Opinion ID: 2772746
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Motion for a Judgment of Acquittal

Text: Chambers’s argument that there was insufficient evidence to establish constructive possession of the handgun and thus to convict him also fails. Chambers says that the evidence shows, at most, mere proximity to the gun, and he notes that his nephew and another man named “Mighty” had been in the room at some earlier point. But, there was more than mere proximity in this case. “‘A person who, although not in actual possession, knowingly has both the power and the intention at a given time to exercise dominion or control over a thing, either directly or through another person or persons, is then in constructive possession of it.’” United States v. Blackston, 940 F. 2d 877, 883 (3d Cir. 1991) (quoting Black’s Law 6 Dictionary 1047 (5th ed. 1979)). While it is true that dominion and control are not established by mere proximity or mere association with a person who controls the item, id., the government introduced evidence tying Chambers to the weapon. The gun was found in an empty bag of potato chips purchased for Chambers and in a hotel room that Chambers occupied. Ms. Jones, the woman who rented the room, testified that she bought the bag of chips for Chambers. The other occupant of the room at the time of the arrest, Ms. Washington, is not suggested by anyone to have possessed the gun, and both Ms. Washington and Ms. Jones testified under oath that neither the gun nor the holster belonged to them. Chambers’s nephew also testified that the gun was not his. Most, significantly, the government introduced recorded phone conversations in which Chambers referred to the gun as “the toy,” stating that he had it in the room, that it was listed on the inventory slip, that he was arraigned and charged because of “the toy,” and that he attempted to hide it but that the police found it. The government also introduced a holster that had been found in Chambers’s car and that fit the gun. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, a rational trier of fact could certainly have found that Chambers constructively possessed the gun. See United States v. Dent, 149 F.3d 180, 187 (3d Cir. 1998). Thus, the District Court properly denied Chambers’s motion for a judgment of acquittal.