United States v. Lonnie Perry, No. 22-1573 (8th Cir. 2023)
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A jury convicted Defendant of interference with commerce by robbery, possessing and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The district court sentenced him to 274 months in prison. He appeals his conviction. Defendant claims the district court erred by allowing the forensic examiner to testify as an expert on firearm and bullet identification.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed. The court held that the examiner’s degrees and training gave her competence for the subject area of her testimony. The district court did not abuse its discretion in allowing her to testify as an expert. Further Defendant challenged element 1, arguing the evidence was insufficient to prove he robbed the Select Mart and the VP Racing Station because no one identified him as the robber. But “courtroom identification is not necessary when the evidence is sufficient to permit the inference that the defendant on trial is the person who committed the acts charged. However, the court explained that the court reverses a conviction, including one based on circumstantial evidence, “only if no construction of the evidence exists to support the jury’s verdict.” Here, the evidence included video footage and still photos from Select Mart’s security camera and a detailed account of how investigators found Defendant’s fingerprints on the store’s door handle.
Court Description: [Benton, Author, with Kelly and Erickson, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law. The district court did not err in permitting a police forensic examiner to testify on firearm and bullet identification as her degrees and training made her competent to testify on this topic; evidence was sufficient to support defendant's conviction for interference with commerce by robbery.
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