United States v. Ryan Lord Reeves

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Decided: May 20, 2025
• Docket: 23-13942
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

USCA11 Case: 23-13942 Document: 39-1 Date Filed: 05/20/2025 Page: 1 of 3

[DO NOT PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

____________________

No. 23-13942 ____________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus RYAN LORD REEVES,

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia D.C. Docket No. 7:22-cr-00026-HL-TQL-2 ____________________ USCA11 Case: 23-13942 Document: 39-1 Date Filed: 05/20/2025 Page: 2 of 3

2 Opinion of the Court 23-13942

Before JORDAN, and JILL PRYOR, Circuit Judges, and MORENO,∗ Dis- trict Judge. PER CURIAM: Ryan Reeves appeals his conviction for possession of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, see 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A)(viii), arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support the jury’s guilty verdict. Following oral ar- gument and a review of the record, we affirm. Mr. Reeves did not move for judgment of acquittal under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29 on the methamphetamine charge. That means that we review only to determine whether the conviction resulted in a manifest miscarriage of justice. “Such a miscarriage would exist only if it appears that the record is devoid of evidence pointing to guilt.” Garrett v. United States, 356 F.2d 921, 922 (5th Cir. 1966) (internal quotation marks omitted). Stated dif- ferently, a miscarriage of justice results if the “evidence on a key element of the offense is so tenuous that a conviction would be shocking.” United States v. Fries, 725 F.3d 1286, 1291 (11th Cir. 2013) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Under this standard, we see no basis for reversal. The jury heard evidence from which it could have found that Mr. Reeves purchased the methamphetamine for his co-defendant, Jennifer McGrotha, and that he hid 300 grams of the methamphetamine in

∗ The Honorable Federico A. Moreno, U.S. District Judge for the Southern

District of Florida, sitting by designation. USCA11 Case: 23-13942 Document: 39-1 Date Filed: 05/20/2025 Page: 3 of 3

23-13942 Opinion of the Court 3

a cavity behind the front passenger-side fender of her car. In addi- tion, when he was arrested Mr. Reeves was driving Ms. McGrotha’s car, which in total contained over 400 grams of meth- amphetamine. Finally, the amount of methamphetamine in the car was a distribution quantity, and the jury could have found that Mr. Reeves shared Ms. McGrotha’s intent with regard to distribu- tion. At the very least, there was enough evidence for the jury to convict on an aiding and abetting theory. Given this evidence, Mr. Reeves’ conviction did not result in a manifest miscarriage of justice. The conviction is therefore af- firmed. AFFIRMED.