Opinion ID: 187016
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Instruction Unsupported by Evidence Presented

Text: Brown's first argument is that the government's evidence did not support the district court's jury instruction, as all evidence presented concerned a loaded weapon and this precluded a finding that Brown possessed ammunition separate from a weapon. While Brown does not argue that a jury verdict may be struck down for being inconsistent, he argues that a trial court must take steps to avoid such an inconsistent verdict. Brown cites Joy v. Bell Helicopter Textron, 999 F.2d 549, 556 (D.C.Cir.1993), for the proposition that a trial judge's instructions to jurors must be on the dictates of the law as made applicable by the evidence presented in the particular case. As additional support for this argument, Brown cites Bartak v. Bell-Galyardt & Wells, Inc., 629 F.2d 523, 528 (8th Cir.1980), for the proposition that it is reversible error to submit to the jury an issue as to which there is no evidence; and United States v. Payne, 805 F.2d 1062, 1067 (D.C.Cir.1986), for the related proposition that a court does not err by refusing to give a lesser included offense instruction when the evidence provides no rational basis for convicting defendant of the lesser offense. Brown argues that since the government's evidence all pointed to a loaded gun, the district court erred by failing to inform the jury that it could only find Brown guilty of possessing a firearm and ammunition because the evidence presented by the government did not support a separate finding of guilt on the possession of ammunition alone. We are not persuaded by this argument. True, it is proper for a trial court to refuse to submit to the jury a count on which the government has failed to present any evidence that would allow a rational juror to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, see, e.g., Bartak, 629 F.2d at 528, but this is not such a case. Brown challenges neither the admissibility of the .45 caliber ammunition the government entered into evidence nor the testimony at trial linking that ammunition to him. Since this evidence supported a guilty finding on the charge of possession of ammunition, the district court properly instructed the jury that it could conclude that Brown possessed ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). As Brown concedes, the fact that a jury comes to a factually inconsistent verdict is not, by itself, grounds for reversal. See Dunn v. United States, 284 U.S. 390, 393, 52 S.Ct. 189, 76 L.Ed. 356 (1932); United States v. Campbell, 684 F.2d 141, 151-52 (D.C.Cir.1982) (addressing compromise verdicts). In Dunn, the Supreme Court held that a criminal defendant convicted by a jury on one count could not attack that conviction because it was inconsistent with the jury's verdict of acquittal on another count. United States v. Powell, 469 U.S. 57, 58, 105 S.Ct. 471, 83 L.Ed.2d 461 (1984). This is so because inconsistent verdicts may well be nothing more than a demonstration of the jury's leniency. Id. at 61, 105 S.Ct. 471. This rationale is equally applicable where a single count alleges two methods of committing a violation as where the two methods are separated into two separate counts. In any event, in the present case, the alleged inconsistency is not completely unexplainable. The caliber of the pistol seized from Brown's vehicle was in dispute during the trial, and some jurors may have retained doubt over whether the pistol entered into evidence was the same one seized from Brown's vehicle. All jurors determined beyond reasonable doubt that the ammunition admitted at trial was Brown's. Given that the statute and indictment only required the jury to find that Brown possessed the ammunition in order to find him guilty of the crime, it was permissible for the jury to decide to stop deliberating at that point and render its verdict. Thus, we see no reason to disturb the conviction on this ground.