Opinion ID: 765611
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Weapons Charges

Text: 71 Escobar was charged in Count 7 with possessing a machine gun in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(o)(1). 29 In Counts 15 and 16, he was charged with possessing firearms as a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). 30 With respect to both Counts 7 and 16, Escobar's main contention is that the uncorroborated testimony of informant Cedres concerning the weapons charges cannot suffice to support his convictions. Cedres's testimony, even if uncorroborated, was sufficient to support Escobar's conviction because it was not incredible or insubstantial on its face. United States v. Gomez-Pabon, 911 F.2d 847, 853 (1st Cir. 1990) (quoting United States v. Aponte-Suarez, 905 F.2d 483, 489 (1st Cir. 1990)). Escobar also claims that the evidence showed that he was not the actual owner of the machinegun at issue in Count 7. There is nothing in the statute to suggest, however, that liability under section 922(o)(1) turns on actual ownership; rather, that section makes it unlawful to transfer or possess a machinegun. 18 U.S.C. § 922(o)(1). 72 As to Count 16, charging him with possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, Escobar further contends that his possession of the firearm at issue was too brief to support a conviction. Cedres testified that in January 1990 co-defendant Fernando Montanez-Bultron (Montanez) gave the firearm to Escobar, and that at some point thereafter Escobar gave the firearm to Cedres with instructions to keep it until Montanez and co-defendant Cruz asked for it. This testimony is sufficient. Even if Escobar actually possessed the firearm for a short period of time, duration of possession is not an element of the statute. See 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Moreover, a defendant's possession need not be actual; constructive possession is encompassed by section 922(g)(1) as well. See United States v. Wight, 968 F.2d 1393, 1398 (1st Cir. 1992) (holding that as long as a convicted felon knowingly has the power and the intention at a given time of exercising dominion and control over a firearm or over the area in which the weapon is located, directly or through others, he is in possession of the firearm). 73 Finally, with respect to Count 15, also charging him with possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, Escobar notes that (1) the firearm at issue was, under the government's theory of the case, actually possessed by co-defendant Cruz and used to execute Matos; and (2) the jury acquitted Cruz of the killing. Escobar argues that Cruz's acquittal on the murder charge indicates that there was insufficient evidence to show that Cruz actually possessed the firearm; and that if there was insufficient evidence to show that Cruz actually possessed the firearm, then a fortiori there was insufficient evidence to show that Escobar constructively possessed the firearm. The logic of Escobar's argument falters at the threshold. Cruz's acquittal on the murder charge does not establish that Cruz did not actually possess the firearm in question, nor does it establish that Escobar did not constructively possess the firearm. Moreover, even if the verdicts were inconsistent (which they are not), this would not justify the vacation of Escobar's conviction under Count 15. See United States v. Powell, 469 U.S. 57, 69 (1984). The evidence was sufficient to support the challenged weapons convictions.