Opinion ID: 417966
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Spillover Contention

Text: 17 Defendants contend that, having recognized that there was no proof that GX 31 was found in New York, we must reverse their convictions on the other counts and remand those counts for retrial because the prosecutor's references in summation to GX 31 were highly prejudicial. They argue that the proof of interstate transport was weak and circumstantial and that the government's proof of such transport derived in part from the closeness in time between the defendants' purchase of particular guns in California and the discovery of those guns in New York. Since that temporal proximity was clearest with respect to GX 31, defendants argue, the jury was likely to have been influenced by the evidence as to GX 31 to convict defendants on the other counts. Our review of the evidence and the prosecutor's summation persuades us to the contrary. 18 The government's practical burden, in establishing that the defendants had unlawfully transferred guns to an unlicensed person known to reside in a state other than California, was to show that the guns seized from Berisha's residence in New York had been transferred to Berisha by the defendants. Though circumstantial, the evidence supporting this inference was ample. First, the government presented extensive evidence of the dates on which Dushaj and Gjurashaj bought guns in California. This evidence consisted in part of the testimony of persons who had sold the guns to them in California and in part of the business records of those sellers. It is true that the simplest evidence of a mere four-day interval between the defendants' California purchase of a gun and its discovery in Berisha's New York apartment was that regarding GX 31. But the evidence of the very same four-day interval was equally probative--though requiring an intermediate step through business records--with respect to seven other guns, GX 23 and 25-30. All of these records were the subject of the prosecutor's summation argument that the short interval indicated that Berisha had received the guns from the defendants. All were compelling. We are not persuaded that the discussion of GX 31 gave disproportionate emphasis to that gun. 19 Moreover, the proof that the guns seized from Berisha had been transferred by the defendants did not consist solely of evidence as to the shortness of the interval after the defendants' purchases. There was evidence that Berisha had accompanied the defendants to gun shows in California; there were recorded statements by Berisha to the confidential informant that Berisha would soon be receiving more guns and could supply any type the informant desired; and there was evidence of numerous telephone calls between Berisha's apartment and the telephones of Dushaj and Gjurashaj. In the circumstances we regard the effect of the prosecutor's references to GX 31 as harmless. 20 Finally, we note an item of proof offered against Dushaj alone. After his arrest, Dushaj admitted having purchased guns in California, admitted that he brought some and sent some to New York, and admitted that Berisha came to California to get some of them personally.