### IN THE UNI TED STAT ES COURT OFAPPEALS FOR THE FIF TH CIRCU IT

No. 11-50841 Summary Calendar

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v. VIDAL SAULS, Defendant–Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas USDC No. 5:09-CR-713-1

Before HIGGINBOTHAM, OWEN, and SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: * In this appeal, Vidal Sauls challe n g e s his convictions for possessing a firearm during the commission of a drug trafficking crime, see 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A), and for possessing a firearm following a felony conviction. See 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Sauls does not challenge his conviction for possessing with intent to distr ib u t e 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine base. See21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)(iii). U n i te d S ta te s C o u rt o f A p p ea l s

F i ft h C i rc u i t 

### F I L E D Octob er 26 , 20 12 Lyle W . Cayce Clerk

Purs uant to 5 T H C IR

. R. 47.5 , the cour t has d ete rm inedt hat this op inion sho uld not * be publ ish ed and is not pr ece dent excep t unde r the lim ite d cir cum st ance s se t for th in 5 T H C IR

. R. 47.5 .4. Case: 11-50841 Document: 00512034711 Page: 1 Date Filed: 10/26/2012No. 11-50841

Sauls was convicted after a warrant search of the residence he shared with another adult uncovered more than 100 grams of cocaine bas e

—i ncluding 26 grams found on a ledge at the top of a kitchen w a l l along with a cereal box containing $1,500 in cash, a folder containing documents pertaining to Sauls’s supervised probation, and in close proximity to the folder and the cereal box, a 9mm Hi-Point rifle loaded with a clip containing ten rou n d s of ammunition. Before the date of the search, Sauls had twice been convicted of state felonies. O u r s t a ndard of review for sufficiency of the evidence in a bench trial i s “whether the finding of guilt is supported by substantial evidence, i.e., evidence sufficient to justify the trial judge, as the trier of fact, in con c l u d i n g b e yond reasonable doubt t h a t the defendant is guilty.” United States v. Turner , 319 F.3d 716, 720 (5th Cir. 2003) (quoting United States v. Mathes , 151 F.3d 251, 252 (5th Cir. 1998)) (internal quotation mark omitted). We view all evidence in the light most favorable to the Government and defer to all reas onable inferences drawn by the district court. Id. at 720-21. If the evidence gives “equal or nearly equal circumstantial support to a theory of guilt and a theory of innocence,” the defendant is entitled t o a c quittal. Id. at 721 (quoting United States v. Brown , 186 F.3d 661, 664 (5th Cir. 1999)) (internal quotation mark omitted). A conviction under § 922(g)(1) r e q u i r e s proof that a defendant who had previously been convicted of an offense punishable by a prison term in excess of

one year later knowingly possessed a firearm that was in or affected interstate

comme r c e . U

nited States v. Guidry , 406 F.3d 314, 318 (5th Cir. 2005). In the instant case, a rifle was found in Sauls’s kitchen, an area of th e p r e m i ses that

was subject to Sauls’s control, even if it was also subject to the control of others. See United States v. Mergerson , 4 F.3d 337, 348-49 (5th Cir. 1993). Moreover, while denying that it was his, Sauls acknowledged in a written statement that he knew about the rifle. Because the rifle was ver y near Sauls’s important personal papers and concealed cash and in the same room as a s i g n ificant amount of cocaine base, ther e w a s s ub s t a nti al evidence that Sauls constructively
2 Case: 11-50841 Document: 00512034711 Page: 2 Date Filed: 10/26/2012No. 11-50841

possessed the rifle. See United States v. De Leon , 170 F

. 3 d 4 9 4 , 4 9 6 (5th Cir. 1999). Under § 924(c)(1)(A), “[a] defendant possesses a firearm in furtherance of

a drug-trafficking offense w h e n it ‘furthers, advances, or helps forward’ that offense.” United States v. London , 568 F.3d 553, 559 (5th Cir. 2 009) (quoting United States v. McGilberry , 480 F.3d 326, 330 (5th Cir. 2007)). The loaded, nonsporting rifle w a s s t o r e d

—in p r e m i s e s h o u s in g dru g p ar ap h e rn ali a

—n e ar S auls’s drugs and important personal papers an d s o m e h i dden cash, and it could be reached by Sauls without great effort. There was thus substantial evidence that Sauls possessed the rifle in furtherance of the drug trafficking crime to which he pleaded guilty. See id. , 559-60. AFFIRMED.

3 Case: 11-50841 Document: 00512034711 Page: 3 Date Filed: 10/26/2012