Opinion ID: 4155972
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Acquittal Motions

Text: We review the denial of Wallace’s acquittal motions de novo. United States v. Drapeau, 644 F.3d 646, 652 (8th Cir. 2011). If there is substantial evidence in the record to support the jury’s verdict, we will affirm. Id. Substantial evidence means evidence strong enough to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. We look at the record, though, in the light most favorable to the government. Id. We do not reweigh evidence or reassess credibility. United States v. Schnapp, 322 F.3d 564, 572 (8th Cir. -4- 2003). And we draw reasonable inferences in favor of the jury’s verdict, not in favor of the defendant. United States v. Williams, 647 F.3d 855, 859 (8th Cir. 2011). To convict Wallace of violating 18 U.S.C. § 111(a) and (b) in this case, the jury had to find (1) that Wallace forcibly assaulted Atlas with a deadly or dangerous weapon while Atlas was on duty; (2) that Wallace did so voluntarily and intentionally; and (3) that the assault resulted in bodily injury. See Drapeau, 644 F.3d at 652. This elements formulation is peculiar to this case. The indictment charged that Wallace violated “Section[] 111(a)(1)(b)” by committing the assault “using a deadly and dangerous weapon and inflicting bodily injury,” and the jury was told that it had to find a weapon and bodily injury. The statute, however, requires a weapon or bodily injury. We nevertheless hold the government to the elements charged in its indictment. Wallace contends that the government’s proof failed to establish that she acted voluntarily and intentionally and that she used her car as a deadly or dangerous weapon. The jury faced competing accounts of the events at the VA. And the verdict reflects that the jury credited Atlas’s account rather than Wallace’s. Atlas described Wallace as purposely driving toward him and forcing him to leap onto the car hood to avoid being struck or run over. If believed, Atlas’s account provides sufficient proof that Wallace acted voluntarily and intentionally. We also conclude that sufficient evidence establishes that Wallace used her car as a deadly or dangerous weapon. “[F]or a car to qualify as a deadly weapon, the defendant must use it as a deadly weapon and not simply as a mode of transportation.” United States v. Arrington, 309 F.3d 40, 45 (D.C. Cir. 2002). For instance, using a car “purely for flight” would not trigger liability under § 111(b). Id. Wallace’s case is on the margins of assault-by-vehicle. She did not shift her car into drive and accelerate while an officer was reaching through the window, and then drag the officer 50 feet. Cf. id. at 42. Nor did she accelerate toward an impromptu -5- marshals’ road block. Cf. United States v. Yates, 304 F.3d 818, 820 (8th Cir. 2002). The jury could nevertheless have reasonably found that by driving toward Atlas and forcing him to jump on the hood to avoid being hit, Wallace used the car as something other than transportation—that she used it as a deadly or dangerous weapon. See Arrington, 309 F.3d at 46 (“Conviction requires both the intent to commit one of the acts specified in § 111(a), and the intent to use the object that constitutes the deadly weapon.”).