Jury Instructions.

Byline: Derek Hawkins

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Bernard L. Cherry

Case No.: 18-1157

Officials: HAMILTON, BARRETT, and SCUDDER, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Jury Instructions

Bernard Cherry appeals his conviction as a felon in possession of a firearm on the ground that the district court erred by not giving the jury his proposed "innocent possession" instruction. He also claims that the district court erred by not asking whether he wanted the jury to determine the forfeitability of the firearm in the event of a guilty verdict.

Because we have never recognized an innocent possession defense and because the facts here don't support such a defense even if we were to recognize it, the district court did not err in refusing to give the instruction. And given that no reasonable juror could have failed to find a nexus between the gun and Cherry's felon-in-possession conviction...