United States v. Pierotti

David Pierotti (defendant) pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic battery, and after his probation ended, went to buy a hunting rifle. On the required federal purchase form, he initially answered "yes" to whether he'd been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, but after a pop-up prompted him to review his answers, he changed that one answer to "no" and resubmitted, without clicking a linked instruction button that would have clarified his conviction qualified. He claimed his probation officer and a sheriff friend had told him he could buy a gun if his conviction wasn't a felony. Pierotti was indicted for knowingly making a false statement on the form, the jury received both a standard "knowingly" instruction and a willful-blindness ("ostrich") instruction, and he was convicted and appealed the giving of that instruction.