Opinion ID: 582662
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Use or Carry Instruction

Text: 15 Streit also argues that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury that to convict on Count IV it must find that Streit carried a firearm in relation to his commission of the lesser included offense in Count II. Because Streit contends that the district court failed to explain adequately an essential element of the offense, we review the challenged instructions de novo. 16 To convict under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), the government must establish that the defendant committed a crime of violence and that he knowingly used or carried a firearm while committing the crime. The government also must prove that the defendant's possession of the firearm played at least an indirect role in the underlying offense. In United States v. Stewart, 779 F.2d 538 (9th Cir.1985), we held that the relation to requirement of section 924(c) is satisfied 17 [i]f the firearm is within the possession or control of a person who commits an underlying crime as defined by the statute, and the circumstances of the case show that the firearm facilitated or had a role in the crime, such as emboldening an actor who had the opportunity or ability to display or discharge the weapon to protect himself or intimidate others, whether or not such display or discharge in fact occurred. 18 Id. at 540. With respect to Count IV, the trial court instructed the jury that if it found Streit guilty of the lesser included offense of assaulting a federal officer under Counts I and II, it could also find him guilty of Count IV if it found beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant carried a revolver during the commission of the assault. 19 During deliberations, the jury sent the following question to the court: 20 Instruction 21 says 'the defendant carried a revolver.' Would holding a gun in one's hand be considered carrying? 21 The court responded by sending a supplemental instruction to the jury: 22 Members of the jury, you are advised that 'carrying' a firearm includes possession of the firearm for purposes related to the commission of a crime of violence. Carry can include transport or possess. Carrying should not be construed in a hypertechnical or narrow way. 23 The trial court's instructions, viewed as a whole, accurately stated the law. 2 The court's instruction that the defendant's possession must be for purposes related to the commission of a crime of violence adequately conveyed the relation to requirement of section 924(c).