Opinion ID: 608834
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Hernandez' Appeal.

Text: 8 Hernandez challenges the district court's refusal to instruct the jury that he could not be convicted on Count 3 (using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)) for mere possession of a firearm, but that the government was required to prove that the firearm was an integral part of the offense, or that his possession of it was made known to others present during the drug transaction. 2 These arguments are without merit. 9 The challenged instruction recited the corresponding principles that a conviction under section 924(c) would not be warranted for mere possession, and that the jury must find that the firearm facilitated the crime. 3 As the district court suggested, the facilitation element of section 924(c) would depend on whether Hernandez' intent was reasonably inferable from the totality of the circumstances, which is a matter for a [trier of fact] applying common sense theories of human nature and causation. United States v. Plummer, 964 F.2d 1251, 1255 (1st Cir.) (quoting United States v. Wilkinson, 926 F.2d 22, 26 (1st Cir.1991)), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 350, 121 L.Ed.2d 265 (1992). Given the $28,000 in cash being exchanged for the kilogram of cocaine, as well as Hernandez' proximity to the cocaine during the exchange and the fact that there was a bullet in the chamber of the gun, the challenged instruction provided adequate guidance on facilitation. 10 As to Hernandez' second contention, it is simply not a correct statement of the law that the presence of a firearm used to facilitate a drug trafficking offense need be made known to other participants in the transaction. See United States v. Abreu, 952 F.2d 1458, 1466 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1695, 118 L.Ed.2d 406 (1992); United States v. Hadfield, 918 F.2d 987, 997 (1st Cir.1990), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 2062, 114 L.Ed.2d 466 (1991); see also United States v. Jones, 965 F.2d 1507, 1514-15 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 346, 121 L.Ed.2d 261 (1992); United States v. Contreras, 950 F.2d 232, 241 (5th Cir.1991), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 2276, 119 L.Ed.2d 202 (1992); United States v. Torres-Medina, 935 F.2d 1047, 1049 (9th Cir.1991); United States v. Paz, 927 F.2d 176, 179 (4th Cir.1991); United States v. Torres, 901 F.2d 205, 217 (2d Cir.1990); United States v. McKinnell, 888 F.2d 669, 674-75 (10th Cir.1989); United States v. Acosta-Cazares, 878 F.2d 945, 951 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 899, 110 S.Ct. 255, 107 L.Ed.2d 204 (1989). The challenged instruction provided the jury with an accurate statement of the law. 11