United States of America v. Alfred Davis

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION
File Name: 12a0294n.06
No. 11-5494
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
ALFRED DAVIS,
Defendant-Appellant.
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ON APPEAL FROM THE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT
COURT FOR THE WESTERN
DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
BEFORE: DAUGHTREY and ROGERS, Circuit Judges; ZOUHARY, District Judge.*
PER CURIAM. Following a jury trial, defendant Alfred Davis appeals his conviction of
being a felon in possession of a firearm, contending that the conviction was not supported by
sufficient evidence. We disagree and affirm the district court’s judgment.
When a defendant challenges his conviction based on insufficient evidence, the question for
the court is “whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any
rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable
doubt.” Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979).
The trial transcript in this case includes testimony from two police officers who responded
to a call regarding a man with a weapon. The officers stated that they observed Davis holding a
pistol in his hand and that he dropped the pistol as he ran away. A pistol and a cell phone were
The Honorable Jack Zouhary, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Ohio,*
sitting by designation.

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No. 11-5494
United States v. Davis
recovered from the spot where the officers testified that Davis dropped the gun. One of the officers
also testified that Davis admitted possessing the weapon after he was placed in the police car. Davis
points out that the officers described the gun they saw him holding as silver, when the gun that was
recovered was black. From this fact, he speculates that the gun could have been dropped by another
individual who reportedly ran from the scene before Davis did. Nevertheless, if the jury believed
the police officers’ testimony, there was sufficient evidence, including a statement by Davis that he
possessed the weapon, for the jury to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Accordingly, we AFFIRM the district court’s judgment.
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