United States v. Oliver, No. 22-3214 (8th Cir. 2024)
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In this case heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the defendant, Mickael Oliver, was convicted of six firearms-related felonies following a jury trial and was sentenced to 204 months of imprisonment. The crimes committed by Oliver involved a series of firearm transactions in Kansas City, Missouri, during which Oliver sold various firearms to a paid confidential informant. The transactions escalated to an attempted sale that turned violent when Oliver pointed a gun at the informant and kept both the money and the firearms. Oliver was subsequently charged and convicted of possessing a stolen firearm, unlawfully possessing a firearm as a drug user, dealing in firearms without a federal license, robbery of United States property through the use of a deadly weapon, using and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime, and selling a firearm to a convicted felon.
On appeal, Oliver challenged the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain his convictions, specifically, the counts that he robbed U.S. property and brandished a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime. The court, reviewing de novo, found that the evidence was sufficient to support the convictions. They determined that a reasonable jury could find that Oliver intended to commit a robbery, as he kept both the money and the firearms after threatening the informant with a gun. Furthermore, the court found that the evidence showed Oliver brandished a firearm during the crime, as he pointed a gun at the informant's head.
As for the other charges, the court found that Oliver did not provide convincing argument or citation to authority to challenge them. Regardless, the court noted that the evidence of Oliver's guilt on those charges was impressive, with Oliver having stipulated at trial that he sold and possessed firearms without a federal license while illegally using a controlled substance, conceded that he sold firearms to a convicted felon, and possessed recently stolen firearms.
The court concluded that Oliver's challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence were without merit and affirmed his convictions.
Court Description: [Grasz, Author, with Loken and Erickson, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law. The evidence was sufficient to support the defendant's convictions on six firearm-related felonies.
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