U.S. v. Weston, 92-3930
| Decision Date | 14 September 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 92-3930,92-3930 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Lonnie Gene WESTON, Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Kenneth Osborne, Fayetteville, AR, argued (Brenda Horn Austin, on the brief), for appellant.
Matthew Fleming, Fort Smith, AR, argued (J. Michael Fitzhugh and Matthew W. Fleming, on the brief), for appellee.
Before McMILLIAN and BEAM, Circuit Judges, and SACHS, * Senior District Judge.
Lonnie Gene Weston appeals from a final judgment entered in the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas finding him guilty, upon a jury verdict, of one count of possession of methylamine with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(d)(1). Methylamine is a chemical necessary for the production of methamphetamine, a controlled substance. The district court sentenced Weston to 120 months imprisonment, 2 years of supervised release, an $8,000.00 fine, and a special assessment of $50.00. For reversal, Weston argues that the district court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal because the government failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he intended to use methylamine to manufacture methamphetamine. For the reasons discussed below, we reverse the judgment of the district court.
The evidence at trial revealed that Jim Wilkins, a deputy sheriff with the Madison County, Arkansas, Sheriff's Department, working undercover with a DEA Task Force in northwest Arkansas, met with Weston and arranged to deliver to Weston a gallon of methylamine. On December 4, 1990, Wilkins and Weston met on a rural highway outside Springdale, Arkansas, where Wilkins delivered the gallon of methylamine to Weston. This meeting was observed by other Task Force officers. After the meeting, Weston took the gallon can of methylamine and placed it in a ditch and left the area.
Task Force agents maintained surveillance upon the can of methylamine which was later retrieved by one Curtis Wilson. Wilson took the methylamine to his trailer. Wilson later pleaded guilty to possession of the methylamine with intent to manufacture methamphetamine and agreed to cooperate with the government. At the trial Wilson testified that Weston instructed him to pick up the gallon of methylamine and gave him instructions as to where it was hidden. In exchange for picking up the methylamine, Wilson testified that he was to receive money or drugs from Weston. Wilson also testified that he believed that Weston and a methylamine "cook," Lorenzo Edmondson, were going to make methamphetamine with the methylamine. When the methylamine was recovered from Wilson's trailer, a formula for methamphetamine was discovered. Allen Sawyer, a DEA chemist, testified that methylamine is used to manufacture methamphetamine and that the only legitimate use for methylamine was in the tanning of leather.
At the close of the government's case, Weston made a motion for judgment of acquittal. The district court denied the motion. The jury was given the following instruction:
The crime of possession of a listed chemical with intent to manufacture a controlled substance, as charged in the indictment, has two essential elements, which are:
One, the defendant knowingly possessed methylamine; and
Two, the defendant intended to use the methylamine to manufacture methamphetamine.
For you to find the defendant guilty of a crime charged in the indictment, the government must prove all of the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt; otherwise you must find the defendant not guilty.
On October 26, 1992, Weston was convicted as charged and he renewed his motion for judgment of acquittal. The motion was again denied. On December 17, 1992, the district court sentenced Weston to 120 months imprisonment,
two years of supervised release, an $8,000.00 fine, and a special assessment of $50.00. This appeal followed.
Weston argues that the district court erred in denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal. He argues that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to find beyond a reasonable doubt that he intended to manufacture methamphetamine. Weston argues that at most the evidence only showed that he possessed the methylamine for a only a matter of moments on December 4, 1990. He contends that while there may have been sufficient evidence for the jury to find that he possessed methylamine, there was no evidence that he intended to manufacture methamphetamine.
The government argues that there was sufficient evidence presented at trial from which the jury could have reasonably concluded that Weston intended to manufacture methamphetamine. The government contends that there was both direct and circumstantial evidence that Weston bought the methylamine from agent Wilkins with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine. We disagree.
When reviewing sufficiency of evidence claims, we must view the entire record in the light most favorable to the government. United States v. Whitfield, 874 F.2d 591, 592 (8th Cir.1989); United States v. Resnick, 745 F.2d 1179, 1185-86 (8th Cir.1984). Additionally, we must draw from the facts all reasonable inferences in favor of the government, United States v. Roberts, 848 F.2d 906, 908 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 931, 109 S.Ct. 322, 102 L.Ed.2d 340 (1988); United States v. Robinson, 782 F.2d 128, 129 (8th Cir.1986), and resolve all evidentiary conflicts in its favor. Smalley v. United States, 798 F.2d 1182, 1188 (8th Cir.1986).
The evidence does not have to exclude every reasonable hypothesis other than guilt, but it simply must be sufficient to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. United States v. Paul, 810 F.2d 774, 775 (8th Cir.1987); United States v. La Guardia, 774 F.2d 317, 319 (8th Cir.1985). The evidence to support a conviction is sufficient, as a matter of law, if "any rational trier of fact could have found the...
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