Opinion ID: 782222
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: 32 Schreane argues that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). We review a claim of insufficient evidence using the same standard as the district court. United States v. Beddow, 957 F.2d 1330, 1334 (6th Cir.1992). In undertaking this analysis, this court neither independently weighs the evidence, nor judges the credibility of witnesses who testified at trial. United States v. Talley, 164 F.3d 989, 996 (6th Cir.1999) (citations omitted), cert. denied, 526 U.S. 1137, 119 S.Ct. 1793, 143 L.Ed.2d 1020 (1999). A court properly denies a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence where `after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.' Id. (quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) (emphasis in original)). In the instant case, there is sufficient evidence for Schreane's conviction to stand. 33 To obtain a conviction pursuant to § 922(g)(1), the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt: (1) that the defendant has a prior conviction for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year; (2) that the defendant thereafter knowingly possessed the firearm and ammunition specified in the indictment; and (3) that the possession was in or affecting interstate commerce. United States v. Daniel, 134 F.3d 1259, 1263 (6th Cir.1998) (internal quotation marks omitted), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 830, 119 S.Ct. 83, 142 L.Ed.2d 65 (1998). On appeal, Schreane does not dispute that the gun and ammunition affected interstate commerce nor does he dispute that he had a prior felony conviction at the time he was alleged to have possessed the firearm. Thus, the element of possession is the only issue in dispute. 34 Actual or constructive possession is sufficient to give rise to criminal liability under § 922(g). United States v. Murphy, 107 F.3d 1199, 1207 (6th Cir.1997). Both actual and constructive evidence may be proved by circumstantial evidence. Id. at 1208 (citation omitted). 35 Although Schreane did not have physical possession of the gun at the time of his arrest, there was ample evidence from which the jury could infer that he knowingly possessed the weapon immediately prior to when Officer Morgan approached the vehicle. Schreane principally challenges two pieces of evidence introduced by the government. First, he contends that Duckett's statement, He has a gun, was blatantly false and clearly ... self-serving because [b]y the time Duckett approached Officer Topping, the firearm must have already been outside of the car. 8 According to Schreane, [a]ssuming that the gun must have been placed outside of the car before either officer arrived on the scene ... Duckett's statement ... could have shed no credible light on who exercised dominion and control over the Derringer. Second, Schreane contends that his self-incriminating statements regarding his possession of the gun and his desire to return it back to his girlfriend were unclear and open to interpretation. We disagree on both points. 36 When Officer Topping first pulled behind the vehicle in question, he observed the two passengers arguing. Immediately, Duckett, who was the driver of the vehicle, darted out of the car and headed toward the officer exclaiming, He has a gun! 9 Topping described Duckett as being in a genuine state of panic, specifically describing him as very nervous, scared, excited, and anxious to get away from the vehicle. As Topping was distracted with Duckett, both trying to calm him down and conduct a pat-down search, the jury could have reasonably inferred that the defendant wiped the gun of his fingerprints and furtively cracked open the passenger door or rolled down the passenger window (assuming the window was rolled up) and dropped the weapon in the grass before Officer Morgan arrived on the scene. Because Topping was preoccupied with Duckett while standing on the driver side of his patrol car and behind the suspects' vehicle, the jury could have reasonably inferred that from his poor vantage point, Topping would have had difficulty detecting any surreptitious activity on the part of Schreane. Thus, contrary to Schreane's assertion, there was sufficient evidence from which the jury could infer that he dropped the gun that was within his exclusive possession after Officer Topping arrived on the scene. 37 When Officer Morgan arrived as backup, he testified that he observed the defendant moving about inside the car, which the jury could have reasonably inferred meant that the defendant was fiddling with the lever of the car window or the inside door handle. As Morgan approached the vehicle to extract the defendant, he discovered the gun in the grass next to the side door of the vehicle. Because the gun was later determined to be owned by Torregano — and not just a random gun lying around in the street coincidentally located in the grass next to where Duckett decided to park the car — clearly the defendant or Duckett had dominion and control over the firearm and dropped it outside. Officer Topping testified that when Duckett exited the vehicle, Duckett did not throw anything outside the car or attempt to kick anything underneath the vehicle. In fact, Topping testified that because of the speed with which he exited the car, Duckett did not even have the opportunity to do so. Thus, the jury was justified to infer that Schreane, who was in close proximity to the discovered weapon, was in possession of the gun and decided to drop it outside. 38 Furthermore, Schreane does not deny that when he was placed in the back of the police cruiser, he asked Officer Topping if he could get the gun back and return it to his girlfriend. He also does not deny that he stated that his girlfriend was not aware that he has it [i.e., the gun], a clear admission that the firearm was in his immediate possession and that he exercised dominion and control over it before it was dropped on the ground. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, it is quite clear that the jury could have reasonably interpreted Officer Topping's testimony to be that while in the cruiser, Schreane admitted to having been in possession of the gun and that his girlfriend was unaware that he had it. 10 39 Moreover, although Torregano provided an innocent story to explain the presence of the firearm, namely, that she frequently kept the gun in her car for protection because she had a night job in an unsafe neighborhood, 11 the government rebutted this testimony with testimony from Sergeant Pedigo, who asserted that during the police investigation, Torregano stated only that she kept the gun in a box in her home. It is well settled that when a defendant offer[s] an innocent explanation for the incriminating facts proved by the government, the jury [i]s free to disbelieve [it]. United States v. Ledezma, 26 F.3d 636, 641 (6th Cir.1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 942, 115 S.Ct. 349, 130 L.Ed.2d 305 (1994). It is for [the jury] and not for appellate courts, to say that a particular witness spoke the truth or fabricated a cock-and-bull story. United States v. Bailey, 444 U.S. 394, 414-15, 100 S.Ct. 624, 62 L.Ed.2d 575 (1980). 40 Finally, for purposes of comparison, the facts of this case are similar to United States v. Daniel, 134 F.3d 1259 (6th Cir.1998), where we upheld a jury's verdict of guilt. In Daniel, the defendant was a passenger in an automobile that was stopped by law enforcement. During the stop, the driver of the automobile informed police that the defendant was in possession of a firearm. Police found shotgun shells in the defendant's pants pocket and a shotgun underneath the passenger seat in which the defendant had been sitting. At trial, the defendant denied being in possession of the shotgun and alleged that earlier in the day, the driver must have — unbeknownst to the defendant — stealthily placed the shells in his pocket. Id. at 1263. In finding there was ample evidence for the jury to return a conviction, this court pointed to, among other things, the driver's direct statements implicating the defendant as being in possession of a gun, law enforcement testimony that the defendant was doing something underneath the seat, the defendant's on-the-scene admission that the shells were for a different gun he had at home (as a convicted felon, the defendant was not permitted to possess any firearm), and the defendant's failure during the stop to accuse the driver of being the true possessor of the gun. Id. at 1264. 41 In sum, when viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, there was sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to return a guilty verdict on the indictment of being a felon in possession of a firearm.