The felon-in-possession charge beyond a reasonable doubt

The felon-in-possession charge beyond a reasonable doubt Manor contends that "uncontradicted evidence" in the form of a "booking" photo and sheet showed that he had on a blue t-shirt, jeans, and no coat — not the white t-shirt, jeans, and brown jacket ensemble that Caisey had described. Manor's lawyer asked Caisey about this on cross, handing him what counsel said was a booking photo and sheet. Caisey agreed that the photo showed Manor with a blue t-shirt and that the sheet did not mention a brown jacket. But he stressed that he was not there for Manor's booking.

Manor's lawyer never had Caisey confirm that the photo and sheet were what the defense claimed they were, and he never offered them into evidence at any other point — which hardly makes these items the stuff from which to craft a winning sufficiency argument. Cf. generally Troy, 618 F.3d at 31. In any event, after pondering Caisey's testimony, evaluating his credibility, and drawing the inferences of its choosing, the jury obviously rejected Manor's theory — and, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, we cannot second-guess that decision. See, e.g., Castro-Davis, 612 F.3d at 60. The net result, then, is that this argument goes nowhere.

That ends this aspect of the appeal. Given the standard of review, it is a rare occasion that we reverse a sufficiency ruling, United States v. Ortiz, 447 F.3d 28, 32, and we see no reason to reverse here. Eyeing the record as we must from the government's perspective, we conclude that a rational jury could have found Manor guilty of the felon-in-possession charge beyond a reasonable doubt. Consequently, his conviction stands.