Source: http://openjurist.org/150/f3d/269
Timestamp: 2015-11-27 01:40:54
Document Index: 347965227

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 924', '§ 2119', '§ 2119', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 921', '§ 2119', '§ 924', '§ 2119']

150 F3d 269 United States v. A Lake a | OpenJurist
150 F. 3d 269 - United States v. A Lake a HomeFederal Reporter, Third Series150 F.3d
150 F3d 269 United States v. A Lake a 150 F.3d 269
UNITED STATES of Americav.Hilton A. LAKE,Hilton A. Lake, Appellant.
No. 97-7462.
Argued March 30, 1998Decided July 21, 1998.
This is an appeal from a judgment in a criminal case. After a jury trial, the defendant, Hilton A. Lake, was convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1) of using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, namely, a carjacking (see 18 U.S.C. § 2119). Lake challenges his conviction on numerous grounds, the most substantial of which is that he did not violate the carjacking statute because, he argues, he did not take the motor vehicle in question "from the person or presence" of the victim. We reject this and Lake's other arguments, and we therefore affirm.
[L]isten, think about it. If I walked up to you and asked you, can I borrow your car[,] [a]re you going to lend it to me? Of course not. So why don't you leave me the hell alone. I'm here to have a nice time. Just chill. Go someplace else.
Lake walked off and sat on a rock, while Clarke anxiously watched him out of the corner of his eye, but Lake soon returned with the same request. When Clarke swore again, Lake asked if he could have a drink from Clarke's cooler. Clarke said: "[D]on't you get it? Leave me alone." App. 141A. Lake then lifted up his shirt, showed Clarke the handle of a gun, and said: "[Y]ou know what that is?" App. 141A. Clarke stood up and started backing away, but Lake pulled the gun from his waist band, put it against Clarke's face, and demanded the car keys. App. 142A. Clarke said that he did not have the keys and started walking toward the water with Lake following. Clarke waded into waist-deep water, and Lake walked out onto a promontory overlooking the water. App. 143A-48A.
Lake was indicted for carjacking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2119, and for using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence (the carjacking), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1). At the close of the evidence in his jury trial, Lake moved unsuccessfully for a judgment of acquittal. The jury subsequently returned a verdict of not guilty of the carjacking charge but guilty of the firearms offense. Lake was sentenced to imprisonment for 60 months plus a three-year term of supervised release. He then took this appeal.
We will begin with Lake's argument that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1) because the evidence did not show that he used or carried a "firearm" within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3). Lake contends that the evidence failed to establish that the gun was not a toy. Appellant's Br. at 18. Lake notes that he initially told Officer Griffin that the gun was a toy, that Croaker and Clarke both said that the gun looked like the type of gun used by cowboys in Westerns, and that Clarke said that he was not able to tell whether the gun was real. Id.
We recently addressed a similar argument in United States v. Beverly, 99 F.3d 570 (3d Cir.1996), and under Beverly the evidence here was sufficient. Both Clarke and Croaker stated that Lake had a gun and described it in some detail. See App. 141A-42A, 184A. Lake does not contend that their descriptions were inconsistent with that of a real gun. Both Clarke and Croaker testified that they experienced great fear, App. 151A, 184A, 186A, and Croaker manifested sufficient fear of the gun to surrender her keys. Moreover, although Lake originally told the authorities that the gun was a toy and that he had thrown it in a swamp, he refused to reveal its location, and when later asked whether he would tell the truth about whether the gun was real, Lake responded that he would "think about it." App. 171A-72A. In light of all of this evidence, a rational jury could find that the gun was real.III.
Lake next argues that the evidence was insufficient to show that he violated the carjacking statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2119, and thus that he committed the predicate offense needed to support his 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1) conviction. Under the carjacking statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2119, the prosecution must prove that the defendant (1) "with intent to cause death or serious bodily harm" (2) took a motor vehicle (3) that had been "transported, shipped, or received in interstate or foreign commerce" (4) "from the person or presence of another" (5) "by force and violence or by intimidation." Lake contends that the evidence in this case was insufficient to prove elements one, three, and four. In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, we must decide whether the jury could have rationally found that each of the challenged