Published on: Friday, March 5, 2021
In 2003, a Massachusetts man was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 7 states an indictment "must be signed by" a government lawyer. After his conviction and sentence, he learns that the federal prosecutor who signed the indictment had not paid his bar dues, so the prosecutor's law license was suspended throughout the prosecution. He filed a habeas motion to vacate the conviction. First Circuit: get real. The suspension of the prosecutor's law license is no reason to undo the conviction.
The case is Kevin M. Kelley v. United States, 19-1932 (1st Cir. Feb. 25, 2021).