FILED U.S. COURT OF AP P EALS E LEVEN T HC IRC U IT March 26, 2008 THOMAS K. KAH

N CLERK [ DO NO T P UB L I S H] I N THE UN I TE D STATE S C OU RT OF APPE ALS F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C IR C U IT

________________________ N o. 07- 10891 N on -A rgum entC al endar

________________________ D . C. D o c k e tN o . 0 6 - 0 0 0 5 4 - CR- O C- 1 0 - G RJ U N I T E D S T A T E S O F A M E R I C A , P la in tif f - A p p e lle e , v ersu s E D G A R H O O P E R , I I I , a .k .a . P e a n u t, D e f e n d a n t- A p p e lla n t.

________________________ A pp ea l fr om the U ni t ed S t at es D i stri ctC ou rt f orthe M i ddl e D i s tr i c tof F l or i da

_________________________ ( M ar c h 26, 2008) B efo re C A RN E S , B A R K E T T an d P R Y O R , C i rcu i tJu d g es. P E R C U R I A M: E dg arH oo per app ea l s hi s c on vi ct i on for use of a f i re arm du ri ng an2

a tt e m pt e d r obbe ry . 18 U . S . C . §§ 924( c ) ( 1) ( A ) , 2113( a ) . H oope ra r gue s tha tthe e v id e n c e w a s in s u f

f ic ie n t to p r o v e h e “u s e d ” af ir e a rm d u r in g th e c r im e . W e a f f i rm. A pe r s on vi ol a t e s f

e de r a l l a w w he n “ dur i ng a nd i n r e l a t i on t o a ny c r i m e of vi ol ence ” he “ uses or ca rr i es a f i re arm [] or . . . , i n furthera nce of any s uch cri m e, pos s e s s e s af

i r e a rm . . . . ” 18 U . S . C . § 924( c ) ( 1) ( A ) . T o s us t a i n ac onvi c t i on f or the use or posse ss i on of a f i re arm , “ the go vernm entm usthave suff i ci entevi dence on bo th the ‘ uses and carr i es ’ pron g and the ‘ du ri ng and i n rel at i on t o’ pron g. ” U ni t e d S t a t e s v. T i m m ons , 283 F . 3d 1246, 1250 ( 11th C i r . 2002) ( i nt e rpr e t i ng s e c t i on 924( c ) ( 1) ( A ) ) . T hi s t e s tr e qui r e s the gove rnm e ntt o pr ove “ e i the rtha t[ the de f e nda nt ] us e d orc a rr i e d the f i r e a rm dur i ng a nd i n r e l a t i on t o the . . . c r i m e , not b o th .” I d . A t tr ia l, th e r e w a s ac o n f lic t in te s tim o n y ab o u t H o o p e r ’s u s e o f af ir e a rm . L i eu t en an tR i ch ard E d w ard s t est i fi ed th ath e w at ch ed H o o p er ad j u sta face m ask a n d e n te rth e M e r c h a n t & S o u th e rn B a n kin O c a la , F lo r id a , w ith ag u n in h is h a n d . W hen E dw ar ds ye l l ed, “ [f ] re ez e, po l i ce , ” a nd drew hi s s ervi ce re vo l ver, H oo per ra n o utof the bank . T w o b ank t el l er s, A m anda C arri erand S usan B erry , t es t i fi ed tha tthe y a l s o obs e rve d the m a s ke d r obbe rw i th agun i n hi s ha nd. E dw a r ds pu rs ued H oo per, w at ched H oo per di sc ar d h i s m as k and gu n, and o bserved3

H oo per’ s f

ac e w hen h e tw i ce gl ance d b ac k atE dw ar ds. H oo per a dm i tt ed attri al tha the e nt e r e d the ba nk w i th agun a nd the i nt e ntt o r ob the ba nk, butt e s t i f i e d, c o n tr a ry to E d w a r d s , th a t th e g u n r e m a in e d in h is p o c k e t. T he tr i a l r e s ol ve d thi s c onf l i c t . T he j ury c ons i de r e d the c onf l i c t s i n the t es t i m on y a nd , by re turni ng a ver di ctagai nstH oo per, foun d E dw ar ds m ore c r e di bl e . S e e U ni t e d S t a t e s v. T hom ps on, 473 F . 3d 1137, 1142 ( 11th C i r . 2006) ( “ T he j ury ge t s t o m a ke a ny c r e di bi l i ty c hoi c e s , a nd w e w i l l a s s um e tha tthe y m a de the m a l l i n the w a y tha ts uppor t s the ve r di c t . ” ( c i t i ng U ni t e d S t a t e s v. K e l l y , 888 F .2 d 7 3 2 , 7 4 0 (1 1 th C ir. 1 9 8 9 )) . T h e ju ry w as en ti tl ed to fin d , b as ed o n E d w ar d s’s t es t i m on y, thatH oo per use d a fi re arm i n v i ol at i on of S ec t i on 92 4(c) (1)( A ). E ven i f w e w er e t o cre di tH oo per’ s t es t i m on y, w e w ou l d st i l l concl ud e that the re cord supp ort s H oo per’ s c on vi ct i on . T o v i ol at e s ec t i on 92 4(c) (1)( A ) und er the “ c a rry ” e l e m e nt , a n i ndi vi dua l ne e d onl y pos s e s s agun. S e e T i m m ons , 283 F . 3d a t1250 ( appl y i ng the pl a i n l a ngua ge i nt e rpr e t a t i on us e d i n M us c a r e l l o v. U .S ., 5 2 4 U .S . 1 2 5 , 1 2 7 , 1 1 8 S . C t. 1 9 1 1 , 1 9 1 4 ( 1 9 9 8 ) , to th e w o r d “c a rry ” ) . H o o p e r ’s te s tim o n y e s tab lis h e d th a t h e “c a rr ie d ” af ir e a rm w h e n h e c o n c e a le d it in hi s poc ke ta nd pos s e s s e d i tw i th the i nt e ntt o r ob the ba nk. H o o p er’ s co n v i ct i o n fo r u si n g o r carrying a fi rearm i s A FFI R M ED .