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Poirier deserves full credit for her 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals win. |
"This was really exciting, especially after we worked on the case over the months and thought we had a chance," said Poirier, 28.
The case was U.S. v. Mooney. The defendant, John D. Mooney from Huntington, W. VA, was "charged as a felon in possession of a weapon," says an article on law.com, which automatically comes with a 15-year sentence.
Mooney, who had three prior convictions, including burglary, robbery, and attempted robbery, had possession of the gun after he removed it from the hand of his drunken ex-wife. He then "tried to call police to turn over the gun[,] but his wife disconnected the 911 calls[,] and Mooney, who worked at a nearby bar, ultimately called his boss to say he would bring it to the bar to turn it over to police there," continues the article. "When he arrived at the bar, police were waiting, tipped by his former wife, and he was arrested for possession."
The article goes on to say that "Mooney's original attorney had advised him to plead guilty because the government had to prove only that Mooney was a felon and had a firearm," recalled Judge Paul V. Niemeyer, as well as "advised the court that the law did not allow a justification defense."
However, "it was patently inaccurate for Mooney's counsel to have advised Mooney and to have represented to the court that no such defense was ever available," continued Niemeyer.
Poirier, according to law professor John Korzen, deserves full credit. "She did it all. She did the research and drafting of the briefs. We had three or four practice rounds of oral argument."
So what is the Wake Forest University graduate doing after her win? Waiting to see if she passed the bar exam.
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