United States v. Darius Carter

Summary

The Eighth Circuit affirmed Darius Carter's convictions for making and conspiring to make false statements in a straw purchase of firearms and his 180-month sentence. The panel held the evidence sufficient on both counts, that the district court abused its discretion in admitting testimony that the girlfriend's death was 'suspicious,' but that the error was harmless, and that the U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(c)(1) murder cross-reference was properly applied because the evidence supported findings that Carter murdered Mason with the pistol cited in his convictions. Judge Kelly, concurring in part and dissenting in part, would have held the cross-reference inconsistent with relevant-conduct principles because the murder occurred months after the discrete false-statement offenses, and would have remanded for resentencing.