Opinion ID: 203288
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: Finding of Brandishing

Text: The district court imposed the statutory mandatory minimum sentence of seven years on Count Four on finding that Appellant brandished a firearm in connection with his possession of a weapon on April 10, 2003, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii). Under the statute, a defendant is deemed to have brandished a firearm when he display[s] all or part of the firearm, or otherwise make[s] the presence of the firearm known to another person, in order to intimidate that person. 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(4). Appellant argues that there is no basis in the record for the court's finding of brandishing and thus the sentence must be vacated. Although Appellant did not object below to the court's finding of brandishing, and we thus review the claim only for plain error, the Government conceded at oral argument that there was no record support for the court's determination that Appellant brandished a firearm. Review of the record confirms what the Government now concedes: there is no evidence that Appellant or his co-conspirators made the presence of a firearm known to anyone else in order to intimidate that other person. The Government's evidence relating to Count Four appears to have consisted of portions of the videotape recorded by Espada on April 10, 2003 as well as Medina's commentary about those recordings. The relevant portions of the videotape simply showed Appellant handing a firearm to a drug dealer who operated out of another housing complex and showed Carli Rojas, a seller who worked for Feliciano, in possession of a firearm. The record is devoid of any indication that either Appellant or his co-conspirator displayed firearms with the purpose of intimidating other persons. Accordingly, we vacate Appellant's brandishing conviction on Count Four.