193159P.pdf   09/17/2020  United States  v.  Demetrius Jefferson
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  19-3159
   U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa - Des Moines   
   [PUBLISHED] [Loken, Author, with Grasz, Circuit Judge, and Clark, District 
   Judge] 
   Criminal case - Criminal law and sentencing. Evidence was sufficient to 
   support defendant's convictions for possession of marijuana with intent to 
   distribute, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking 
   crime and being a felon in possession of a firearm; the district court did 
   not abuse its discretion in denying defendant's motion for new trial as: 
   (1) the government's closing argument stayed within the permissible 
   parameters of Rule 404(b); (2) the court did not err in admitting forensic 
   testimony by the government's experts as their testimony on the absence of 
   DNA and fingerprints on the firearms and ammunition was relevant and 
   helpful to the jury; and (3) the court did not err in admitting a photo of 
   defendant in handcuffs taken during the warrant search as the photo 
   established defendant's presence, and the court gave a cautionary 
   instruction that the fact that defendant was in handcuffs was not 
   indicative of anything and was done for safety purposes; the court did not 
   err err in sentencing defendant as a career offender under Chapter 4 of 
   the Guidelines as his drug offenses qualified as controlled substance 
   offenses; no error in imposing an enhancement under Guidelines Sec. 
   2D1.1(b)(12) for maintaining a drug premises; no error in imposing an 
   enhancement under Guidelines Sec. 3B1.1 for leadership role in the 
   offense.