Source: http://openjurist.org/80/f3d/1309/united-states-v-imes
Timestamp: 2015-09-01 04:01:29
Document Index: 5013174

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 5861', '§ 2', '§ 924', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 1291', '§ 5861', '§ 5861', '§ 5861', '§ 5845']

80 F3d 1309 United States v. Imes | OpenJurist
80 F. 3d 1309 - United States v. Imes Home
80 F3d 1309 United States v. Imes 80 F.3d 1309
96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 2336, 96 Daily JournalD.A.R. 3931UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Jerry Lee IMES, Jr., Defendant-Appellant.
No. 95-30025.
Argued and Submitted March 7, 1996.Decided April 5, 1996.
Stephen R. Hormel, Federal Defenders of Eastern Washington and Idaho, Spokane, Washington, for defendant-appellant.
Gregory M. Shogren, Assistant United States Attorney, Yakima, Washington, for plaintiff-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington Alan A. McDonald, District Judge, Presiding. No. CR-94-02054-AAM.
Before: FLETCHER, JOHN T. NOONAN, Jr., and RYMER, Circuit Judges.
This appeal requires us to consider the impact of two recent Supreme Court opinions, Staples v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 1793, 128 L.Ed.2d 608 (1994), and Bailey v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 501, 133 L.Ed.2d 472 (1995), on the law of this circuit concerning possession of a sawed-off shotgun.
Jerry Lee Imes, Jr., argues that his conviction for possession of an unregistered firearm in violation of the National Firearms Act, 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d), cannot stand under Staples because the jury was not instructed that the government must prove his knowledge of the illegal features of the sawed-off shotgun he possessed. We conclude that a defendant is not entitled to such an instruction under Staples where, as here, the defendant knowingly possessed the firearm and the firearm is an obviously sawed-off shotgun. Because the characteristics of the weapon itself render it "quasi-suspect," Staples does not require proof that the defendant knew of the specific characteristics which make the weapon subject to the Act.
Imes also contends that the district court's imposition of a four-level enhancement at sentencing pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(5) for "use[ ] or possess[ion][of] any firearm ... in connection with another felony" is infirm in light of Bailey. Bailey holds that a conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) for "use" of a firearm during and in relation to a drug crime cannot be sustained if the weapon was merely proximate and accessible, but instead requires evidence sufficient to show that the defendant actively employed the weapon in relation to the predicate offense. Bailey, --- U.S. at ----, 116 S.Ct. at 505. As the guidelines enhancement applies when the defendant has "possessed" (as well as "used") any firearm, we conclude that Bailey does not undermine our previous view that a firearm is within § 2K2.1(b)(5) when it had "some potential emboldening role in [the] defendant's felonious conduct." United States v. Routon, 25 F.3d 815, 819 (9th Cir.1994) (citations omitted). The standard adopted in Routon therefore continues to govern the "possess[ion] in connection with" prong of § 2K2.1(b)(5).
Since the evidence supports the judgment, and we have jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm.I
On June 27, 1994, a Yakima County Deputy Sheriff discovered a car parked in the middle of Cowichee Mill Road. The lights were on, the motor was running, and Jerry Lee Imes, Jr., was unconscious behind the wheel. Upon learning that the car and its license plates were stolen, the deputy arrested Imes. During his search of the car, the deputy found a baggie of methamphetamine on the driver's side floorboard and a loaded sawed-off shotgun on the front seat. The shotgun measured 25 1/4 inches.
Imes was charged with possession of an unregistered firearm in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d), which provides that it is 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). A sawed-off shotgun is a "firearm" for the purposes of § 5861(d) if "as modified [it] has an overall length of less than 26 inches...." 26 U.S.C. § 5845(a)(4). Imes admitted that he had possessed the sawed-off shotgun and that it was unregistered, but contended that he had not known that the sawed-off shotgun measured less than 26 inches.
Imes requested the following jury instruction:
Jerry Lee Imes has presented evidence that he did not know the firearm he possessed had an overall length less than that required by law. It is a defense to possession of an unregistered firearm that the person in possession did not know of the illegal characteristics of the firearm. The government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that when Mr. Imes possessed the firearm, that he also knew about the characteristics of the firearm that made it illegal to possess. If the government failed to prove that he knew of the illegal characteristics of the firearm, then you must find Mr. Imes not guilty.
The court refused to give the proposed instruction, instead instructing the jury that:
First, that on or about the date alleged in the ind