United States v. Jesse Penn, Jr.

OPINION

SMITH, Chief Judge.

Jesse Nathahiel Pehn, Jr., was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). After opening statements at Penn’s trial, the District Court removed one of the jurors, a student with scheduled surgery, replacing him with an alternate. Penn now appeals, arguing that removing' the juror deprived Penn of his “constitutional rights to due process, fundamental fairness, equal protection and an impartial jury” because the juror substitution violated Rule 24(c)(1) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Because the‘District…