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United States v. Harris

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ARGUED JANUARY 12, 2009

Before EASTERBROOK, Chief Judge, and WILLIAMS and SYKES, Circuit Judges.

After Jerome Harris, a convicted felon, threw a bag containing drugs to the ground, he was arrested and read his Miranda rights. Harris told the officers that he had dropped guns off at his girl-friend’s home earlier that day and later showed the officers exactly where to find them. He also acknowledged that he had been holding a bag containing drugs and then tossed it when he saw the officers, although he said he was holding the drugs for someone else. Needless to say, Harris’s statements did not serve him well at trial. A jury convicted him of being a felon in possession of a firearm and of possessing a mixture containing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute it. In light of Harris’s statement that he was only holding drugs for another person, we uphold the admission of testimony concerning Harris’s prior drug sales as it was relevant to show that he intended to distribute the drugs he held. Testimony from Harris’s girlfriend concerning statements he made to her about having guns was harmless in light of his admission to the officers that he had stored two guns in her apartment that very morning. Finally, the district court did not err when it admitted testimony from a police sergeant even though it might have suggested Harris’s membership in a gang, as the testimony helped establish that Harris had possessed firearms. Therefore, we affirm Harris’s convictions.

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