United States Ninth Circuit

Defendant's conviction for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a felony is affirmed where: 1) the evidence was sufficient to show the requisite nexus between the firearm and the drug operation; and 2) the district court erred in instructing the jury to find that defendant possessed the firearm "during and in relation to the crime" instead of "in furtherance of" the crime, but the error was harmless because the evidence demonstrating that defendant used the pistol to facilitate the criminal activity was overwhelming.

Appellate Information

• Argued 05/05/2009
• Decided 08/17/2009
• Published 08/17/2009

Judges

• IKUTA, Circuit Judge:, Before:  W. FLETCHER, CARLOS T. BEA, and SANDRA S. IKUTA, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Robert M. Stone (briefed and argued), Medford, OR, for the defendant-appellant., Karen J. Immergut (briefed), Judith R. Harper (briefed and argued), Medford, OR, for the plaintiff-appellee.