Opinion ID: 2977505
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The firearms offense

Text: In May 2006, a one-count indictment was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, charging Humes with being a convicted felon who knowingly possessed a Smith & Wesson .38 special caliber revolver, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). The government put on multiple witnesses at trial, three of whom were called to prove that Humes was in actual or constructive possession of the revolver: Officer Veronica Crutchfield, store owner Robert Harrison, Jr., and Officer Brian Jones. At approximately 8:30 p.m. on November 30, 2005, Officer Crutchfield was working undercover for the Organized Crime Unit. She was sitting in an unmarked police car when Humes walked up to the car and asked her who she was looking for and what she was doing. Crutchfield told Humes that she was waiting for someone. Humes bent down and looked in her car before turning to leave. As he walked away, Crutchfield observed the black handle of a handgun protruding from his right rear pocket. She then radioed her supervisor that there was an “older dark complected male black wearing dark clothing with a gun in the right rear pocket” in the area. The supervisor advised her to leave the area immediately. At trial, Crutchfield identified the revolver as the one that Humes was carrying that night. She admitted, however, that although she had described the gun in her radio transmission as a “black handgun,” the revolver that Humes was charged with possessing was actually silver with a black-rubber handle. Harrison is the owner of Tong’s Grocery, located not far from where the conversation between Crutchfield and Humes took place. He testified that, shortly after 9:00 p.m. on November 30, 2005, he twice saw Humes walking on the street with a gun in his hand. Harrison had known -2- Humes as a customer for more than fifteen years. Humes had come into his grocery store earlier that night, not long before closing time. Later, after Harrison had locked up, he began driving away but decided to return for a final check. He parked on the street around the corner from the store. As he walked to the corner to take a look, he saw Humes coming around the same corner in the opposite direction. The two men passed each other. When Harrison turned to walk back to the car, he saw Humes walking in front of him, holding a gun in his right hand. Humes was walking up a pathway that cut through hedges on the side of the street and up a hill. After Harrison got back to his car a few minutes later, Humes walked back downhill, came across to Harrison’s car, and the two men chatted briefly. Harrison testified that, at this point, Humes was still holding the gun in his right hand. Humes then began walking away across the front of Harrison’s car toward the passenger’s side. Moments later, two unmarked police cars pulled around the corner, and officers shouted for everyone to get on the ground. Rather than getting on the ground, Harrison walked in front of his car with his hands up. The police then performed a search of his car and found two guns, a Smith & Wesson .45 automatic under the driver’s seat and the revolver that Humes was charged with possessing under the passenger’s seat. Harrison admitted on the stand that the Smith & Wesson .45 automatic belonged to him, but denied that the revolver was his. He surmised that Humes must have placed the revolver under the passenger’s seat when the officers approached, although he denied seeing Humes do so or hearing any sound of a gun dropping on the floorboard of his car. Approximately one week after the incident, Humes came into Harrison’s grocery store to talk to him. Humes told Harrison that, because of Humes’s extensive criminal record, the police were talking about him receiving 20 to 25 years of imprisonment for possessing the revolver. So Humes -3- asked Harrison to say that the revolver belonged to Harrison. Humes also promised to pay Harrison’s attorney fees and bills in exchange for Harrison’s admission. Harrison refused. Finally, Officer Jones, who was in one of the unmarked police cars that had pulled up to Harrison’s car, testified that, as he came upon the scene, he saw Harrison standing by the driver’s side of the car and Humes seated in the passenger’s seat. Jones testified that Humes “began to make a motion towards the . . . passenger’s seat as if . . . concealing something or putting something down.” After removing Humes from the car, Jones found the revolver under the passenger’s seat. Jones made an in-court identification of the revolver as the gun that he recovered from the car.