Court Opinion

ID: 9483932
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:36:05.92795+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:55.735190
License: Public Domain

E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I respectfully dissent from part II.A. of the majority’s opinion.1
The majority concludes that Crawford’s conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 2114 should be reversed—based on an instruction that Crawford requested and does not appeal— despite the fact that (1) Crawford admitted carrying the gun with him to commit the robbery for the purpose of threatening the employees; (2) the jury made a factual determination that Crawford possessed the gun while committing the robbery; and (3) possession of the gun satisfies the “use” requirement of § 2114 even if the victim does not know of the gun’s existence. I dissent from this nonsensical result.
Even if Crawford were challenging the very instruction he requested, we would review the instruction under the plain error standard because he did not object to it at trial. “Plain errors are those which strike at the fundamental fairness, honesty, or public reputation of the trial.” United States v. Bentley, 875 F.2d 1114, 1119 (5th Cir.1989). The instruction clearly is not plain error. The government presented *912sufficient evidence to support the jury’s determination that Crawford possessed the gun when he attempted to commit the robbery. This was all that was necessary for Crawford’s conviction under § 2114; this court does “not reverse for an alleged error in the jury instructions if we find, based upon the record, that the challenged instruction could not have affected the outcome of the case.” Bass v. United States Depart, of Agriculture, 737 F.2d 1408, 1414 (5th Cir.1984). Furthermore, any error in the jury instruction was harmless and no injustice resulted from the district court's instruction as given. The relevant factual issue—whether Crawford was carrying a weapon when he attempted to commit the robbery—was decided by the jury.2 Thus Crawford has not been deprived of his right to a jury determination of the factual issue necessary for his conviction. See United States v. L’Hoste, 609 F.2d 796 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 833, 101 S.Ct. 104, 66 L.Ed.2d 39 (1980).
Finally, we note that—unsurprisingly— the majority cites no authority for its anomalous result.
The evidence was sufficient to support Crawford’s conviction under § 2114. This determination is all we need to make. For this reason, I respectfully dissent from the majority’s reversal.

. I dissent only from the majority’s reversal of Crawford’s conviction under § 2114. I agree with the majority that a weapon does not have to be displayed for it to have been “used” within the meaning of § 2114.

. The district court instructed the jury that “for the weapon to have been used, it must be proved that the defendant not only possessed the weapon, but that he intentionally displayed it in some manner.” (Emphasis added.) This instruction obviously consisted of two parts: (1) whether Crawford possessed the weapon and (2) whether Crawford displayed the weapon. The jury made a factual finding that Crawford possessed the weapon, and this finding is supported by the evidence. Because this was the only question that had to be answered in the affirmative to sustain a conviction under § 2114, the relevant factual issue has been decided by the jury.