United States First Circuit

Defendant's convictions of one count of conspiring with others to make false statements to a firearms dealer, three counts of possessing a firearm following a felony conviction, and one count of possessing marijuana, are affirmed, where: 1) the district court properly denied defendant a judgment of acquittal on the marijuana possession count because 21 U.S.C. section 844(a)'s "unless" clause creates an exception for an accused to invoke by producing prima facie evidence of a valid prescription, not an element of the offense for a prosecutor to prove; and 2) the district court did not err in applying a four-level sentencing enhancement for possessing any firearm in connection with another felony offense, namely, felony drug trafficking.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/16/2014
• Published 05/16/2014

Judges

• THOMPSON

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel