United States v. LaGue, 72-1542.
| Decision Date | 03 January 1973 |
| Docket Number | No. 72-1542.,72-1542. |
| Citation | 472 F.2d 151 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Herb LaGUE, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Jerome Fishkin (argued), San Francisco, Cal., for defendant-appellant.
Lawrence J. Semenza, Asst. U. S. Atty. (argued), Bart M. Schouweiler, U. S. Atty., Reno, Nev., for plaintiff-appellee.
Before TRASK, GOODWIN and WALLACE, Circuit Judges.
This is an appeal from a conviction by a jury of possessing unregistered machineguns in violation of the National Firearms Act, 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d).1
The government contended appellant possessed the three unregistered automatic guns located in a warehouse which had been leased to Twin City Carpet Company, a LaGue family business. Appellant, as a partner in the carpet business, was one of several employees who had access to the warehouse. The indictment charged appellant with possession of the guns on or about March 4, 1971. Several witnesses testified they had seen some or all of the guns in appellant's possession on various occasions in previous years and as recently as August 1970. The guns had been at appellant's home and at a mine owned by appellant. Appellant was acquitted of a companion charge for possession of an unregistered silencer. There was no evidence connecting appellant with the silencer at any time before it was discovered with the guns.
The argument that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict and judgment is clearly without merit. The possession necessary to establish the offense may be constructive possession as well as actual possession. United States v. Holt, 427 F.2d 1114, 1116 (8th Cir. 1970); Rodella v. United States, 286 F.2d 306 (9th Cir. 1960), cert. denied, 365 U.S. 889, 81 S.Ct. 1042, 6 L.Ed.2d 199 (1961).
The record includes testimony of witnesses who had seen the defendant with weapons similar to those taken from the LaGue family warehouse; it also contains the testimony of an undercover agent to conversations with defendant in which the defendant discussed his ownership of weapons like those found From all of this and the denials of the defendant which the jury was entitled to disbelieve the verdict gathered ample support.
Appellant's second contention is that as a possessor he is not required to register his weapons. 26 U.S.C. § 5861 (d) does not make failure to register the guns a crime, but rather the possession of certain guns which should have been registered but were not. Kilcrease v. United States, 457 F.2d 1328, 1332 (8th Cir. 1972); ...
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People v. Hill
...have recognized two types of possession, actual and constructive. United States v. Burch, 313 F.2d 628 (CA 6, 1963); United States v. LaGue, 472 F.2d 151 (CA 9, 1973). Although not in actual possession, a person has constructive possession if he "knowingly has the power and the intention at......
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U.S. v. Alverson
...and other circuits have found similar evidence sufficient to sustain an inference of constructive possession. See United States v. LaGue, 472 F.2d 151, 152 (9th Cir. 1973); United States v. Smith, 591 F.2d at 1106-07. We find that a rational trier of fact could conclude beyond a reasonable ......
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U.S. v. Taylor
...with a reason to possess a machine gun and silencer. See, e.g., United States v. Alverson, 666 F.2d at 344-46; United States v. LaGue, 472 F.2d 151, 152 (9th Cir.1973); United States v. Virciglio, 441 F.2d 1295, 1296-98 (5th Cir.1971). Taylor also exercised dominion and control over those p......
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State v. Kerr
...Mrs. Kerr could possess these weapons even though they had been properly registered. The prosecutor cited the cases of United States v. LaGue, 472 F.2d 151 (9th Cir.1973), United States v. Craven, 478 F.2d 1329 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 866, 94 S.Ct. 54, 38 L.Ed.2d 85, reh. denied,......