United States Ninth Circuit

Expert testimony that drug traffickers generally use firearms to further their drug crimes, standing alone, is not sufficient to establish that a firearm was possessed in furtherance of a particular drug crime. A conviction for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime under 18 U.S.C. section 924(c)(1)(A) is reversed pursuant to a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence.

Appellate Information

• Argued 03/06/2006
• Decided 06/02/2006
• Published 06/02/2006

Judges

• BERZON, Circuit Judge:, Before: McKEOWN and BERZON, Circuit Judges, and KING, District Judge.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Jerry D. Whatley, Santa Barbara, CA, for the defendant-appellant., Andrea L. Russi, Assistant United States Attorney, Los Angeles, CA, for the plaintiff-appellee.