National Legal Professional Associates continues to
successfully assist counsel for defendants who were convicted of §924(c) firearm
convictions in the overturning, their convictions after the decision of the
United States Supreme Court in the case of Bailey vs. United
States. The decisions in the cases of Gary vs. United
States (97-70051 USDC Mich) and United States vs. Alston,
121 F.3d 700 (4th Cir. 1997) are two such NLPA victories involving
this issue, and techniques for overturning §924(c) firearms convictions.
In the case of both Mr. Alston and Mr. Gary, after having been
convicted of the alleged possession of a weapon during the commission of a drug
offense, the defendants contacted NLPA to have NLPA assist their counsel in
attacking their convictions. In both cases there was no evidence that either
defendant was actually "using" or "possessing" a weapon during the course of the
drug related offense for which they had been convicted. Yet, the jury had
convicted both individuals of the §924(c) conviction which had added an
additional 60 months of consecutive confinement to each of their sentences.
NLPA, working with both Mr. Gary and Mr. Alston’s counsel, drafted §2255 motions
for counsel addressing this issue, motions which were ultimately granted by the
court vacating their firearms convictions, thereby saving both Mr. Alston and
Mr. Gary 5 years confinement.
