United States v. Walters’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

27 federal appellate · 1 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 57 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The FBI agent assigned to the case, Agent Montefusco, further investigated whether the gun was stolen. The agent interviewed.the gun’s owner, Richard M. Gowers, who said that it had been missing since June or July of 1998. Gowers did not report the gun stolen, however, because he suspected that his son, Robbie Gowers, who was seventeen in 1998, had taken it. Robbie admitted to the agent that he had taken the gun in July 1998; he said he took it for the purpose of shooting rabbits. According to Robbie, he loaned the gun to his stepbrother-in-law, Justin Montoya, but Montoya never returned it, even after Robbie asked him for it several times. Montoya, in contrast, told the agent that he intended to buy the gun from Robbie for $200, but he admitted that he never paid for it. He also reported that a few days after he received the gun he traded it to a man known only by his first name, Ryan, for one-quarter ounce of methamphetamine. With this information, FBI agents interviewed Walters again, who stated that, to his knowledge, a person named Ryan owned the gun. He admitted at his change-of-plea hearing that he possessed the gun while driving the truck.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 309 F. Supp. 2d 1093 - United States v. Richardson

2. “In the context of applying § 2K2.1(b)(4), this court has interpreted the term “stolen” to mean “all felonious, takings ... with intent to deprive the owner of the rights and benefits of ownership, regardless of whether or not the theft constitutes common-law larceny.” United States v. Rowlett, 23 F.3 300, 303 (10th Cir.1994) (quoting United States v. Turley, 352 U.S. 407, 417 , 77 S.Ct. 397 , 1 L.Ed.2d 430 (1957)). 1 The evidence shows that Robbie took the gun from his father, Richard Gowers. Robbie then either loaned or sold the gun to Montoya. Montoya, in turn, traded the gun to Ryan for a quarter-ounce of methamphetamine. While it may be unclear who in this chain of possession first had the requisite intent to deprive Richard Gowers of the rights and benefits of ownership, it is indisputable that one or more of them did. Therefore, we conclude that the district court did not clearly err in finding that the gun was stolen.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 309 F. Supp. 2d 1093 - United States v. Richardson

3. “If the defendant used or possessed any firearm or ammunition in connection with another felony offense; or possessed or transferred any firearm or ammunition with knowledge, intent, or reason to believe that it would be used or possessed in connection with another felony offense, increase by 4 levels. If the resulting offense level is less than level 18, increase to level 18.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. United States v. Hargrove