US v. Ham, 09-5730
By
FindLaw Staff
on January 07, 2011
| Last updated on March 21, 2019
Crack cocaine related offenseUS v. Ham, 09-5730, concerned a challenge to a conviction of defendant for possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, and a 190-month sentence followed by eight years of supervised release.
The court affirmed the convictions and defendant's sentence where: 1)
the district court properly admitted the expert testimony of an agent as
it was highly relevant and helped the jury in resolving the central
issue of whether defendant possessed the crack with intent to
distribute; 2) an investigator's testimony concerning plastic baggies
and scales did not constitute "expert testimony"; 3) the district court
did not abuse its discretion in refusing to admit the evidence regarding
an individual's crack cocaine charge and guilty plea; 4) there was no
error in the admission of a special agent's testimony regarding a
firearm; 5) the evidence presented was more than sufficient to support
the jury's finding that defendant was guilty of possessing crack cocaine
with intent to distribute; 6) the trier of fact could have found beyond
a reasonable doubt that defendant possessed a firearm in furtherance of
a drug trafficking offense; 7) defendant's challenges to the district
court's jury instructions are without merit; 8) defendant's claims of
prosecutorial misconduct are rejected; and 9) the consecutive component
of defendant's sentence was proper.
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