The Tenth Circuit on Wednesday issued one published opinion and three unpublished opinions.
Published
In United States v. King, the Court affirmed the district court’s conviction. Petitioner was convicted of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime; he claims that the district court erred in convicting him of the firearms count as “the government presented insufficient evidence to show either that he ‘possessed’ the firearm or that he did so ‘in furtherance’ of a drug-trafficking crime.” The Court, however, found that Petitioner’s admission to possession and the corroborating evidence to support it provides sufficient evidence to allow a reasonable jury to find that Petitioner constructively possessed the firearm. Additionally, the fact that Petitioner does not appeal his conviction for possession with intent to distribute and that the loaded weapon was located with the marijuana to make it easily defensible provides sufficient evidence to support the conclusion that possession of the firearm was in furtherance or a drug trafficking crime.
Unpublished
