Opinion ID: 741779
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Assault with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon

Text: 23 Buchannan admits assaulting Agent Gregory, but he denies using anything other than his hands and feet in the attack. Because Buchannan was convicted, we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the government. 24 Buchannan makes two arguments. First, he contends that the note sent out by the jury during its deliberations indicates that it did not believe Buchannan used the scale to assault Gregory. 2 Buchannan argues that this note shows that the jury was either mistaken or illogical when it announced its final verdict. Even if the note accurately reflected the jury's opinion when it was written, the jury is not precluded from changing its mind during its deliberations, and in fact it is encouraged to consider different positions as part of the deliberative process. Therefore, the government correctly concludes that this note is irrelevant. 25 Second, Buchannan presents a rather unpersuasive insufficiency of the evidence argument. He argues that no reasonable jury could conclude that he used a deadly or dangerous weapon--the scale--in his assault on Gregory. At trial, both Gregory and Kempfer testified that Buchannan hit Gregory with the scale. Additionally, the jury viewed photographs of Gregory's injuries. On the other hand, Buchannan testified that he did not hit Gregory with the scale. Instead, he claimed that he hit Gregory with his hands and threw the scale against the wall. Conflicting testimony requires the jury to make credibility assessments. The jury weighed the evidence, assessed the credibility of the witnesses and returned a verdict that Buchannan did use a deadly or dangerous weapon in his assault of Gregory. Sufficient evidence was presented to support the jury's findings. Thus, this court will not disturb the verdict.