United States v. Tremaine Johnson, 803 F.3d 279

Tremaine Johnson challenged two felon-in-possession convictions arising from possessing a rifle and a handgun in Michigan after violating Florida probation.
The rifle conviction was based on hearsay evidence; government conceded error and it was deemed not harmless.
The handgun conviction remained; Johnson argued hearsay, improper jury knowledge of a prior felony, and a faulty instruction on an element.
Johnson was charged by grand jury with two counts under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1); he represented himself at trial with standby counsel.
The district court sentenced Johnson to two concurrent 60-month terms; on appeal the court vacated the rifle conviction and remanded, while affirming the handgun conviction and vacating both sentences for resentencing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the rifle conviction must be vacated due to hearsay	Hearing evidence was hearsay and prejudicial	Concession Justice deemed error not harmless	Rifle conviction vacated
Whether the handgun conviction was tainted by hearsay and other errors	Hearsay; improper access to prior felony; faulty element instruction	Some errors not reversible; substantial evidence supported conviction	Handgun conviction affirmed; errors not reversible or harmless overall
Whether admitting the prior felony name requires reversal	Names should have been redacted	Stipulation unavailable or refused; name admissible upon proof of prior qualifying conviction	No reversible error; name admissible as proper element proof
Whether the trial court’s brief comment on interstate commerce affected the verdict	Comment improperly suggested element proven	No impact on substantial rights; jury instruction protected; no plain error	No plain error; conviction upheld for handgun count

United States v. Henderson, 626 F.3d 326 (6th Cir. 2010) (harmless error review for improperly admitted evidence)
United States v. Walker, 734 F.3d 451 (6th Cir. 2013) (dominion and control over firearm for possession)
United States v. Arnold, 486 F.3d 177 (6th Cir. 2007) (possession under dominion theory; en banc decision cited)
Old Chief v. United States, 519 U.S. 172 (1997) (prior-conviction stipulation; admissibility of named felony determined by stipulation)
Puckett v. United States, 556 U.S. 129 (2009) (plain-error review for unraised trial errors)
Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U.S. 510 (1979) (error in instructing that government proved an element of crime)
Quercia v. United States, 289 U.S. 466 (1933) (judge as fact-finder; limits on judicial commentary)
United States v. Alt, 996 F.2d 827 (6th Cir. 1993) (plain-error standard when no objection raised)
Myers v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs., 893 F.2d 840 (6th Cir. 1990) (prior-conviction admissibility and sentencing)
Pearce v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 867 F.2d 253 (6th Cir. 1988) (precedent on prior-conviction use)