United States v. Dyrell Leshaun Davis, 16-14405

Police executed a search warrant at a Columbus, Georgia apartment; officers saw two men outside and one (Davis) fled inside and was ultimately arrested near the living room.
Officers passed through the kitchen en route to the living room and found a 9mm pistol in a kitchen trashcan and digital scales; they also recovered 48.2 grams of marijuana.
Items in a bedroom bore Davis’s name and a photograph showed Davis kissing a wad of cash.
At the station Davis admitted ownership of the marijuana and the handgun (specifying "a nine"); at trial he denied possessing the gun and his sister claimed the gun was hers.
A jury acquitted Davis of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and of marijuana distribution, but convicted him of simple possession of marijuana and of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
On appeal Davis challenged (1) prosecutor’s closing remarks referencing the cash photo, (2) sufficiency of evidence linking him to the firearm, and (3) use of two prior Georgia aggravated-assault convictions to increase his Guidelines offense level.

Issue	Davis' Argument	Government's Argument	Held
Prosecutor’s rebuttal invoking photo of Davis with cash	Photo was used improperly to suggest trafficking/distribution; prejudicial	Closing remark was fair rebuttal to defense argument about lack of cash evidence and photo was admissible for linkage	No plain error; any error did not prejudice Davis on possession conviction (he was acquitted of trafficking/distribution)
Sufficiency of evidence for felon-in-possession conviction	Confession alone insufficient; sister’s testimony claimed ownership	Circumstantial evidence (flight into apartment, gun found on path, proximity) corroborates confession	Sufficient evidence: jury could infer Davis possessed the gun before he was arrested
Use of prior Georgia aggravated-assault convictions to enhance sentence	Those convictions are not crimes of violence under the Guidelines	At sentencing, no binding Circuit precedent definitively foreclosed using those convictions	No plain error; sentence affirmed because Circuit law at the time left the issue unresolved

United States v. Holt, 777 F.3d 1234 (11th Cir. 2015) (standard for viewing evidence in light most favorable to the verdict)
United States v. Webb, 463 F.2d 1324 (5th Cir. 1972) (plain-error review where defendant failed to object at trial)
United States v. Green, 842 F.3d 1299 (11th Cir. 2016) (confession alone may be insufficient to support conviction without corroboration)
United States v. Wright, 392 F.3d 1269 (11th Cir. 2004) (jury may disbelieve family member testimony that weapon belonged to someone else)
United States v. Palomino Garcia, 606 F.3d 1317 (11th Cir. 2010) (addressed application of crime-of-violence analysis to an Arizona statute; not controlling for Georgia statute question)