Opinion ID: 687143
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Jury Instructions for Firearm in Relation to Drug Offense

Text: 27 Stroud claims, and the Government concedes, that the jury instructions for using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 924(C) constituted reversible error. We agree and reverse Stroud's conviction on Count 2. 28 This issue is directly controlled by United States v. Mendoza, 11 F.3d 126 (9th Cir.1993). The Mendoza court found that the instructions were constitutionally defective because the jury could have found the defendant guilty for merely carrying a firearm and that using the firearm to facilitate the crime was not the equivalent of in relation to the crime. Id. at 129. 29 Because the instructions here were identical to those in Mendoza and failed to address the in relation to element, they too are constitutionally defective. Id. Accordingly, we reverse Stroud's conviction for the use of a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking offense. 30 We AFFIRM in part and REVERSE in part.