United States v. Green

Defendant appealed his sentence and conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm or ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). The court concluded that the district court properly denied defendant's motion for a judgment of acquittal where the jury could reasonably find constructive possession; the district court should have granted defendant’s request to redact the indictment to remove any reference to “crimes” (plural), given that defendant had stipulated to having a prior felony conviction, but such error was harmless; for purposes of FRE 404(b), FRE 803(22) precludes use of the 2006 nolo conviction here to prove that defendant actually possessed ammunition in 2006; there was insufficient evidence for the jury to be able to conclude that defendant actually committed the prior act at issue; there was ample evidence, independent of the Rule 404(b) conviction, to support a conclusion that defendant was guilty of possessing the firearm and ammunition at issue and thus the admission of the 2006 conviction was harmless; and the district court did not err by sentencing defendant under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e)(1). Accordingly, the court affirmed the conviction and sentence. View "United States v. Green" on Justia Law