rehaif v. US in June resulted in an oral argument in Simmons v. US on October 21, 2019 before Judge Valerie E. Caproni of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

    Robert Simmons had moved to vacate his 15-year prison sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act, and the process was midway through. Then after the Supreme Court decided Rehaif, his Federal Defender lawyers made a pre-trial motion.

    The issue on October 21, 2019 was whether it can properly be called a pre-trial motion so long after conviction. Assistant US Attorney Peter Davis repeatedly argued no, while also opposing Simmons' motion on the merits.

    Federal Defenders - with two at the defense table and two in Judge Caproni's courtroom gallery otherwise empty but for Inner City Press - argued that the grand jury that indicted Simmons was not correctly instructed on what they would need to find, about Simmons' knowledge of his status in connection with possessing a firearm. See, Rehaif v. US, No. 17-9560, __ S. Ct. __, 2018 WL 2552487 (June 21, 2019).

   Judge Caproni said the purpose of requiring some issues to be raised pre-trial is to allow the government and amend and correct how it charges offenses.

    Judge Caproni gave Federal Defenders the last word, said she will issue a ruling at some point but urged both sides to discuss and try to find some other way to dispose of the case that advances justice. Inner City Press wrote that it would continue to follow the case.

And it has. On April 6, 2021, the US Attorney's Office filed a "nolo prosequi" dropping the indictment against Robert Simmons.

The case is Simmons v. US, 16-cv-2055 (Caproni) and US v. Simmons, 08-cr-1280 (Caproni).