Conviction upheld in complex gun case

The U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a man who claimed he should have been able to tell a jury that he was justified in illegally owning a gun.

Danny Dutton had argued that he had been threatened repeatedly starting the day after he shot and killed a man who had broken into his apartment and begun beating him. Dutton had a prior felony drug conviction that prohibited him from owning a gun, but he contended that he needed it to protect himself.

The complicated situation arose in 2007 when Aaron Barbosa and another man broke into Dutton's apartment and Barbosa started hitting Dutton with a steel pipe, according to police reports. Dutton shot and killed Barbosa.

The shooting was found to be self defense, and state charges were dismissed. However, about six weeks after the shooting, Dutton was charged in federal court with being a felon in possession of a gun, after federal probation officials found a gun on Dutton during a search.

At this federal trial, Dutton wanted to have the jury instructed as to why he owned a gun because of the many threats on his life that he had received and filed a motion to permit it, but U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell denied the motion.

After his conviction, Dutton appealed, saying the court's refusal to give that jury instruction on justification was "an abuse of discretion."

However, the appeals court on Tuesday ruled that Dutton was not in immediate danger at the time and upheld his conviction. Dutton currently is serving 37 months in prison.

— Linda Thomson