Opinion ID: 567448
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Possession of a Firearm During Drug Trafficking

Text: 83 James and Joseph Bickett maintain that the district court erred in assessing a two level increase in their guideline calculations for possessing a firearm during the drug trafficking offense. James Bickett concedes that under United States v. Moreno, 899 F.2d 465, 470 (6th Cir.1990), [i]t is defendants' burden to show that is was clearly improbable that their possession of firearms was related in any way to the conspiracy. He nevertheless asserts that there is no proof that he possessed a firearm during the commission of any act in furtherance of the alleged conspiracy. Defendant points out that at the time he was found in possession of a firearm, the police were looking for a lion cub. Furthermore, when the police searched his car and house after finding the gun, they found no drugs. Additionally, no witnesses ever testified at trial that defendant had a gun during any of the alleged drug transactions. Defendant also contends that the gun was unrelated to the conspiracy because he never used the gun to facilitate the commission of any drug trafficking offense. 84 Joseph Bickett claims that it was inappropriate for the district court to consider the firearms found at the time of his arrest because the jury acquitted him of the charge of using and carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. In addition, defendant contends that there is no evidence that a handgun found in his car was present during the commission of any drug trafficking offense. 85 The United States notes that U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(1) provides that [i]f a dangerous weapon (including a firearm) was possessed during the commission of the offense, increase by 2 levels. The government states that according to the guidelines, possession of a firearm during the commission of the offense establishes a presumption that the possession is connected with the offense. The United States argues that James Bickett has not overcome this presumption. His refusal to answer the door and his immediate flight allegedly show that it was not clearly improbable that the firearm was connected to the conspiracy. 86 The United States also maintains that Joseph Bickett failed to overcome the presumption that the firearms found at the time of his arrest were connected to the conspiracy. The United States notes that the district court relied upon evidence that Joseph Bickett had two guns in his kitchen while he was free-basing cocaine and conducting drug negotiations with Hunt. Furthermore, one of the guns was loaded with 00 buck ammunition used for self-defense. According to the United States, the weight of this evidence proved that it was clearly probable that the firearms were used during the commission of the conspiracy. 87 We find that the district court's determination that James and Joseph Bickett were in possession of firearms during the drug conspiracy is supported by the record and is not clearly erroneous. James Bickett possessed a firearm when fleeing police during the time period of the conspiracy. James Bickett possessed firearms during the drug arrest at his home. The district court properly applied a two level increase to each of their sentence calculations.