Opinion ID: 728946
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: The Bailey Claim

Text: 41 Bell next challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction for using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1). Bell stakes his claim on the Supreme Court's December 1995 decision in Bailey v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 501, 133 L.Ed.2d 472 (1995), holding that in order to sustain a conviction under the use prong of that statute, the Government must show that the defendant actively employed the firearm during and in relation to the predicate crime. Id. at ----, 116 S.Ct. at 509. Because Bell's trial took place in January of 1995, the district court was never afforded an opportunity to consider the facts in light of Bailey. Accordingly, we remand Bell's conviction under Count 16 to the district court for reconsideration in light of the Supreme Court's intervening clarification of the use component of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1). See United States v. Byrne, 83 F.3d 984, 992 (8th Cir.1996).