United States v. Ashburn, No. 16-3390 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseThe Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's 172 month sentence after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine. The court held that the district court erred by expressing the belief that the defendant had the burden of demonstrating that it was clearly improbable knives were used in connection with the drug-dealing offense. Nonetheless, the error was harmless and not subject to correction on appeal because the district court's ultimate finding that the dangerous-weapon enhancement applied was not clear error.
Court Description: Riley, Author, with Beam and Shepherd, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Sentencing. While the district court erred in stating that the burden was on defendant to demonstrate that it was "clearly improbable" that three knifes found in his residence were used in connection with his drug offense in order for him to avoid the application of an enhancement under Guidelines Sec. 2GD1.1(b)(1)for possession of dangerous weapon, the error was harmless because the evidence clearly established the knifes were either in the same room with the drugs or on top of dresser in which the drugs were found and were, therefore, readily accessible to aid in the drug dealing which took place in the room.
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