Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca11-15-11390/USCOURTS-ca11-15-11390-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Dana Johnson
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

________________________

No. 15-11390

Non-Argument Calendar

________________________

D.C. Docket No. 1:14-cr-20630-RLR-1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

 Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

DANA JOHNSON, 

 Defendant-Appellant.

________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Southern District of Florida

________________________

(January 12, 2016)

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Before HULL, MARCUS, and EDMONDSON, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: 

Dana Johnson appeals his conviction and 120-month sentence for possession 

of a firearm by a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). No 

reversible error has been shown; we affirm.

I.

Johnson first challenges the district court’s denial of his motion for judgment 

of acquittal. Johnson contends that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient 

to establish that he possessed knowingly a firearm.

We review de novo the denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal based on 

sufficiency of the evidence, “considering the evidence in the light most favorable 

to the Government, and drawing all reasonable inferences and credibility choices 

in the Government’s favor.” United States v. Capers, 708 F.3d 1286, 1296 (11th 

Cir. 2013). “We will not reverse unless no reasonable trier of fact could find guilt 

beyond a reasonable doubt.” United States v. Farley, 607 F.3d 1294, 1333 (11th 

Cir. 2010). 

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Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, 

sufficient evidence exists from which a reasonable juror could conclude that 

Johnson was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. At trial, a police officer testified 

that he saw Johnson holding a handgun with an extended magazine and saw 

Johnson make a “tossing motion” with the hand that held the gun. The jury was 

entitled to believe the officer’s testimony and, because the officer’s testimony was 

not “incredible as a matter of law,” we are bound by the jury’s credibility 

determination. See United States v. Calderon, 127 F.3d 1314, 1325 (11th Cir. 

1997) (“[C]redibility determinations are the exclusive province of the jury.”). 

The officer’s testimony was sufficient by itself for a reasonable juror to 

conclude that Johnson possessed knowingly a firearm. In addition, the officer’s 

testimony was corroborated by other evidence presented at trial, including 

evidence that (1) a handgun matching the officer’s description was found in the 

area where Johnson was seen making a “tossing motion;” (2) a mixture of DNA, 

including Johnson’s DNA type, was found on the handgun; and (3) Johnson’s cell 

phone contained recent photographs of Johnson holding a firearm with an extended 

magazine. On this record, sufficient evidence exists to sustain Johnson’s 

conviction. 

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II.

Johnson next contends that the district court erred in enhancing his base 

offense level, pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(1). Johnson argues -- on appeal 

and for the first time -- that his earlier state convictions for resisting an officer with 

violence and for possessing cannabis with intent to sell constituted no “crime of 

violence” or “controlled substance offense” for purposes of section 2K2.1(a)(1). 

Johnson concedes that his argument is foreclosed by this Court’s decisions 

in United States v. Romo-Villalobos, 674 F.3d 1246, 1249 (11th Cir. 2012) 

(concluding that a Florida conviction for resisting an officer with violence 

constitutes a “crime of violence” under the guidelines), and United States v. Smith, 

775 F.3d 1262, 1268 (11th Cir. 2014) (concluding that a conviction under Fla. Stat. 

§ 893.13(1) is a “controlled substance offense” under the guidelines). Thus, 

Johnson cannot show that the district court plainly erred in applying a sentencing 

enhancement under section 2K2.1(a)(1). 

III.

Johnson also challenges both the procedural and substantive reasonableness 

of his sentence. He contends that his sentence is unreasonable procedurally 

because the district court calculated improperly his guidelines range. Johnson next 

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argues that his sentence is unreasonable substantively because the district court 

failed to consider adequately certain mitigating factors.

We review the reasonableness of a final sentence under a deferential abuseof-discretion standard. Gall v. United States, 128 S.Ct. 586, 591 (2007). The party 

challenging the reasonableness of the sentence bears the burden of establishing that 

the sentence is unreasonable in the light of both the record and the 18 U.S.C. § 

3553(a) factors.1

 United States v. Talley, 431 F.3d 784, 788 (11th Cir. 2005). 

In reviewing a sentence, we first examine whether the district court 

committed a significant procedural error, such as calculating improperly the 

guidelines range, failing to consider the section 3553(a) sentencing factors, basing 

the sentence on clearly erroneous facts, or failing to explain adequately the chosen 

sentence. Gall, 128 S.Ct. at 597. After we have determined that a sentence is 

procedurally sound, we review the sentence’s substantive reasonableness under the 

totality of the circumstances. Id. A sentence substantively is unreasonable if it 

“fails to achieve the purposes of sentencing as stated in section 3553(a).” Talley, 

431 F.3d at 788.

About procedural reasonableness, Johnson argues that the district court 

calculated improperly his guidelines range. We have already rejected -- as 

 1 Under section 3553(a), a district court should consider the nature and circumstances of the 

offense, the history and characteristics of the defendant, the need for the sentence to provide 

adequate deterrence, respect for the law, and protection of the public, policy statements of the 

Sentencing Commission, provision for the medical and educational needs of the defendant, and 

the need to avoid unwarranted sentencing disparities. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(1)-(7). 

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foreclosed by this Court’s decisions in Romo-Villalobos and in Smith -- Johnson’s 

argument that the district court enhanced improperly Johnson’s base offense level. 

Given Johnson’s total offense level of 28 and his criminal history category of III, 

the district court calculated properly Johnson’s sentencing range as between 97 and 

120 months’ imprisonment.2

 Johnson has failed to demonstrate that his sentence is 

unreasonable procedurally. 

Johnson has also not shown that his 120-month sentence was substantively 

unreasonable. First, Johnson’s sentence was within the applicable guidelines; we 

ordinarily expect such a sentence to be reasonable. See Talley, 431 F.3d at 788. 

In determining Johnson’s sentence, the district court considered expressly 

the section 3553(a) factors. Johnson has an extensive criminal history -- beginning 

when Johnson was ten years’ old -- including convictions for drug offenses, 

attempted murder, and for resisting officers with and without violence. The district 

court expressed concern about Johnson’s “nonstop history” of violent criminal 

activity. The district court also noted that, although Johnson had received 

relatively lenient treatment for many of his past crimes (most of which were nolle 

prossed, dismissed, or resulted in no action), Johnson had continued to “violate the 

laws in a very troubling way.” 

 2 Although Johnson’s guidelines range was calculated initially as between 97 and 121 months’ 

imprisonment, the upper end of the sentencing range was capped at 120 months: the statutory 

maximum sentence for Johnson’s offense.

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On appeal, Johnson argues that the district court failed to accord sufficient 

weight to certain mitigating factors. The district court considered expressly 

Johnson’s relationship with his then-five-year-old son and Johnson’s drug 

addiction. The district court also reviewed and adopted the findings of fact in the 

Presentence Investigation Report, which described Johnson’s attention deficit 

hyperactivity disorder and which recognized that Johnson grew up without a 

father. Having considered Johnson’s history and characteristics -- including this 

mitigating evidence -- the district court was within its discretion to conclude that 

the mitigating factors were outweighed by other factors, such as the need to protect 

the public, promote respect for the law, and to deter future criminal conduct. See 

United States v. Williams, 526 F.3d 1312, 1322 (11th Cir. 2008) (“[t]he weight to 

be accorded any given § 3553(a) factor is a matter committed to the sound 

discretion of the district court.”). 

Given the record, we cannot say that the 120-month sentence failed to reflect 

the purposes of sentencing or that the district court committed “a clear error of 

judgment in weighing the § 3553(a) factors by arriving at a sentence that lies 

outside the range of reasonable sentences dictated by the facts of the case.” See 

United States v. Pugh, 515 F.3d 1179, 1203 (11th Cir. 2008). 

AFFIRMED.

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