United States v. Ressam
Question Presented:
Ressam was convicted of various federal crimes, including the felony of carrying an explosive during the commission of a felony, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(h)(2). The felony on which the conviction was based was the felony of falsely identifying himself as Benni Noris on a customs declaration (Ressam was arrested with bomb-making materials while attempting to enter the United States from Canada with false passport in the name of Benni Noris). Ressam appealed his conviction, alleging that § 844(h)(2) requires that the crime of carrying an explosive during a felony must be “in relation to” the commission of the underlying felony. The government had not offered any evidence that Ressam’s carrying of explosives was in any way related to his falsifying the customs declaration form.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Ressam’s conviction on Count 9, holding that § 844(h)(2) requires a relationship between the underlying crime and the act of carrying an explosive. The Ninth Circuit relied on one of its earlier decisions which construed a similar statute to implicitly include a relationship requirement between the offense of carrying a firearm during a felony and the underlying felony.
