Opinion ID: 676067
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Aiding and Abetting the Use or Carrying of a Firearm

Text: 15 Medina contends that the evidence was insufficient to convict him of aiding and abetting a violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 924(c)(1), which reads in relevant part: 16 Whoever, during and in relation to any crime of violence ... for which he may be prosecuted in a court of the United States, uses or carries a firearm, shall, in addition to the punishment provided for such crime of violence ..., be sentenced to imprisonment for five years.... 17 Attempted robbery is included in the statutory definition of violent felony. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 924(e)(2)(B)(i). 18 Any person who aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures [the] commission of a crime is punishable as a principal under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2(a). In order to sustain a conviction for aiding and abetting, we must find that the defendant joined the specific venture and shared in it, and that his efforts contributed to its success. United States v. Labat, 905 F.2d 18, 23 (2d Cir.1990); see also Nye & Nissen v. United States, 336 U.S. 613, 619, 69 S.Ct. 766, 769, 93 L.Ed. 919 (1949); United States v. Peoni, 100 F.2d 401, 402 (2d Cir.1938). 19 The evidence adduced by the government to support the conviction is as follows: (a) Medina once referred to robberies as stickups; (b) Medina offered a gun to Lopez and was told that Villanueva was already planning to carry a gun; and (c) Medina later supplied Lopez with a .31 caliber revolver. Although the government is correct that this evidence demonstrates that Medina continued to participate in the overall enterprise after he learned that Villanueva intended to carry a gun, we do not agree that such evidence is enough to support his conviction for aiding and abetting under Sec. 924(c), and therefore reverse his conviction on Count Two. 20 Under the law of this Circuit, Medina cannot be convicted as an aider and abettor unless he consciously assisted the commission of the specific crime in some active way. United States v. Dickerson, 508 F.2d 1216, 1218 (2d Cir.1975). Count Two of the indictment charged Villanueva and Delgado with using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. This specific crime--not the robbery--is the crime that Medina was charged with aiding and abetting, and it is this specific crime that Medina must have consciously and affirmatively assisted if his conviction on that charge is to be upheld. Contrary to the government's contention, Medina cannot be convicted as an aider and abettor under Sec. 924(c) merely because he knew that a firearm would be used or carried and, with that knowledge, performed an act to facilitate or encourage the robbery itself. Rather, the language of the statute requires proof that he performed some act that directly facilitated or encouraged the use or carrying of a firearm. 21 Review of Medina's conduct discloses no basis for conviction under Sec. 924(c). The gun Medina gave to Lopez was not carried or used by anyone during the attempted robbery and, therefore, Medina's efforts to aid and abet the carrying of that gun cannot support a Sec. 924(c) conviction. Villanueva and Delgado each carried a semi-automatic weapon to the attempted robbery, but there is no evidence that Medina acted in any way to facilitate or encourage the use or carrying of those weapons. The government directs our attention to a telephone conversation between Medina and Lopez on the afternoon of the robbery attempt. When Medina asked if Lopez had a gun, Lopez replied that Villanueva already intended to carry a gun during the robbery. Medina then offered to provide an additional gun, and eventually delivered a revolver to Lopez. But Lopez did not carry a gun in the attempted robbery. Although Medina learned that Villanueva intended to carry a gun, the evidence does not indicate that Medina in any way prompted or induced him to do so. By the time Medina learned that a firearm would be carried by Villanueva (just two or three hours before the scheduled robbery), Villanueva had already independently determined to carry a firearm. Since the use of that firearm was a foregone conclusion, and since there is no evidence that Villanueva was told of Medina's offer to supply a gun, Medina could not have counseled or encouraged Villanueva to carry or use it. The government does not undertake to prove that Medina aided or abetted Delgado's carrying of a firearm during the attempted robbery. 22 There is no evidence that Medina warned his coconspirators that the intended victims would be armed, or that he counseled the brandishing of a firearm. Had Medina been present at the attempted robbery, we would consider whether his conduct at the scene facilitated or promoted the carrying of a gun, or whether he benefitted from the gun's use so that he could be said to constructively possess the weapon, see, e.g., United States v. Torres-Maldonado, 14 F.3d 95, 101-03 (1st Cir.1994); but he was not there. In short, there is insufficient evidence to convict Medina of aiding and abetting his coconspirators to violate Sec. 924(c). 23 The government argues that cases in several circuits support its view that a defendant aids and abets a violation of Sec. 924(c) by planning a crime of violence with the knowledge that a firearm will be used, regardless of whether the defendant committed any act to facilitate or encourage the use of a firearm in relation to the underlying crime. See, e.g., Torres-Maldonado, 14 F.3d at 103; United States v. Thomas, 987 F.2d 697, 701-02 (11th Cir.1993); United States v. Williams, 985 F.2d 749, 756 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 148, 126 L.Ed.2d 110 (1993); United States v. Gunning, 984 F.2d 1476, 1483 (7th Cir.1993); United States v. Morrow, 977 F.2d 222, 231 (6th Cir.1992) (en banc), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 2969, 125 L.Ed.2d 668 (1993); United States v. Powell, 929 F.2d 724, 726-28 (D.C.Cir.1991). However, none of these cases address (other than in dicta) the issue of statutory construction that we must decide: whether knowledge of a gun coupled with an act to aid and abet the robbery will support a conviction under Sec. 924(c). In all but two of these cases, a defendant's Sec. 924(c) conviction was overturned on the ground that the defendant had no knowledge that a coconspirator was carrying a gun. See Torres-Maldonado, 14 F.3d at 103; Thomas, 987 F.2d at 702; Williams, 985 F.2d at 756; Powell, 929 F.2d at 728. These cases do not support a corollary proposition, however, that such knowledge alone would be enough to convict. Although the conviction was upheld in Gunning, the evidence showed that the defendant actually directed his confederate to carry the gun used in the underlying offense--an act that easily supports aider and abettor liability with respect to Sec. 924(c). Gunning, 984 F.2d at 1483. We agree with these cases to the extent that they hold that a defendant cannot aid and abet a Sec. 924(c) violation without knowing (or having reason to know) that a gun will be used or carried in relation to the underlying crime. However, to the extent that these cases imply that a defendant can aid and abet the use or carrying of a firearm without performing some affirmative act relating to that firearm, we disagree. 24 In Morrow, every judge of the Sixth Circuit sitting en banc started from the proposition (as expressed by the majority) that aider and abettor liability under Sec. 924(c) requires a showing that the defendant both associated and participated in the use of the firearm in connection with the underlying crime (emphasis added). 977 F.2d at 231. The Morrow majority concluded that the defendant's knowledge of the gun, combined with the act of wearing a ski mask, was sufficient evidence of participation in the use of the firearm to uphold the conviction. Id. The five dissenting judges, however, argued that the record was devoid of any proof whatsoever of an affirmative act by Morrow in furtherance of [his confederate's] carrying of a weapon. Id. at 233. We share the common ground in Morrow, and have no reason to consider the ski mask issue that divided the Sixth Circuit. 25 We note that this Circuit has sustained convictions for aiding and abetting an armed bank robbery under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2113(d) without requiring proof of an act specifically related to a firearm. 1 See United States v. James, 998 F.2d 74, 81-82 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 415, 126 L.Ed.2d 362 (1993); United States v. Grubczak, 793 F.2d 458, 462-63 & n. 1 (2d Cir.1986). However, neither James (which was concerned with whether a defendant could aid and abet an armed robbery when his participation was limited to the escape) nor Grubczak (which was concerned with the level of the defendant's knowledge with respect to the presence of firearms) focused on whether the act that supports aider and abettor liability under Sec. 2113(d) must relate to a weapon used in the bank robbery. In Grubczak, we wrote: 26 Although our court never has been squarely presented with this precise question, dictum in United States v. Wardy, 777 F.2d 101, 106 (2d Cir.1985), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1053, 106 S.Ct. 1280, 89 L.Ed.2d 587 (1986), suggests acceptance of the prevailing view that in a prosecution for aiding and abetting armed bank robbery, the government must establish not only that the defendant knew that a bank was to be robbed and became associated and participated in that crime, but also that the defendant  'knew that [the principal] was armed and intended to use the weapon, and intended to aid him in that respect.'  27 793 F.2d at 462 n. 1 (emphasis added and some citations omitted). This language suggests that the act supporting aider and abettor liability under Sec. 2113(d) must relate to the use of the weapon. However, in James, we quoted the foregoing passage from Grubczak, and went on to hold that, because the defendant aided and abetted the principal in committing the bank robbery, knowing that the principal had a gun, he aided and abetted an armed, not a simple, robbery. 998 F.2d at 81-82. We are not presented with the question of whether aider and abettor liability under Sec. 2113(d) may be established absent an act relating to a weapon used during the bank robbery. To the extent that James suggests an affirmative answer to that question, however, we do not think that James compels a similar resolution of the issue presented here under Sec. 924(c). 28 Although Sec. 2113(d) is analogous to Sec. 924(c) insofar as it imposes a mandatory sentence enhancement when the underlying crime is committed with a weapon, the language of Sec. 924(c) is different. Section 924(c) reaches [w]hoever, during and in relation to a crime of violence ..., uses or carries a firearm. Section 2113(d) punishes [w]hoever, in committing, or in attempting to commit, [a bank robbery], ... puts in jeopardy the life of any person by the use of a dangerous weapon or device. Under Sec. 2113(d), each person who commits or attempts to commit a bank robbery with knowledge that a dangerous weapon or device may be used places other people in jeopardy by the use of that weapon or device, if only because (on the principle of division of labor) the tasks done by an unarmed criminal frees another to use or threaten violence. Further, each person who aids and abets the enterprise, or any participant in it, aids and abets the putting in jeopardy of other people. Section 924(c), on the other hand, reaches only a person who either carries or uses (either actually or constructively) a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, rather than the armed and unarmed alike. It could be said that a defendant who is present but unarmed during the commission of a crime may (again, by the division of labor) make it easier for another to carry a firearm and therefore aid and abet that act. However, a defendant who is not present (such as Medina) cannot be said to aid and abet the use or carrying of a firearm simply by aiding and abetting the overall enterprise in which the firearm is employed.