United States v. Parsons, No. 18-3669 (8th Cir. 2020)
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The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The court held that the district court did not err by denying defendant's Rule 29 motion for judgment of acquittal, because the evidence was sufficient to sustain his conviction. In this case, there was sufficient evidence to establish a nexus between defendant and the firearm found on his plane.
The court held that defendant knowingly possessed the gun where recorded jail calls showed that he referenced items that needed to be removed from the plane and where he admitted at trial that the gun looked like the firearm he had previously purchased. Furthermore, defendant had dominion over the plane, the gun was found near personal items that belonged to defendant, and defendant had recently absconded from Tennessee while awaiting trial on a state charge for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Court Description: Erickson, Author, with Gruender and Kelly, Circuit Judges] Criminal Case - Criminal Law. Parsons was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm after FBI agents searched his airplane pursuant to a warrant and discovered the weapon. After the government's case in chief, the district court denied Parson's motion for judgment of acquittal, and the jury convicted Parsons. Parsons appeals claiming the government failed to establish he "knowingly" possessed a firearm because the airplane was unlocked and left unattended before it was searched. Sufficient evidence was presented to support a finding that he knowingly possessed the gun: recorded jail calls that he referenced items needed to be removed from the plane and admissions that the gun looked like the firearm he previously purchased. Judge Kelly concurs.
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