Court Opinion

ID: 9484277
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:46:43.940735+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:50:08.159941
License: Public Domain

*1140WILLIAMS,' Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
Because I believe the evidence was sufficient to support the district court’s finding of guilt, I respectfully dissent.
The principal factual issue.in this case was whether Fountain intended to distribute the marijuana he possessed when he was arrested at 11:20 p.m. Fountain admitted that although he was so scared that he was armed with two loaded revolvers, he stood for over thirty minutes on the street corner on a cold winter night, in an area known for drug dealing, rather than riding with his cousin who had come to get him, returning to the party he claims that he attended, or walking back to his house, one and one-half miles away. After the police took Fountain to the station, they discovered rolling papers and three baggies of marijuana in his sock that were packaged for resale and contained enough marijuana for ten cigarettes. Special Agent High testified that hiding drugs in socks is a normal procedure for drug dealers, and that firearms are commonplace among low-level dealers.
This evidence — the two loaded guns, waiting on foot in a drug trafficking location, the packaging of the drugs, and the place where the drugs were hidden — was sufficient for the district court to conclude that Fountain intended to distribute the marijuana he possessed. In addition, Fountain and his cousin Eric testified, and the district court had the opportunity to evaluate their credibility and factor that into its judgment. The majority opinion, I respectfully suggest, improperly substitutes this court’s evaluation of the evidence for that of the district court.
In addition, the majority opinion suggests that the district court relied upon hearsay testimony in reaching its verdict. Fountain raised this point in his post-trial motion for acquittal. In denying the motion, the district court wrote: “The court in no way relied upon the hearsay evidence in making its determination that the defendant was indeed guilty of the charges in the indictment.” (J.A. 185.) We should take the district court at its word and evaluate its judgment on the basis of the evidence upon which it in fact relied. Because the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the Government, is sufficient for a “rational trier of facts [to find] the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt,” Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), I would affirm.