United States v. Derrick Danard Slade

681 F. App'x 870
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedMarch 8, 2017
Docket16-13192
StatusUnpublished

This text of 681 F. App'x 870 (United States v. Derrick Danard Slade) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Derrick Danard Slade, 681 F. App'x 870 (11th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Derrick Slade appeals his conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), and his resulting sentence of 72 months’ imprisonment. On appeal, Slade argues that: (1) there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction because the government’s use of circumstantial evidence failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he had constructive possession of a firearm; and (2) his 72-month, above-guideline sentence was substantively unreasonable. After careful review, we affirm.

We review de novo challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction, viewing the evidence and drawing all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the government. United States v. Baldwin, 774 F.3d 711, 721 (11th Cir. 2014). We review the sentence a district court imposes for “reasonableness,” which “merely asks whether the trial court abused its discretion.” United States v. Pugh, 515 F.3d 1179, 1189 (11th Cir. 2008) (quoting Rita v. United States, 551 U.S. 338, 351, 127 S.Ct. 2456, 168 L.Ed.2d 203 (2007)).

First, we are unpersuaded by Slade’s claim that there was insufficient evidence to support his felon-in-possession conviction. Evidence will be sufficient if a reasonable trier of fact could find that it established the defendant’s guilt beyond a •reasonable doubt. United States v. Beckles, 565 F.3d 832, 840 (11th Cir. 2009). Accordingly, it is not enough for a defendant to put forth a reasonable hypothesis of innocence, as the issue is not whether a jury reasonably could have acquitted, but whether it reasonably could have found the defendant guilty. United States v. Bowers, 811 F.3d 412, 424 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 136 S.Ct. 2401, 195 L.Ed.2d 772 (2016). “The test for sufficien *872 cy of the evidence is identical!,] regardless of whether the evidence is direct or circumstantial,” but if the government relied on circumstantial evidence, “reasonable inferences, not mere speculation, must support the conviction.” United States v. Mieres-Borges, 919 F.2d 652, 656-57 (11th Cir. 1990); United States v. Mendez, 528 F.3d 811, 814 (11th Cir. 2008).

Credibility questions are the province of the jury, and we will assume that the jury resolved all such questions in a manner supporting their verdict. United States v. Lebowitz, 676 F.3d 1000, 1014 (11th Cir. 2012). The evidence need not exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence in order for a reasonable jury to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Cruz-Valdez, 773 F.2d 1541, 1545 (11th Cir. 1985) (en banc). The jury is free to choose among alternative, reasonable interpretations of the evidence. Id.

Conviction of a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) requires- proof of three elements: that the defendant “was a convicted felon,” that the defendant “knew he was in possession óf a firearm,” and “that the firearm affected or was in interstate commerce.” United States v. Wright, 392 F.3d 1269, 1273 (11th Cir. 2004). “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.” Wright, 392 F.3d at 1273. “In order to establish constructive possession, the government must produce evidence showing ownership, dominion, or control over the contraband itself ... or the vehicle in which contraband is concealed.” Id. (quotation omitted). Furthermore, possession can be shown by circumstantial or direct evidence. Id.

On appeal, Slade challenges the sufficiency of the evidence concerning only one element in 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)—that he knowingly “possessed” a firearm. See id. As the record shows, however, the government presented testimony from two detectives, Colon and Goodnow, in support of this element. Specifically, the detectives both testified that Slade refused to put his hands up when commanded to do so, kept his hands hidden under a black hat, and moved his hands and the hat towards his waistband before placing the hat on the seat of the car. Goodnow also testified that Slade was sweating, breathing heavily, and tensing his arms and that Goodnow was worried that Slade was going to shoot him. After removing Slade from the car, Good-now found a handgun under the hat that Slade had been holding.

Since credibility questions are the province of the jury, and since the jury found Slade guilty, we can assume that the jury considered Detective Colon and Detective Goodnow to be credible witnesses. And based on the detectives’ testimony, it was reasonable for the jury to infer that Slade was holding the gun under the hat and that it was under his dominion or control. While there was testimony that the women in the car did not see a gun and that neither Slade’s fingerprints nor his DNA were on the gun, it is not necessary to exclude all reasonable hypotheses of innocence for a jury to reasonably find guilt. Viewing all the evidence and drawing all inferences in the light most favorable to the government, we conclude that the jury chose among alternative, reasonable interpretations of the circumstantial evidence and reasonably could have found Slade guilty of constructively possessing a firearm. We affirm Slade’s conviction.

We also are unconvinced by Slade’s claim that his 72-month sentence was substantively unreasonable. In reviewing the “‘substantive reasonableness of [a] sentence imposed under an abuse-of-discretion standard,’ ” we consider the “ ‘totality of the circumstances.’ ” Pugh, 515 F.3d at

*873 1190 (quoting Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51, 128 S.Ct. 586, 169 L.Ed.2d 445 (2007)). The district court must impose a sentence “sufficient, but not greater than necessary to comply with the purposes” listed in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). 1 The court must consider all of the § 3553(a) factors, but it may give greater weight to some factors over others—a decision which is within its sound discretion. United States v. Rosales-Bruno, 789 F.3d 1249, 1254 (11th Cir. 2015).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Pugh
515 F.3d 1179 (Eleventh Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Mendez
528 F.3d 811 (Eleventh Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Gonzalez
550 F.3d 1319 (Eleventh Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Beckles
565 F.3d 832 (Eleventh Circuit, 2009)
Rita v. United States
551 U.S. 338 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Gall v. United States
552 U.S. 38 (Supreme Court, 2007)
United States v. Snipes
611 F.3d 855 (Eleventh Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Tome
611 F.3d 1371 (Eleventh Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Irey
612 F.3d 1160 (Eleventh Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Lebowitz
676 F.3d 1000 (Eleventh Circuit, 2012)
United States v. Jesse Wright, Jr., A.K.A. Jessie Wright
392 F.3d 1269 (Eleventh Circuit, 2004)
United States v. Lineten Belizaire
774 F.3d 711 (Eleventh Circuit, 2014)
United States v. Jesus Rosales-Bruno
789 F.3d 1249 (Eleventh Circuit, 2015)
United States v. Demetrius Renaldo Bowers
811 F.3d 412 (Eleventh Circuit, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
681 F. App'x 870, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-derrick-danard-slade-ca11-2017.