Opinion ID: 688684
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The 18 U.S.C. Sec. 924(c) violation

Text: 13 Johnson also questions the sufficiency of the evidence of possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 924(c) (1988). Johnson's arguments are fully disposed of by United States v. Bailey, 36 F.3d 106 (D.C.Cir.1994) (in banc). Under section 924(c), the government must show: 1) that the defendant used or carried a firearm, and 2) that the use or carrying of the firearm was during and in relation to a predicate offense. Id. at 114. As to the first element, in Bailey we determined that Congress intended use to have a broad meaning and that, in the context of the section, one who avails himself of a gun by putting or keeping it in a particular place from which he can gain access to it if needed to facilitate a drug crime, uses the gun. Id. at 114-15. We further concluded that because possession with intent to distribute is a continuing offense, the government need only prove that the defendant put or kept the gun in that particular place at some point while he illegally possessed the drugs. Id. at 115. 14 To satisfy the second requirement, the gun must facilitate or have the potential of facilitating the drug trafficking offense. Id. As using a gun to protect one's drugs or drug paraphernalia by positioning it to be available for use during ongoing drug activity is a prohibited use of the gun under section 924(c), id. at 116, when there is sufficient evidence for a jury to find that the defendant at some time during the commission of the predicate drug offense put or kept a firearm in a place where it would be proximate to and accessible from a place that is clearly connected to his drug trafficking, such as a place used to store or distribute drugs, the jury may also infer that the gun was being used to protect the drug trafficking operation, and was therefore being used in violation of Sec. 924(c). Id. 15 In the instant case, there was ample evidence that Johnson kept the gun in a place accessible from a place connected with his drug trafficking since the loaded gun was found on top of a speaker next to some packaged drugs and in the room where other drugs were stored. Accordingly, there was sufficient evidence that Johnson possessed a firearm in violation of section 924(c). 16