United States v. Gregory Scott Ferris

Ferris appeals his convictions for possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute (Count I), conspiracy to distribute (Count II), and distribution (Count III) in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 (a)(1) and 846.

Two of Ferris’s acquaintances, Jarvis and Grange, burglarized a storage locker and took a trunk filled with LSD tablets. With Ferris’s permission they stored the trunk on his premises. The next day Jarvis and Grange transferred it to another storage locker and listed Ferris as the person to contact in case of emergency.

The extent of Ferris’s participation in the possession and subsequent sale of the drugs was the principal issues at trial, Ferris claiming lack of knowledge and participation at all times. It seems that Ferris may not have known initially what the trunk contained. There was testimony, however, that he later helped count the LSD tablets, and that he tried to advise Jarvis and Grange how to sell them.

Ferris’s most significant argument on appeal is that the trial court deprived him of his constitutional right to a unanimous verdict by declining a proferred instruction that the jury must be in unanimous agreement on the precise act of possession…