## Facts

- Tulsa police responded at night to a reported disturbance involving a man with a gun at an apartment complex.
- Officers encountered Jerrel Montel King with Shawnte Bryant and Leginia Washington; an officer saw a chamber-loaded pistol on the ground near King’s foot.
- During investigative detention, an officer frisked King and found over $500 cash and digital scales with marijuana residue.
- Officers reviewed King’s phone and saw drug-related text messages and a photograph of a Hi-Point rifle with an extended magazine.
- Washington consented to a search of her nearby parked car.
- In the passenger area, officers found a loaded Stoeger .40 caliber pistol on the floorboard and a marijuana “blunt” on the seat.
- In the trunk, officers found two large bricks of marijuana (over 2.6 kilograms total) and a loaded Hi-Point 9mm rifle with an extended magazine.
- After Miranda warnings, King stated that all contraband in the car was his to keep Washington from going to jail; he repeated the admission at booking.
- When cautioned not to claim items that were not his, King disclaimed the Stoeger pistol but admitted the rifle and the marijuana in the trunk were his.
- The prosecution proceeded under § 924(c) based on the rifle in the trunk, not the floorboard pistol.

## Issues

1. Whether sufficient evidence supported that King “possessed” the rifle for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) (including constructive possession).
2. Whether sufficient evidence supported that King possessed the rifle “in furtherance of” a drug-trafficking crime as required by 18 U.S.C. § 924(c).

## Decision

- The Tenth Circuit affirmed King’s § 924(c) conviction.
- The evidence permitted a rational jury to find constructive possession of the rifle based on King’s admissions, his selective disclaimer of another gun, and the rifle photo on his phone.
- The evidence also permitted a rational jury to find the rifle was possessed “in furtherance of” marijuana distribution because it was loaded, stored with a large quantity of drugs, and found alongside indicators of trafficking (cash, scales, drug messages).

## Legal Principles

- On sufficiency review, a conviction stands if, viewing the evidence and reasonable inferences in the government’s favor, any rational juror could find the elements proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
- Constructive possession may be shown by evidence of ownership, dominion, or control over the firearm or the area where it is located, plus additional linking evidence when possession of the premises is not exclusive.
- The § 924(c) “in furtherance of” element requires more than proximity; it requires a specific nexus between the firearm and the drug-trafficking offense.
- In evaluating “in furtherance,” relevant considerations include the nature of the drug activity, the firearm’s accessibility, the type of weapon, whether it was loaded, proximity to drugs or proceeds, and the circumstances of discovery.

## Conclusion

The court held that King’s admissions and the surrounding circumstances supported findings that he constructively possessed the loaded rifle found with distributable quantities of marijuana and that the rifle’s presence and condition reasonably served to protect or advance the trafficking offense, satisfying § 924(c).


United States v. King, 632 F.3d 646 (10th Cir. 2011)