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10-1515 U.S. v. Jamison

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//March 18, 2011//

10-1515 U.S. v. Jamison

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//March 18, 2011//

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Possession of a Sawed-off Shotgun
Harmless error

Where a shotgun was significantly shorter than allowed, any error in the cross-examination of a witness was harmless.

“Jamison argues that the government failed to sufficiently prove the second element to render the alleged error harmless. This argument is meritless: The government proved the second element with overwhelming evidence. First, Agents Vance and Bennett testified that Jamison admitted to them on March 10, 2009, that he knew the shotgun was illegal when he purchased it because it was too short. Second, Officer Shively and Mrs. Jamison testified that Jamison told Officer Shively on February 25 that the barrel might be too short.

Finally, the shotgun and its barrel were significantly shorter than § 5845(a) permits: While § 5845(a) prohibits a shotgun from being shorter than 26 inches long and its barrel from being shorter than 18 inches long, the shotgun was merely 14 and 1/2 inches long and the barrel only 8 and 1/16 inches long. The fact that a shotgun or its barrel are obviously too short is ‘not a substitute’ for proving that Jamison knew the shotgun had characteristics that subjected it to registration, Edwards, 90 F.3d at 205, but it is ‘a means of proving knowledge,’ id., and we have explained that, coupled with evidence that the defendant handled the gun, a shotgun or barrel that is obviously too short permits an inference that the defendant knew of its features that subjected it to the statute, see Sanders, 520 F.3d at 700- 01 (finding that the jury could have inferred the requisite knowledge because there was evidence that the defendant possessed the firearm and the firearm’s barrel was only 11 and 7/16 inches long, significantly shorter than the 18-inch minimum length).”

Affirmed.

10-1515 U.S. v. Jamison

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Miller, J., Flaum, J.

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