Opinion ID: 203602
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Title 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A) requires a mandatory consecutive sentence for any person who, during and in relation to any ... drug trafficking crime ... in furtherance of such crime, possesses a firearm. Thus, to obtain a conviction, the government must show the defendant committed a drug trafficking crime and possessed a firearm during that time, and the possession of the firearm was in furtherance of the crime. United States v. Marin, 523 F.3d 24, 27 (1st Cir.2008). Sherman pled guilty to the drug trafficking offenses [3] at the trial and admitted possession of the firearms, leaving the government to illustrate through specific facts, which tie the defendant to the firearm[s], that the firearm[s] [were] possessed to advance or promote the criminal activity. Grace, 367 F.3d at 35 (citations omitted). Because the mere presence of a firearm is insufficient for a § 924(c) conviction, id. at 35, the government must demonstrate some sufficient nexus between the firearm and the drug trafficking offense. Robinson, 473 F.3d at 399. In our case law, we have counseled that a sufficient nexus exists where the firearm protects drug stockpiles or the defendant's territory, Luciano, 329 F.3d at 6, enforces payment for the drugs, United States v. Garner, 338 F.3d 78, 81 (1st Cir.2003), or guards the sales proceeds, Marin, 523 F.3d at 28. Noting that [t]he `in furtherance of' element does not have a settled, inelastic, definition, Marin, 523 F.3d at 27 (citations omitted), and recognizing that the legal issue is not clearly settled, Felton, 417 F.3d at 104, we have evaluated in furtherance of evidence from objective and subjective standpoints, Marin, 523 F.3d at 27 (citing Felton, 417 F.3d at 104-05). Applying the objective analysis, this court has acknowledged a number of factors that the trier of fact may consider including whether the firearm was loaded, whether the firearm was easily accessible, the proximity of the firearm to the drugs, and the surrounding circumstances. Robinson, 473 F.3d at 400; see also Felton, 417 F.3d at 105 (type of weapon and legality of possession); United States v. Ceballos-Torres, 218 F.3d 409, 414 (5th Cir. 2000) (type of drug activity conducted). Compare Marin, 523 F.3d at 28 (affirming conviction where gun was purchased from another cocaine dealer and discovered with a defaced serial number and a loaded spare clip in the same residence as 700 grams of cocaine) with United States v. Delgado-Hernandez, 420 F.3d 16, 28 (1st Cir.2005) (finding error in accepting guilty plea where no drug activity was detected in the rental car where the gun was found). We also have observed that a sufficient nexus is more readily found in cases where the firearm is in plain view and accessible to the defendant. Robinson, 473 F.3d at 399. Meanwhile, although there generally is no direct proof of subjective intent, we have noted that subjective intent may be inferred from the objective circumstances. Felton, 417 F.3d at 105 n. 5. Thus, in Marin, we inferred subjective intent to possess a weapon in furtherance of the drug trafficking crime from the obliterated serial number, proximity to drugs, and other factors. Marin, 523 F.3d at 28. In the present case, the two firearms were accessible and easily loadable, compare Grace, 367 F.3d at 31 (affirming conviction where the jammed gun was kept under a bed in a drawer that was blocked by a duffel bag, trash can, and box of books and no ammunition was in the house), and in close proximity to over 500 marijuana plants. One firearm was in plain view, and the other was illegal to possess, see Marin, 523 F.3d at 28. [4] On the other hand, the doors to the camp were unlocked, and there was no direct evidence of persons coming to the camp to transact business, [5] compare Grace, 367 F.3d at 36 (affirming conviction where the defendant had not owned a firearm for a decade until two robberies of her home from which she was selling drugs). Further, a government witness acknowledged that the remote location provided the principal protection for the drug enterprise. Recognizing that the sufficiency issue is arguably close, we believe a jury rationally could determine that the firearms furthered the drug trafficking crimes by protecting the fruits of the conspiracy. This conclusion respects our very circumscribed role in gauging the sufficiency of the evidentiary foundation upon which a criminal conviction rests, United States v. Noah, 130 F.3d 490, 494 (1st Cir.1997), and our deference to inferences formulated by the jury in the light of its collective understanding of human behavior in the circumstances revealed by the evidence, United States v. Passos-Paternina, 918 F.2d 979, 985 (1st Cir.1990) (citations omitted). These facts differ from those in United States v. Ellis, 168 F.3d 558 (1st Cir.1999), a case on which Sherman relied both in his brief and during argument. In Ellis, we found an insufficient nexus between roughly 65 marijuana plants discovered in a detached garage and a shotgun and handgun hidden under a bureau in Ellis's small bedroom where it was difficult to shift furniture and thus the guns were not easily accessible. Id. at 560, 563. Sherman's small camp housed all 500 marijuana plants and both handguns, neither of which was contained or concealed beneath cumbersome objects. [6] We find equally unpersuasive Sherman's argument that the marijuana plants had not matured and therefore had no present value to warrant firearm protection. We think it obvious the plants had significant value; otherwise, Sherman would not have engaged in the time-consuming and extensive operation to plant hundreds of them. Based on the going rate for marijuana in Piscataquis County, the eventual sale of the 500 plants when matured would have produced between $350,000 and $437,500. As common sense dictates and just as the school boy invests in a government savings bond, the wine connoisseur purchases a bottle he or she believes will age well, and the student finances a college education, the future value of the marijuana plants, on a natural continuum toward maturity, factors into their present value. This common sense approach leads us to hold that the jury could rationally conclude the two handguns, one illegally possessed, in close proximity to 500 marijuana plants furthered the drug trafficking crimes.