United States v. Eddie Lee Redd

Redd appeals from a conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 659 for knowing possession of property stolen from an interstate shipment of goods. On appeal Redd challenges the jury instructions. This court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm.

Appellant raises three issues: first, that the jury should not have been instructed that they could infer appellant’s knowledge if they found that he possessed the property while it was recently stolen; second, that giving the instruction compelled appellant to incriminate himself or shifted the burden of proof; and third, that the five-week interval between the theft and the time of appellant’s possession was too long to make it recent.

Appellant’s first two contentions are without merit. McAbee v. United States, 434 F.2d 361 (9th Cir., 1970); Dunson v. United States, 404 F.2d 447, 449 (9th Cir. 1968); Glavin v. United States, 396 F.2d 725, 729, 730 (9th Cir. 1968).

Appellant’s final contention must also fail. Whether possession was sufficiently recent to justify an inference of knowledge is essentially a question of fact for the jury to resolve before the inference comes into play. United States v. Gordon, 421 F.2d 1068, 1073, n. 1…