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    United States v. Celso Castro Nunez, 4th Cir. (2000)

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    This document is an unpublished opinion from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit regarding the conviction of Celso Castro Nunez for carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. The Court affirmed the conviction. It found that the evidence presented at trial, viewed in the light most favorable to the government, was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Nunez carried a firearm during and in relation to drug trafficking. Specifically, a firearm was found in the glove compartment of the car Nunez used to deliver 20 pounds of marijuana, and his mail was found underneath it.

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    United States v. Celso Castro Nunez, 4th Cir. (2000)

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    This document is an unpublished opinion from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit regarding the conviction of Celso Castro Nunez for carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. The Court affirmed the conviction. It found that the evidence presented at trial, viewed in the light most favorable to the government, was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Nunez carried a firearm during and in relation to drug trafficking. Specifically, a firearm was found in the glove compartment of the car Nunez used to deliver 20 pounds of marijuana, and his mail was found underneath it.

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    Filed: 2000-01-24 Precedential Status: Non-Precedential Docket: 99-4419

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    This document is an unpublished opinion from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit regarding the conviction of Celso Castro Nunez for carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. The Court affirmed the conviction. It found that the evidence presented at trial, viewed in the light most favorable to the government, was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Nunez carried a firearm during and in relation to drug trafficking. Specifically, a firearm was found in the glove compartment of the car Nunez used to deliver 20 pounds of marijuana, and his mail was found underneath it.

    Copyright:

    Public Domain
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf
    10 views3 pages

    United States v. Celso Castro Nunez, 4th Cir. (2000)

    Uploaded by

    Scribd Government Docs
    This document is an unpublished opinion from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit regarding the conviction of Celso Castro Nunez for carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. The Court affirmed the conviction. It found that the evidence presented at trial, viewed in the light most favorable to the government, was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Nunez carried a firearm during and in relation to drug trafficking. Specifically, a firearm was found in the glove compartment of the car Nunez used to deliver 20 pounds of marijuana, and his mail was found underneath it.

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    UNPUBLISHED

    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS


    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    v.

    No. 99-4419

    CELSO CASTRO NUNEZ,


    Defendant-Appellant.
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Western District of Virginia, at Abingdon.
    Glen M. Williams, Senior District Judge.
    (CR-98-45-A)
    Submitted: December 22, 1999
    Decided: January 24, 2000
    Before NIEMEYER, MOTZ, and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges.
    _________________________________________________________________
    Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
    _________________________________________________________________
    COUNSEL
    Dennis E. Jones, DENNIS E. JONES & ASSOCIATES, P.C., Lebanon, Virginia, for Appellant. Robert P. Crouch, Jr., United States
    Attorney, S. Randall Ramseyer, Assistant United States Attorney,
    Abingdon, Virginia, for Appellee.
    _________________________________________________________________
    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
    Local Rule 36(c).

    OPINION
    PER CURIAM:
    A jury convicted Celso Castro Nunez of carrying a firearm during
    and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C.A.
    924(c) (West Supp. 1999). Nunez appeals the conviction, alleging
    the district court erred when it denied his motions for judgment of
    acquittal made pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 29 and the evidence at
    trial was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he carried a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. We
    affirm.
    Nunez argues there was insufficient evidence presented at trial to
    prove he had knowledge of the firearm's presence in the glove compartment of the car he used to deliver twenty pounds of marijuana.
    This Court reviews a district court's decision to deny a motion for
    judgment of acquittal de novo. See United States v. Romer, 148 F.3d
    359, 364 (4th Cir. 1998), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 67 U.S.L.W.
    3376 (U.S. Feb. 22, 1999) (No. 98-852). When a motion for judgment
    of acquittal is based on insufficiency of the evidence, the conviction
    must be sustained if the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable
    to the Government, is sufficient for any rational trier of fact to find
    the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. See id.
    At trial, it was undisputed that a firearm was located in the glove
    compartment of the vehicle Nunez drove from Georgia to Virginia for
    the purpose of delivering twenty pounds of marijuana. Further, four
    pieces of mail addressed to Nunez with recent postmarks were located
    underneath the firearm in the glove compartment. Nunez attempted to
    complete the marijuana delivery and sale of the marijuana while
    standing near his car.
    A firearm is carried "in relation to" a drug trafficking offense if it
    has "some purpose or effect with respect to the drug trafficking
    crime" and if its presence was not "the result of accident or coincidence." United States v. Mitchell, 104 F.3d 649, 654 (4th Cir. 1997)
    (quoting Smith v. United States, 508 U.S. 223, 238 (1993)). Furthermore, a defendant's guilty knowledge may be proven by circumstantial evidence. See United States v. Heaps, 39 F.3d 479, 484 (4th Cir.
    2

    1994) (circumstantial evidence can show defendant had knowledge


    money was derived from illegal sources).
    Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Government, we find a jury could reasonably conclude that Nunez carried the
    firearm during and in relation to the drug trafficking offense. Therefore, it was not error for the district court to deny Nunez's motions
    for judgment of acquittal made at the close of the Government's case,
    at the close of all evidence, and again after the jury was discharged.
    We likewise find the evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the Government, was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to
    have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable
    doubt. See United States v. Burgos, 94 F.3d 849, 862 (4th Cir. 1996).
    We therefore affirm Nunez's conviction. We dispense with oral
    argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid
    the decisional process.
    AFFIRMED
    3

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