United States v. Jenkins, No. 14-2844 (8th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseJenkins had a 1997 shoplifting conviction. Store video showed Jenkins purchasing 9mm ammunition. Arrested as a felon in possession of ammunition, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1); 924(a)(2), Jenkins did not stipulate to the prior conviction. The government introduced a certified copy, showing an original charge of shoplifting over $1,500—a class III felony. The charge was later amended to a class IV felony—shoplifting over $500 but less than $1,500. The jury sent a question: “What is a class 3 felony and what is the punishment? What is a class 4 felony and what is the punishment?” The court instructed that, under Nebraska law, a felony is a crime punishable by more than one year imprisonment. The ammunition was linked to four murders by Jenkins’s children. The presentence report relied on the cross-reference in U.S.S.G. 2K2.1(c)(1)(B) to hold Jenkins responsible for the transfer of ammunition resulting in death. Applying the first-degree murder reference under 2A1.1, the Guidelines range was life. The court found Jenkins transferred the ammunition with knowledge or intent that it would be used in another offense and, applying the cross-reference, sentenced her to 120 months’ imprisonment. The Eighth Circuit affirmed, rejecting claims of insufficient evidence, an erroneous supplemental jury instruction, and error in applying the cross-reference.
Court Description: Benton, Author, with Wollman and Smith, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law and sentencing. An error in the indictment regarding the amount involved in defendant's prior shoplifting conviction did not affect defendant's substantial rights and the evidence was sufficient to show she had a prior felony conviction; district court's supplemental instruction regarding the definition of a felony under Nebraska law was a clear, neutral and accurate statement of the law and it was not an abuse of the court's discretion to give it; the district court did not err in applying the cross-reference to Guidelines Sec. 2A1.1, and application of the enhancement does not violate Alleyne, Apprendi and Blakely; evidence was sufficient to show the ammunition defendant transferred to her son resulted in four deaths.
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