Court Opinion

ID: 1000372
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2013-07-04 17:39:18.150948+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:38:12.245655
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.                                                                    No. 96-4746

HORACE M. HARSHAW,
Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of North Carolina, at Statesville.
Richard L. Voorhees, District Judge.
(CR-94-35)

Submitted: August 24, 1999

Decided: November 29, 1999

Before WILLIAMS, MICHAEL, and MOTZ, Circuit Judges.

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Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________

COUNSEL

James E. Gronquist, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellant. Mark
T. Calloway, United States Attorney, Brian Lee Whisler, Assistant
United States Attorney, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellee.

_________________________________________________________________

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
Local Rule 36(c).

_________________________________________________________________
OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Horace Montrose Harshaw appeals his conviction and sentence for
being a felon in possession of a firearm. He contends that the evi-
dence was insufficient to sustain his conviction and that the trial court
erred in departing from the Sentencing Guidelines. We affirm.

Harshaw asserts that there was insufficient evidence to prove he
possessed the weapon found on his seat in his car. In reviewing a suf-
ficiency claim on appeal, we must sustain the verdict if the record
contains "substantial evidence, taking the view most favorable to the
Government, to support it." Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80
(1942). In applying this standard, we give due regard to the fact find-
er's prerogative to resolve questions of credibility. See United States
v. Burgos, 94 F.3d 849, 862-63 (4th Cir. 1996) (en banc).

The evidence introduced by the Government--including the obser-
vation of a gun on Harshaw's car seat and his admission that the gun
was his--amply supports the jury's verdict. Harshaw contends that
some of this evidence was not credible, but such determinations are
to be made by the finder of fact, not an appellate court. Accordingly,
we hold that there was sufficient evidence of possession.

Harshaw next asserts that the court erred in departing from the Sen-
tencing Guidelines based upon his lengthy criminal record. We
review the sentencing court's decision for abuse of discretion. See
Koon v. United States, 518 U.S. 81, 96-100 (1996).

In departing from the Guidelines, the court relied upon U.S. Sen-
tencing Guidelines Manual § 4A1.3 (1995), which authorizes a sen-
tence outside the guidelines range if the calculation of a defendant's
criminal history category significantly understates or overstates the
severity of her prior offenses. The court determined that § 4A1.3
applied because Harshaw accumulated nearly twice as many criminal
history points as were required to place him in the highest criminal
history category recognized by the Guidelines. In addition, numerous
convictions and arrests in Harshaw's past were not incorporated into

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the calculation of his criminal history category. In light of these cir-
cumstances, we find no abuse of discretion by the district court.

For the foregoing reasons, we affirm Harshaw's conviction and
sentence. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal
contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court
and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

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