Opinion ID: 2995440
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Submit Firearm Type to

Text: Jury The district court imposed a ten-year sentence under 18 U.S.C. sec. 924(c)(1) for Colvin’s carrying of a machine gun during the commission of the cross- burning. Under the current version of sec. 924(c)(1), firearm type is a sentencing factor, which means that it need not be submitted to the jury. United States v. Sandoval, 241 F.3d 549, 551 (7th Cir. 2001)./3 Colvin, however, was convicted under an earlier version of sec. 924(c)(1) that created a separate crime for the use of a machine gun in the commission of a felony. See Castillo v. United States, 530 U.S. 120 (2000). Therefore, it was error for the district court not to submit the firearm type to the jury. But under plain error review (Colvin did not object below), Colvin must also show that no reasonable jury could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the firearm he used or carried was a semiautomatic assault weapon. See United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 734 (1993); United States v. Pena-Lora, 225 F.3d 17, 31 (1st Cir. 2000). Even then we will not vacate his sentence unless our refusal to do so would result in a miscarriage of justice. See Olano, 507 U.S. at 736. With this standard in mind, we turn to the evidence adduced at trial. Mathis testified that Colvin said he had to get his SK as the three were preparing to leave Colvin’s home on the night of the cross-burning. Based on his military experience, Mathis testified that SK is a shorthand reference for an SKS assault rifle, a semiautomatic assault weapon. Both Funke and Mathis testified that Colvin carried the firearm in his truck that night. Finally, in a stolen property affidavit, Colvin stated that one of his stolen guns was an SKS folding stock semiautomatic handgun. This same firearm was admitted at trial (government’s exhibit 11) and identified by both Funke and Mathis as at least similar to, if not the same rifle carried in Colvin’s truck. Colvin argues that no reasonable jury could have found that the firearm was a semiautomatic rifle; at best, he argues, the evidence shows that he carried a semiautomatic handgun, and handguns are not assault weapons. Even assuming that he is correct, we affirm because Colvin’s concessions make clear that no miscarriage of justice resulted. He conceded in his opening brief (p. 24) that he carried a firearm while committing the cross-burning: the [firearm] remained in the truck, with Colvin. See United States v. Mancillas, 183 F.3d 682, 708 (7th Cir. 1999) (holding that an individual who knowingly possesses firearms in a vehicle he accompanies carries a firearm for sec. 924(c) purposes). And defense counsel conceded at sentencing that this firearm was a semiautomatic assault weapon. In light of these concessions, we see no reason to vacate the district court’s imposition of a ten-year sentence under sec. 924(c)(1).