U.S. v. Wright
| Decision Date | 08 December 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-13359.,03-13359. |
| Citation | 392 F.3d 1269 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jesse WRIGHT, Jr., a.k.a. Jessie Wright, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Susan Hollis Rothstein-Youakim, Tamra Phipps, Tampa, FL, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Before EDMONDSON, Chief Judge, and PRYOR and FAY, Circuit Judges.
A jury convicted appellant Jesse Wright of one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924. The government alleged that Wright was in knowing possession of the weapon when Mulberry, Florida, police officers arrested him for driving under the influence. As part of its case, the government used Wright's resistance to arrest as evidence of knowing possession. The defendant challenges his conviction on several grounds: (1) the government did not present sufficient evidence that Wright knowingly possessed the firearm; (2) the district court dispensed with its neutral role by assisting the government in the development of its case; (3) the district court admitted evidence of the Defendant's uncharged resistance to arrest and instructed the jury that such evidence could be considered as consciousness of guilt; (4) the district court engaged in ex parte communications with the jury; and (5) that 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) is unconstitutional. While we will address each ground in turn, we disagree with the defendant, and affirm his conviction.
On March 24, 2002, Officer Kenneth Knox, of the Mulberry, Florida, police department stopped Jesse Wright for speeding and weaving through traffic lanes. Officer Knox approached Wright's vehicle and asked to see Wright's license and registration. Wright complied with the officer's request, and during the exchange, the officer detected alcohol on Wright's breath. Officer Knox administered the standard field sobriety tests, which Wright failed, and determined that Wright was intoxicated.
Officer Knox then proceeded to place Wright under arrest, and instructed Wright to put his hands behind his back. When Wright refused, a struggle ensued. Henry Floyd, a sheriff's office employee who arrived on the scene during the sobriety tests, attempted to assist Officer Knox, but the struggle continued and the three men fell to the ground. As Wright still resisted, Officer Knox radioed for assistance, and Corporal Cantrell responded to the scene. With Cantrell's aid, the officers got Wright under control.
With Wright in custody, the officers conducted an inventory search of Wright's vehicle. Under the front seat, they found a nine-millimeter Smith and Wesson firearm wrapped in a bandana, alongside a cold open bottle of beer. The trunk of the vehicle contained a cooler packed with ice and more of the same beer. The officers then transported Wright to the jail. After his arrest, although the precise timing is unclear from the record, Wright commented that the officers were lucky he had not made it back to his car because "it would have been lights out," and Wright proceeded to make a gesture with his hand in the shape of a pistol.
Before trial, Wright agreed to his status as a convicted felon who had not had his right to possess a firearm or ammunition restored. In addition, Wright filed a motion in limine requesting the district court to exclude evidence concerning his resistance to arrest and resulting charges of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence. The prosecutors dropped the charges relating to resisting arrest and battery on a law enforcement officer, but maintained that the evidence of that conduct was relevant and "inextricably intertwined" with the charged offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Furthermore, the government sought to use the resisting arrest evidence to establish Wright's consciousness of guilt. The district court agreed with both the admission and use of the evidence. During the trial, Officer Knox testified for the United States. On redirect examination, the district court informed the parties at a sidebar conference that Knox had yet to identify Wright. Wright's counsel objected to the court's comment and moved for a mistrial on grounds that the district judge "had gone beyond being neutral magistrate ... in pointing out a lack of the Government's case." The district court denied the motion and allowed the Government to ask Knox to identify Wright. Wright renewed his motion for a mistrial, which the district court denied.
Corporal Cantrell then took the stand for the Government and described both Wright's comment after arrest about it being "lights out" had he been able to get to his vehicle and Wright's accompanying hand gesture. As Cantrell testified, the district court itself questioned him about Wright's gesture. At sidebar, Wright objected, arguing once again that the district judge was assisting the United States in trying its case. The district court instructed the prosecutor to develop more details about the gesture from Cantrell, and also denied Wright's motion for a mistrial. The prosecution then proceeded to delve further into Wright's gesture.
The defense case consisted primarily of testimony by Wright's father. According to the father, the firearm belonged to him, and was left in the vehicle when he borrowed his son's car the day of the arrest. Wright's mother also testified, stating that she had dropped her husband off at her son's house on March 24, 2002, the day of the arrest. At the conclusion of evidence Wright renewed his motion for a judgment of acquittal, which the district court denied.
After the close of evidence, Wright objected to an instruction on resisting arrest because it involved a charge which the government had dropped. Wright further objected to the instruction because it was not part of pattern jury instructions. The government replied that this Court upheld a similar instruction in which the jury could consider intentional flight as indication of guilt. The prosecution explained that the jury needed the opportunity to make reasonable inferences because the government premised much of its case on circumstantial evidence. The district court approved a modified version of the requested charge, and allowed the jury to infer Wright's consciousness of guilt based upon his resistance.1
After instructing the jury, the district court excused all parties until further notice. Once the jury began its deliberations, it asked to be permitted to view the firearm. Additionally, the jury sought either the firearm's dimensions or a ruler to measure the gun. The district court allowed the jury to view the firearm and provided it with a ruler. The district court did not inform the parties of its communication with the jury until the next morning. Wright objected to the district court's actions, arguing that the ruler had not been admitted into evidence, and that the jury should have been instructed to use its own abilities. The district court overruled the objection, and the jury subsequently convicted the defendant. Wright was sentenced to 120 months imprisonment.
This Court reviews sufficiency of the evidence de novo, "view[ing] the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, with all reasonable inferences and credibility choices made in the government's favor." United States v. Martinez, 83 F.3d 371, 374 (11th Cir.1996). We will not overturn a conviction on the grounds of insufficient evidence "unless no rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt." United States v. Christo, 129 F.3d 578, 579 (11th Cir.1997). Finally, our Court must accept a jury's inferences and determinations of witness credibility. United States v. Glinton, 154 F.3d 1245, 1258 (11th Cir.1998).
Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), it is unlawful for a felon to possess a firearm. Section 922(g)(1) required the government to prove "three distinct elements:" (1) that Wright was a convicted felon; (2) that Wright knew he was in possession of a firearm; and (3) that the firearm affected or was in interstate commerce. United States v. Jernigan, 341 F.3d 1273, 1279 (11th Cir.2003). Wright agreed to his status as a convicted felon, and takes issue only with the second element — knowing possession. The government need not prove actual possession in order to fulfill the "knowing" requirement of § 922(g)(1). Rather, it may be shown through constructive possession. See United States v. Sweeting, 933 F.2d 962, 965 (11th Cir.1991). The firearm need not be on or near the defendant's person in order to amount to knowing possession. See United States v. Winchester, 916 F.2d 601, 603-04 (11th Cir.1990) (). Moreover, we have held in United States v. Gates, that a defendant had knowing possession of a firearm when driving a car with the weapon beneath the driver's seat. 967 F.2d 497, 499 (11th Cir.1992).
In the instant case, a reasonable jury could believe beyond a reasonable doubt that Wright was in knowing possession of the firearm. United States v. Billue, 994 F.2d 1562, 1565 (11th Cir.1993). Possession can be shown by circumstantial as well as direct evidence. United States v. Montes-Cardenas, 746 F.2d 771, 778 (11th Cir.1984); United States v. Smith, 591 F.2d 1105, 1107 (5th Cir.1979).2 Possession can be either actual or constructive. Smith, 591 F.2d at 1107. "In order to establish constructive possession, the government must produce evidence showing ownership, dominion, or control over the contraband itself ... or the vehicle...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
United States v. Tobin
...ruling or its response to a jury question, is reviewed for plain error. See Baker, 432 F.3d at 1202; see also United States v. Wright, 392 F.3d 1269, 1279–80 (11th Cir.2004). A district court's decision to deliver an Allen charge is reviewed only to assess whether the charge had a coercive ......
-
United States v. Seabrooks
...(2) the defendant knowingly possessed a firearm; and (3) the firearm affected or was in interstate commerce. United States v. Wright, 392 F.3d 1269, 1273 (11th Cir. 2004). Again, the jury could reasonably find, based on the trial evidence, that Seabrooks aided Butler in committing a § 922(g......
-
U.S. v. Vereen
...§ 922(g)(1), the government must prove that the defendant had actual or constructive possession of a firearm. See United States v. Wright, 392 F.3d 1269, 1273 (11th Cir. 2004). "To prove actual possession the evidence must show that the defendant either had physical possession of or persona......
-
U.S.A v. Irey
...when determining whether the evidence submitted to a jury is sufficient to support the jury's verdict. Cf. United States v. Wright, 392 F.3d 1269, 1273 (11th Cir.2004) (noting that we “will not overturn a conviction on the grounds of insufficient evidence unless no rational trier of fact co......