Coates v. the State, 342 Ga. App. 148

In May 2014 police executed search warrants at two adjacent Coffee County properties; Coates ran a makeshift store at one and lived next door with his wife.
Officers recovered less than an ounce of marijuana at the store and four firearms from Coates’s residence.
Coates was indicted for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and four counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The trial was bifurcated: Coates was convicted of the lesser-included offense of possession of less than an ounce of marijuana in phase one, and convicted on all four firearm counts in phase two.
The trial court sentenced Coates separately on each count, ordering the sentences to run consecutively, and denied his motions for new trial and to amend sentence.
On appeal Coates argued the four firearm convictions should merge because OCGA § 16-11-131(b) is ambiguous and, under the rule of lenity, simultaneous possession of multiple firearms should constitute a single offense.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether multiple convictions under OCGA § 16-11-131(b) must merge when defendant simultaneously possessed multiple firearms	Coates: "any firearm" is ambiguous; apply rule of lenity to treat simultaneous possession as one offense	State: Read statutory text and context; unit of prosecution is a single firearm, so separate convictions permissible	Court: "any firearm," read with the proviso and § 16-11-131(b.1), unambiguously refers to a single firearm; convictions may be counted per firearm

State v. Marlow, 277 Ga. 383 (2003) (describing unit-of-prosecution analysis and when to apply rule of lenity)
Bell v. United States, 349 U.S. 81 (1955) (multiple punishment/substantive double jeopardy framework)
Layne v. State, 313 Ga. App. 608 (2012) (upholding multiple convictions for constructive possession of multiple firearms in a home)
United States v. Alverson, 666 F.2d 341 (9th Cir. 1982) (use of article "a" can indicate unit-of-prosecution is a single firearm)