U.S. v. Anderson, 96-1496

• Decision Date: 10 March 1997
• Docket Number: No. 96-1496,96-1496
• Citation: 108 F.3d 478
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Jeffrey ANDERSON, a/k/a Jonathan Thomas, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

Page 478

108 F.3d 478

65 USLW 2620

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Jeffrey ANDERSON, a/k/a Jonathan Thomas, Appellant.

No. 96-1496.

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Argued January 27, 1997.

Decided March 10, 1997.

Maureen Kearney Rowley, Chief Federal Defender, Elaine Demasse, Assistant Federal Defender, Senior Appellate Counsel, Robert

Epstein (argued) Assistant Federal Defender, Ellen C. Brotman, Assistant Federal Defender, Federal Court Division, Defender Association of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, for appellant.

Michael R. Stiles, United States Attorney, Walter S. Batty, Jr., Assistant United States Attorney, Chief of Appeals, J. Alvin Stout, III (argued) Assistant United States Attorney, United States Department of Justice, United States Attorney Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, for appellee.

Before BECKER and ROTH, Circuit Judges, and ORLOFSKY, District Judge. ^*

OPINION OF THE COURT

ORLOFSKY, District Judge.

Jeffrey Anderson appeals from his conviction after a jury trial on a three-count superseding indictment charging him with carjacking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2119 (the "carjacking statute"), using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1), and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).

This appeal requires this Court to address for the first time the quantum of evidence that the government must offer at trial such that a jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had the requisite "intent to cause death or serious bodily harm," within the meaning of the 1994 amendment to the carjacking statute. The federal courts which have considered this issue have reached different conclusions. ¹ We hold that it is sufficient for the government to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant possessed a conditional intent to cause death or serious bodily harm to the carjacking victim--in other words, that the defendant intended to cause death or serious bodily harm if the victim resisted the defendant's efforts to obtain the victim's car. In addition, we conclude that, when viewing the evidence presented at trial in a light most favorable to the government, a rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant in this case had such an intent to kill or cause serious bodily harm, if necessary, in order to obtain the victim's car. We, therefore, affirm.

I. Facts and Procedural Background

On December 28, 1994, at approximately 9:30 p.m., Pamela White was inside her mother's home when she noticed Mark Stanley sitting at a table appearing jumpy, upset and nervous. Ms. White then noticed Jeffrey Anderson, whom she did not know at the time, standing in the vestibule of the house. Ms. White's mother asked Anderson to leave and he refused. Ms. White observed the imprint of a gun in the front of Anderson's jersey.

Anderson entered the living room of the house, exchanged words with Stanley and began to struggle with him. When Anderson brandished his .38 caliber handgun at Stanley, Ms. White tried to get her children and her mother upstairs. Stanley then broke away from Anderson and fled up the stairs behind them. Anderson followed them up the stairs with the gun in his hands. Ms. White heard a gunshot which she later discovered had gone into the ceiling. After firing the gunshot, Anderson fled from the house.

After fleeing from the house, Anderson passed directly by a marked police car, making eye contact with Officer Terrence Graham, who was inside the car. Graham briefly pursued Anderson, who was still carrying the gun in his hand at the time, before losing sight of him. Anderson then came upon Alfred Tennessee a few blocks away. Tennessee was washing a car belonging to a friend. While kneeling down near the front passenger side tire, Tennessee suddenly felt Anderson's gun pressed against the back of his neck. Tennessee turned to see a man whom he subsequently identified as Anderson, clutching the gun. Anderson told Tennessee that "the police [are] after me, I'm taking the car." Tennessee responded by telling Anderson to take the car.

Tennessee, however, ran around to the driver's side of the vehicle in an attempt to stop Anderson from taking the car. Anderson pointed the gun out the driver's side window at Tennessee and sped off in the car. Tennessee heard a gun shot when Anderson was a halfblock away, although he did not see who fired the shot, or in which direction it was fired. Tennessee informed nearby police of the incident and the police began to pursue Anderson.

This vehicular pursuit ended when the vehicle Anderson was driving stalled out. Anderson exited the vehicle with the gun in his hand, and refused to comply with a police officer's order to drop the gun. Six officers pursued Anderson on foot. The officers finally caught up with him and forcibly removed the gun from his hand. Anderson was arrested and placed in a police vehicle. The officers subsequently ascertained that his gun was loaded and operable at the time of his arrest.

On November 19, 1995, Jeffrey Anderson was charged in a superseding indictment filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania with carjacking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2119 (Count 1), using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1) (Count 2), and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (Count 3). A jury trial was held, and the jury returned a verdict of guilty on each of the three counts. On June 4, 1996, Anderson was sentenced to a prison term of 156 months on Counts 1 and 3, to run concurrently, and to a consecutive 60 month term of incarceration on Count 2. Anderson was also sentenced to a three year period of supervised release, and the imposition of a special assessment of $50.

Anderson filed a timely Notice of Appeal from his convictions on Counts 1 and 2. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and review Anderson's convictions in order to ascertain whether, when viewing the evidence presented at trial in a light most favorable to the government, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the offenses charged in Counts 1 and 2, beyond a reasonable doubt. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). However, since Anderson's trial counsel failed to renew his motion for judgment of acquittal at the end of the defense's case, Anderson has failed to preserve this issue for appeal. See United States v. Barel, 939 F.2d 26, 37 (3d Cir.1991). Accordingly, the alleged insufficiency of the evidence with respect to the essential elements of the offense must constitute plain error in order to warrant reversal. See id.; Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(b).

II. Analysis

On appeal, Anderson contends that his convictions under Counts 1 and 2 of the superseding indictment should be reversed since the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to establish his guilt under 18 U.S.C. § 2119, beyond a reasonable doubt. Section 2119 of Title 18 provides:

Whoever, with the intent to cause death or serious bodily harm takes a motor vehicle that has been transported, shipped, or received in interstate or foreign commerce from the person or presence of another by force and violence or by intimidation, or attempts to do so, shall--

(1) be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both,

(2) if serious bodily injury results, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 25 years, or both, and

(3) if death results, be fined under this title or imprisoned for any number of years up to life, or both, or sentenced to death.

18 U.S.C. § 2119 (as amended in 1994). Specifically, Anderson claims on appeal that the evidence presented by the government at trial was insufficient to establish that he had the requisite "intent to kill or cause serious bodily harm," within the meaning of the carjacking statute. See 18 U.S.C. § 2119.

"When the sufficiency of the evidence at trial is challenged, we must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the government." United States v. Coyle, 63 F.3d 1239, 1243 (3d Cir.1995)(citing Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80, 62 S.Ct. 457, 469-70, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942)). Moreover, "[a] claim of insufficiency of evidence places a very heavy burden on the appellant ... [This Court] must affirm the conviction[ ] if a rational trier of fact could have found defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and the verdict is supported by substantial evidence." Coyle, 63 F.3d at 1243; see also United States v. Gonzalez, 918 F.2d 1129, 1132 (3d Cir.1990), cert. denied, 499 U.S. 982, 111 S.Ct. 1637, 113 L.Ed.2d 733 (1991). Indeed, " '[o]nly when the record contains no evidence, regardless of how it is weighted, from which the jury could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, may an appellate court overturn the verdict.' " United States v. McNeill, 887 F.2d 448, 450 (3d Cir.1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1087, 110 S.Ct. 1152, 107 L.Ed.2d 1055 (1990) (citing Brandom v. United States, 431 F.2d 1391, 1400 (7th Cir.1970), cert. denied, 400 U.S. 1022, 91 S.Ct. 586, 27 L.Ed.2d 634 (1971)).

Anderson contends that, in order to be found guilty of carjacking, the statute requires that the government prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he intended to cause death or serious bodily injury whether or not the victim agreed to relinquish his car. In contrast, the government maintains that the "intent to cause death or serious bodily injury" element of the statute is satisfied if the government is able to show that Anderson intended to cause death or serious bodily injury if the victim refused to relinquish his or her car.

The few federal courts to consider this issue have reached different conclusions. Compare United States v. Holloway, 921 F.Supp. 155 (E.D.N.Y.1996) and United States v. Norwood, 948...