Court Opinion

ID: 9494990
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:51:55.38964+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:56:45.159174
License: Public Domain

dissenting in part:
I concur in the majority opinion, except with respect to the reversal of defendant’s conviction on Count 16. That count charges defendant with knowingly possessing firearms while he was an “unlawful user of and addicted to” a controlled substance, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3). I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the phrase “unlawful user” *326renders the statute ambiguous, thereby warranting the application of the rule of lenity, and mandating a narrow construction of the phrase.
Citing defendant’s own testimony, the majority states that “Ismael was a user of drugs while he possessed firearms,” but concludes that he was not an “unlawful user.” Clearly, defendant’s use of drugs was not a lawful use. One who “uses” a controlled substance must necessarily also “possess” that controlled substance. Title 21 U.S.C. § 844 makes it “unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally to possess a controlled substance” except under circumstances not relevant here. Thus, any person who unlawfully possesses a controlled substance and uses that substance is an “unlawful user” within the meaning of the statute at issue. Congress apparently concluded that any individual who unlawfully uses a controlled substance should not contemporaneously possess a firearm, because such a user could well have impaired judgment and pose a threat to society. This is equally true of a first-time user as it is of one who uses drugs frequently. In the statute Congress modified “user” by the adjective “unlawful,” so as not to include persons who lawfully use drugs, e.g. by a physician’s prescription.
Based on defendant’s own testimony, there is sufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that defendant knowingly possessed firearms while he was an “unlawful user” of a controlled substance. The only remaining issue is whether there is sufficient evidence to conclude that defendant unlawfully used drugs and possessed a firearm in close proximity to the date alleged in the indictment, i.e., “on or about December 9,1999.”
The government need not prove the exact date on which the defendant violated the statute. “It is well established in this Circuit that the alleged time of the offense is not an essential element of the offense charged in the indictment.” United States v. Powers, 168 F.3d 741, 746 (5th Cir.1999). “It is sufficient if the evidence demonstrates a date reasonably near the date alleged in the indictment.” United States v. Bowman, 783 F.2d 1192, 1197 (5th Cir.1986). “[Wjithin reasonable limits, proof of any date before the return of the indictment and within the statute of limitations is sufficient.” United States v. Lokey, 945 F.2d 825, 832 (5th Cir.1991) (internal citation and quotation omitted). There is sufficient evidence to support a conclusion that defendant possessed firearms while he unlawfully used a controlled substance within several months of the date charged in the indictment, a time period “reasonably near” the date alleged in the indictment. See United States v. Bowman, 783 F.2d 1192, 1197 (5th Cir.1986)(nine month variance between mailing date alleged in indictment and date to which witness testified at trial not fatal).
I would affirm defendant’s conviction on Count 16.