Filed: Jun. 04, 2009
Latest Update: Feb. 12, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 08-4806 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. KARL SULLIVAN, a/k/a Adrian Karl Cathey, a/k/a Karl Adrian Cathey, a/k/a Karl Edwards, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Robert J. Conrad, Jr., Chief District Judge. (3:07-cr-00109-RJC-1) Submitted: April 29, 2009 Decided: June 4, 2009 Before MOTZ, KING, and SHEDD, Circuit Judge
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 08-4806 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. KARL SULLIVAN, a/k/a Adrian Karl Cathey, a/k/a Karl Adrian Cathey, a/k/a Karl Edwards, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Robert J. Conrad, Jr., Chief District Judge. (3:07-cr-00109-RJC-1) Submitted: April 29, 2009 Decided: June 4, 2009 Before MOTZ, KING, and SHEDD, Circuit Judges..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 08-4806
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
KARL SULLIVAN, a/k/a Adrian Karl Cathey, a/k/a Karl Adrian
Cathey, a/k/a Karl Edwards,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Robert J.
Conrad, Jr., Chief District Judge. (3:07-cr-00109-RJC-1)
Submitted: April 29, 2009 Decided: June 4, 2009
Before MOTZ, KING, and SHEDD, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
R. Brent Walker, LAW OFFICE OF R. BRENT WALKER, Charlotte, North
Carolina, for Appellant. Gretchen C. F. Shappert, United States
Attorney, Mark A. Jones, Assistant United States Attorney,
Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Karl Sullivan appeals his conviction by a jury of one
count of possession of a firearm after having been convicted of
a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment, in
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) (2006). We affirm.
On appeal, Sullivan argues that the district court
erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal because
the evidence was insufficient to sustain the jury’s verdict.
This court reviews de novo a district court’s denial of a motion
for judgment of acquittal. United States v. Alerre,
430 F.3d
681, 693 (4th Cir. 2005). In conducting such a review, the
court is obliged to sustain a guilty verdict if, viewing the
evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the
verdict is supported by substantial evidence. United States v.
Burgos,
94 F.3d 849, 862 (4th Cir. 1996) (en banc) (citing
Glasser v. United States,
315 U.S. 60, 80 (1942)). This court
has “defined ‘substantial evidence’ as ‘evidence that a
reasonable finder of fact could accept as adequate and
sufficient to support a conclusion of a defendant’s guilt beyond
a reasonable doubt.’”
Alerre, 430 F.3d at 693 (quoting
Burgos,
94 F.3d at 862). This court “must consider circumstantial as
well as direct evidence, and allow the government the benefit of
all reasonable inferences from the facts proven to those sought
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to be established.” United States v. Tresvant,
677 F.2d 1018,
1021 (4th Cir. 1982).
In evaluating the sufficiency of the evidence, we do
not assess the credibility of the witnesses and assume that the
jury resolved all contradictions in the testimony in favor of
the Government. United States v. Brooks,
524 F.3d 549, 563 (4th
Cir.), cert. denied,
129 S. Ct. 519 (2008). We “can reverse a
conviction on insufficiency grounds only when the prosecution’s
failure is clear.” United States v. Moye,
454 F.3d 390, 394
(4th Cir. 2006) (en banc) (internal quotation marks and citation
omitted).
In order to establish a violation of § 922(g)(1), the
Government must prove the defendant was a convicted felon, he
knowingly possessed the firearm, and the firearm traveled in
interstate commerce. United States v. Gallimore,
247 F.3d 134,
136 (4th Cir. 2001); United States v. Langley,
62 F.3d 602, 606
(4th Cir. 1995) (en banc). Here, the parties stipulated that
Sullivan was a convicted felon and that the firearm had the
requisite interstate commerce nexus. The disputed issue,
therefore, is whether the evidence established that Sullivan
possessed the firearm. Possession may be actual, constructive,
or joint.
Gallimore, 247 F.3d at 136-37.
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to
the government, there appears to be little dispute that the jury
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could find Sullivan guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. After
reviewing the full record, it is clear that the defendant’s
statements, his close proximity to the gun and the testimony of
an eyewitness all support the jury’s verdict.
Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s judgment.
We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal
conclusions are adequately presented in the materials before the
court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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