Source: http://openjurist.org/172/f3d/719
Timestamp: 2014-12-21 07:10:04
Document Index: 438804206

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 5861', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 5861', '§ 5861', '§ 5861', '§ 5845', '§ 5861']

172 F3d 719 United States v. Gergen | OpenJurist
172 F. 3d 719 - United States v. Gergen	Home172 f3d 719 united states v. gergen
172 F3d 719 United States v. Gergen 172 F.3d 719
99 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 2773, 1999 DailyJournal D.A.R. 3595UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Mika GERGEN, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 97-30324.
Argued and Submitted July 6, 1998.Decided April 16, 1999.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Montana Donald W. Molloy, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CR 96-000-48-M-DWM.
Before: CANBY, and TASHIMA, Circuit Judges, and TAKASUGI,* Senior District Judge.
Mika Gergen ("Gergen") appeals from a judgment of conviction and sentence for violating 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d), arguing that the Supreme Court's holding in Staples v. United States, 511 U.S. 600, 114 S.Ct. 1793, 128 L.Ed.2d 608 (1994), requires the government to prove that he knew of the particular characteristics of the shotgun which made the shotgun illegal under the National Firearms Act (the "Act"). Gergen maintains that the district court erroneously removed the mens rea element required under the Act, that the jury was not presented with sufficient evidence to convict him based on the proper mens rea requirement, and that the district court erred in applying U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(5), the sentencing guideline for firearms offenses, rather than U.S.S.G. § 2T1.1, the sentencing guideline for tax offenses, in determining his sentence.
We determine that Staples, supra, requires the government to prove that the defendant knew of the particular characteristics of his shotgun which made the shotgun subject to the Act. In its supplemental instruction to the jury, the district court eliminated that essential element of § 5861(d). We therefore reverse Gergen's conviction. Because we hold that the government presented mens rea evidence at the trial sufficient to support a conviction, we remand this matter to the district court for retrial.
On October 5, 1995, in Missoula, Montana, Mika Gergen, driving his mother's car, picked up a friend, Nate, who sat in the front passenger seat after placing a shotgun wrapped and covered by a jacket in the back seat. Nate also had in his possession a .22 caliber revolver. Gergen thereafter picked up three other friends, one of whom, Chenoa, took over as the driver. Gergen sat in the back seat of the car.
While they were driving around the city, Nate began to play with his .22 caliber revolver and accidentally shot Chenoa, who then stopped the car on the side of the road. Gergen exited and placed Chenoa in the back seat.
Gergen resumed driving the car and was driving towards a hospital when a tire blew out. Gergen flagged down a passing motorist, who agreed to take Chenoa to the hospital. Nate fled the scene.
Sometime after Chenoa had been shot, Gergen moved the jacket-wrapped shotgun to the floor of the car.
Two Missoula Police Department detectives observed this commotion and overheard one of the individuals state that the driver had been shot. Thereafter, the detectives took Gergen into custody for questioning.
Although it is unclear at what point Gergen became aware of the shotgun, he stated that a shotgun was on the floor of the car when later questioned by a sergeant of the Missoula County Sheriff's Office. The shotgun was retrieved and measured. The shotgun was a .12 gauge with a modified barrel. While the shotgun had an overall length of 25 3/8 inches, the barrel had been "sawed-off" to a length of 13 1/2 inches. An examination of the shotgun for fingerprints revealed an identifiable latent print made by the middle finger of Gergen's right hand.
Gergen was indicted on August 26, 1996, and charged with possessing a sawed-off shotgun in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d) which makes it unlawful for any person "to receive or possess a firearm which is not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record." 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d). "The term 'firearm' means ... (2) a weapon made from a shotgun if such weapon as modified has an overall length of less than 26 inches or a barrel or barrels of less than 18 inches in length ..." 26 U.S.C. § 5845(a). The district court instructed the jury that:
[W]ith respect to the charge in the indictment that [Gergen] is charged with possessing the firearm, namely, a sawed-off shotgun, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 5861, in order to find [Gergen] guilty the Government must prove each of the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt.
First, that [Gergen] at the time and place charged in the indictment possessed a firearm, namely, a sawed-off shotgun.
Second, that he did so knowingly.
Third, that [Gergen] was aware of the features of the sawed-off shotgun that brought it within the scope of the firearm definition.
And, fourth, that [Gergen] had not registered his possession of the firearm in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.