United States v. Binion

55 F. App'x 369
Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit·Decided December 27, 2002·No. No. 02-1678·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

ORDER

Kitrus Binion was convicted by a jury of being a felon in possession of a firearm, 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), 924(e). A month later, he pleaded guilty to an unrelated bank robbery charge, 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a). The district court sentenced Binion to 293-months’ imprisonment on the felon-in-possession charge and 210-months’ imprisonment on the bank robbery charge to run concurrent. Binion filed a timely notice of appeal from his felon-in-possession sentence, but did not appeal from the separate bank robbery sentence. His counsel now seeks to withdraw under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), stating that he considers the appeal frivolous. Binion was notified of the Anders motion, see Circuit Rule 51(a), and filed a response asserting an issue not raised by counsel. Because the Anders brief is adequate on its face, we limit our review to those issues identified in the brief and the response. United States v. Tabb, 125 F.3d 583, 584 (7th Cir.1997). Binion did not raise these issues in the district court, so our review is only for plain error. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(b). We grant counsel’s motion to withdraw and dismiss the appeal.

Counsel first considers whether Binion could challenge the constitutionality of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 924(e). Binion argues that § 922(g)(1) is unconstitutional because the Commerce Clause does not authorize Congress to reach the purely intrastate possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. But as counsel correctly notes, we have repeatedly rejected Commerce Clause challenges to the felon-in-possession statute. See, e.g., United States v. Fleischli, 305 F.3d 643, 652-53 (7th Cir.2002); United States v. Lemons, 302 F.3d 769, 772-73 (7th Cir. 2002); United States v. Mitchell, 299 F.3d 632, 635 (7th Cir.2002). Similarly, an argument that Binion’s sentence under § 924(e) is cruel and unusual punishment also fails. See United States v. Hayes, 919 F.2d 1262, 1265-66 (7th Cir.1990) (reject[371] ing Eighth Amendment challenge to § 924(e)). We agree with counsel that an appeal on these issues would be frivolous.

Counsel next considers whether a non-frivolous argument could be raised regarding an identification of Binion by witness John Webb. A district court should suppress an out-of-court identification when it is unduly suggestive and not reliable under the totality of the circumstances. United States v. Traeger, 289 F.3d 461, 474 (7th Cir.2002). We look at five factors when evaluating reliability: “(1) the witness’ opportunity to view the criminal at the time of the crime, (2) the witness’ degree of attention, (3) the accuracy of the witness’ prior description of the criminal, (4) the level of certainty that the witness demonstrated at the time of the confrontation, and (5) the time elapsed between the crime and the confrontation.” Id. (citing Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 199-200, 93 S.Ct. 375, 34 L.Ed.2d 401 (1972)). Webb, a store manager, confronted Binion and his companion, Sheila Merriweather, and accused them of shoplifting. As Binion and Merriweather left the store, Webb saw a flash of silver in Binion’s hand. Webb followed them outside the store, and Binion pointed a gun directly at Webb. After Webb returned to the store, Binion aimed the gun at Webb through the store’s windows. Webb provided the police with a detailed description. Twenty minutes later, the police brought Binion to the store for identification. Webb was certain that Binion was the man who pointed a gun at him. Viewed under the totality of the circumstances, we agree with counsel that a challenge to Webb’s identification would be frivolous.

Counsel also suggests that Binion could challenge the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction. To succeed on a sufficiency of the evidence challenge, Binion must prove that, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a rational jury could not have found the elements of § 922(g) and § 924 beyond a reasonable doubt. Fleischli 305 F.3d at 657. Here, Binion’s companion Merriweather and Webb testified that they saw Binion holding a gun during the confrontation. Police Officer Ronald Santa testified that he saw Binion running away from the store with a gun in his hand. Viewing the evidence in a fight most favorable to the government, we believe that an argument that the evidence was insufficient would be frivolous.

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United States v. Binion, 55 F. App'x 369 (7th Cir. 2002).

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