Opinion ID: 72195
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: 2 In August 1995, Coweta County, Georgia Sheriff Captain Jim Yarborough received information from a confidential informant that Jackson was possessing and selling cocaine and possessing a firearm at his residence in Moreland, Georgia. Captain Yarborough gave the information to Lieutenant Tony Brown. Lieutenant Brown conducted a personal surveillance on the residence and applied for a search warrant based on the information received from Captain Yarborough and that which he had observed. The search warrant indicated that cocaine was concealed at the residence, and was signed on August 25, 1995. 3 The search was executed on September 1, 1995. The agents searching the house found cocaine in the bathroom, and a firearm in a closet in the adjoining bedroom. The firearm was a MAK-90, a Chinese made assault rifle, and was lying in an open box. Jackson said that everything was his 1 , and was arrested. 2 4 Jackson moved to suppress the firearm, arguing that it was neither listed on the search warrant nor was contraband. Following a hearing, the magistrate judge issued a report and recommendation that the motion to suppress be denied. The district judge adopted the magistrate judge's recommendation and denied the motion to suppress. 5 At trial, the government introduced documents showing that Jackson had been convicted of the felonies of aggravated assault and possession of a sawed off shotgun. The documents showed that Jackson was found guilty of the offenses but was permitted to serve his sentences on probation. Further, Jackson signed the Felon Firearms Acknowledgment indicating that, as a felon, he could not own or carry a firearm. 6 Jackson apparently admitted during the trial that he had previously been convicted of the felonies, but claimed that his attorney at that time had told him that his sentence was under the Georgia First Offender Act. 3 He claimed that, under this Act, his record was exonerated once he had fulfilled the terms of his probation and had no knowing intent to obtain or possess a firearm as a convicted felon. 4 Jackson requested that the district court instruct the jury that it must find the defendant not guilty if it found that the evidence fails to show beyond a reasonable doubt that ... the defendant was a convicted felon, or that he did not reasonably believe that he was a convicted felon at the time he possessed the firearm charged in the indictment 5 and on the elements of the Georgia Act. However, the district court denied these requests, and instructed the jury that (i)t is not necessary to prove that the defendant knew that he had been convicted of a felony offense, only that he had been so convicted before he received the firearm. 6