United States v. Parker, No. 16-2541 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseDefendants Parker, Veltrez Black, Johnson, and Bender appealed their convictions for conspiring to possess firearms in a conspiracy involving gang members with felony convictions who enlisted "straw purchasers." In regard to Veltrez Black's contentions, the Fifth Circuit held that the district court did not err in denying his motion for a mistrial; the district court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the government's statements, nor did it abuse its discretion in allowing evidence to support these statements; the court rejected Veltrez Black's remaining evidentiary contentions; the evidence was sufficient to support Veltrez Black's conviction for conspiracy; but the court vacated Veltrez Black's firearm possession conviction due to insufficient evidence and remanded for resentencing. In regard to Bender's contentions, the court affirmed defendant's conviction but vacated defendant's sentence because it was procedurally unsound due to a Guidelines calculation error. Finally, the court affirmed Parker and Johnson's convictions.
Court Description: Smith, Author, with Colloton and Kelly, Circuit Judges] Criminal cases - Criminal law and sentencing. With respect to defendant Black: (1) the district court did not err in denying his motion for a mistrial as the evidence he points to as unduly prejudicial concerning gang warfare was necessary to explain the context of the charged offenses and the court's decision to permit the prosecution to comment on this matter in opening and closing arguments was not an abuse of the court's discretion; no error in admitting police officer's testimony regarding gang involvement or expert testimony on ballistics or Facebook and Instagram evidence; (2)evidence was sufficient to support Black's conspiracy conviction; (3) there was insufficient evidence to support Black's conviction for illegal possession of a firearm as the evidence was insufficient to connect the discarded firearm to Black. With respect to defendant Bender: (1) no error in rejecting his proposed "free speech" instruction with respect to his conviction for conspiring to threaten witnesses; (2) the instruction given on conspiracy was legally correct and the district court did not err in rejecting Bender's proposed instruction; (3) the jury instructions did not permit Bender to be convicted for conduct outside the time frame alleged in the indictment; (4) the court erred in imposing a two-level enhancement under Guidelines Sec. 3C1.1 for obstruction of justice as Bender did not believe the witnesses threatened would be used against him at sentencing and thus, his actions were not intended to obstruct justice on the underlying firearm charge; remanded for resentencing. With respect to defendant Johnson, the district court considered defendant's mitigating factors and adequately explained the basis for its sentencing decision; the sentence imposed was not substantively unreasonable. With respect to defendant Parker: (1) defendant Parker's sentence is not substantively unreasonable. Judge Colloton, concurring in part and dissenting concerning the reversal of defendant Black's conviction for possession of a firearm.
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