United States v. Johnnie Haynes, 62 F.4th 454

Mid‑afternoon shooting at intersection near Full Stop gas station in Minneapolis; surveillance video shows Johnnie Haynes receive a handgun from his cousin Cortez Shipp, run after a vehicle, and fire at it.
Police recovered 11 recently‑fired CBC 9mm Luger shell casings at the shooting location and a 15‑round magazine with three live 9mm rounds along Haynes’s flight path; Shipp’s DNA matched the magazine.
Sergeant Lepinski test‑fit the recovered magazine into ~20–30 guns and reported it only "clicked into" a Ruger 9mm; the government’s nexus expert testified CBC ammo is made in Brazil and Rugers are manufactured outside Minnesota (though a Magnum Research manual suggested a possible Minnesota‑made 9mm).
The firearm used was never recovered. Shipp testified he had the gun and handed it to Haynes; Haynes waived testimony at trial.
A jury convicted Haynes of (1) being a felon in possession of a firearm and (2) being a felon in possession of ammunition; district court imposed concurrent 115‑month sentences on each count.
On appeal, the court affirmed both convictions and the sentence as substantively reasonable but held the firearm and ammunition convictions were multiplicitous as tried; remanded to vacate one conviction and remove one of the duplicate $100 special assessments.

Issue	Haynes' Argument	Government's Argument	Held
Sufficiency — interstate commerce for firearm (§922(g))	Evidence insufficient to prove the unrecovered gun traveled in interstate commerce	Magazine fit a Ruger and Rugers are made outside Minnesota; ammo from Brazil; jury may infer interstate nexus	Affirmed — jury reasonably could find the gun was a Ruger manufactured outside Minnesota
Sufficiency — possession of ammunition linked to Haynes	Casings/magazine could be from a different shooting or another gun; no direct link to Haynes	Surveillance, location of casings, magazine with Shipp’s DNA, and matching ammunition support inference Haynes was shooter	Affirmed — evidence permitted reasonable jury to link the ammunition to Haynes’ possession
Substantive reasonableness of sentence	Sentence substantively unreasonable; court failed to adequately weigh 28 months harsh pretrial detention and traumatic upbringing	Within‑guidelines sentence; court considered §3553(a) factors; presumption of reasonableness applies	Affirmed — within‑range sentence presumed reasonable and Haynes did not rebut that presumption
Multiplicity / Double Jeopardy	(Defendant raised no pretrial dismissal) Counts, as proved, constitute a single incident of possession	Counts were multiplicitous because firearm and ammunition were possessed in the same incident	Reversed in part — convictions are multiplicitous as tried; remand to vacate one conviction and eliminate duplicate special assessment

Ray v. United States, 481 U.S. 736 (duplicate special assessments and double jeopardy remedy)
United States v. Richardson, 439 F.3d 421 (en banc) (unit of prosecution under §922(g) is an incident of possession)
United States v. Obi, 25 F.4th 574 (Eighth Circuit 2022) (defendant may stipulate certain §922(g) elements)
United States v. Kuhnel, 25 F.4th 559 (remedy for multiplicitous convictions: vacate one conviction)
United States v. Grimes, 702 F.3d 460 (framework for multiplicity and double jeopardy analysis)
United States v. Cosen, 965 F.3d 929 (within‑guidelines sentences are presumed reasonable)
United States v. Druger, 920 F.3d 567 (standard of review for sufficiency of evidence — view evidence in light most favorable to verdict)
United States v. Kelly, 436 F.3d 992 (no need to produce the firearm itself to convict for ammunition possession)