Opinion ID: 768214
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: 5 To convict a defendant of being a felon in possession of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), the government must prove that (1) the defendant possessed a firearm, (2) the defendant had a prior felony conviction, and (3) the firearm was possessed in or affecting interstate commerce. Moore stipulated to the fact that he was a convicted felon and that the gun recovered from the bedroom closet had traveled in interstate commerce. He does not deny that the officers did see him carrying a handgun, but disputes whether the gun recovered from the closet, upon which his conviction was based, was ever possessed by him. 6 On a sufficiency of the evidence challenge, we review the evidence and the inferences to be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the government. See United States v. Plitman, 194 F.3d 59, 66 (2d Cir. 1999). Moore argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction because there was no evidence that the officers were able to make out the name brand of the weapon, the model, the model number nor the gun's serial number, no witnesses saw or heard Moore throw a handgun into the bedroom closet, and there were no identifiable fingerprints found on the gun that was recovered. While Moore is correct that the specific evidence he details was not presented in the government's case, such evidence was not necessary for a reasonable jury to conclude that Moore had been in possession of the gun that was recovered by the police. Officers Hoffman and Harkins testified that they saw Moore outside moments earlier with a large black and silver handgun tucked into his waistband, a fact that Moore does not dispute. After chasing Moore into his aunt's apartment, the officers found Moore in one of the bedrooms apparently feigning sleep. They also saw that Moore was breathing heavily and that a bulletproof vest was hanging from his leg. The officers then found a large black and silver gun lying on top of some clothes in a closet with no door four to five feet from the bed Moore was lying on. Moore's aunt, Virginia Moore, testified that she and her boyfriend, Melvin Hobby, shared the bedroom in which the officers found Moore. She and Hobby testified that they had never seen the gun before and had not put that or any gun in the closet. 7 On this record, we cannot say that the facts are such that no reasonable jury could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the gun previously on Moore's person and the gun recovered from the bedroom closet were one and the same. We therefore reject Moore's insufficiency claim. 8