Bone v. Attorney General, 150 F. Supp. 3d 140

Background

Police responded to a 911 call from Elston Bone’s wife reporting a domestic assault; she told officers firearms were in the apartment and directed them to a bedroom where a loaded handgun, two shotguns, a loaded rifle, and ammunition were found.
Officers seized the weapons; booking records showed Bone did not have a Massachusetts FID card.
Bone was tried in Norfolk County Superior Court and convicted of five counts of unlicensed possession (Mass. Gen. L. ch. 269, § 10(h)(1)) and two counts of improper storage (Mass. Gen. L. ch. 140, § 131L(a)); sentenced to probation.
Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed; SJC denied further review.
Bone filed a § 2254 habeas petition raising multiple claims: illegal seizure (Fourth Amendment); admission of hearsay/confrontation (Sixth Amendment); insufficiency of evidence; erroneous jury instructions; Second Amendment challenge; and that he held an out-of-state (New Hampshire) license.
District Court denied habeas relief, finding state courts’ rulings were reasonable or procedurally barred, but issued a certificate of appealability.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Fourth Amendment: warrantless seizure of guns	Seizure violated Fourth Amendment; evidence should be suppressed	Officers had probable cause; victim consented and officers reasonably secured weapons given danger	Denied — claim precluded by Stone because fully litigated in state court; Appeals Court decision reasonable
Sixth Amendment: hearsay testimony (victim said guns "were not hers")	Admission of hearsay violated confrontation right	Defense failed to timely object at trial; state bar on contemporaneous objection applies	Denied — state procedural default (adequate independent ground); no cause/prejudice or miscarriage of justice shown
Sufficiency of evidence (constructive possession)	Commonwealth failed to prove Bone constructively possessed the weapons	Evidence (marital relationship, apartment as defendant's address, guns in sole bedroom/nightstand, victim's statement) supported constructive possession	Denied — Appeals Court applied Latimore/Jackson standard reasonably; conviction sustainable
Jury instructions (possession/storage examples)	Instruction example equating possession with items kept in a drawer unfairly favored prosecution	Instruction was a standard model; context left factual questions for jury	Denied — no due process violation; instruction considered in overall charge
Second Amendment challenge to licensing and storage statutes	Heller/McDonald render Mass. licensing and storage statutes unconstitutional	Heller/McDonald allow regulation; SJC precedent upholding statutes (Loadholt, McGowan) controls	Denied — state decisions consistent with Supreme Court; no unreasonable application of federal law
Out-of-state license / exemption for recent arrivals	Bone had New Hampshire license or qualified as a new resident exempt from FID requirement	Exception applies only for recent arrivals (60 days); record showed Bone lived in MA over a year; defendant bore burden to prove exemption	Denied / unexhausted — not raised in state court; meritless on facts and law

Key Cases Cited

Stone v. Powell, 428 U.S. 465 (precludes federal habeas review of Fourth Amendment claims fully and fairly litigated in state court)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency of the evidence review)
Heller v. District of Columbia, 554 U.S. 570 (Second Amendment protects individual right to possess firearms in the home; right is not unlimited)
McDonald v. City of Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (incorporation of Second Amendment against the States)
Estelle v. McGuire, 502 U.S. 62 (federal habeas relief based on jury instruction error requires showing instruction infected entire trial)
Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362 (AEDPA standards: "contrary to" and "unreasonable application" of clearly established federal law)
Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322 (standard for unreasonable factual determinations under AEDPA)