Opinion ID: 774813
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The shootings were in relation to drug crimes.

Text: 72 Baptiste, Frank, Jones, and Parker argue that the evidence did not support their respective convictions for using firearms in relation to drug crimes. They argue that the government established individual shootings but failed to tie the shootings to the drug conspiracy. 73 To convict the appellants under § 924(c)(1), the government had to prove that they used firearms during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. It had to show that these appellants could have used the weapons to protect or facilitate their drug operation, and that the weapons were in some way connected with drug trafficking. Tolliver, 61 F.3d at 1218. This standard is satisfied if the weapons have the potential to facilitate a drug operation. Id. The weapons need not be in the immediate proximity of illegal drugs. Id. (holding that defendants used weapons in relation to a drug conspiracy even though it was not clear that they possessed drugs and weapons simultaneously). 74 The Fourth Circuit has found the in relation to element satisfied in a similar case. In United States v. Camps, a defendant argued that he shot at rival drug gang members for reasons unrelated to any drug conspiracy. 32 F.3d 102, 105-06 (4th Cir.1994). The court rejected his argument. It observed that the shootings occurred during the period of the conspiracy and that the defendant was attempting to protect his drug operation from his rivals. The court concluded that this was sufficient evidence to establish the in relation to element. 75 Here, the evidence showed that Baptiste, Jones, Frank, and Parker attacked a rival drug gang during the period of the conspiracy to retaliate for the murders of their friends. These murders and attempted murders had at least the potential to protect the conspiracy and intimidate competitors and witnesses. Thus, the shootings were in relation to a drug crime, and sufficient evidence supported the § 924(c)(1) convictions. 76