United States v. Vernon A. Montague

Opinion for the Court filed by Chief Judge HARRY T. EDWARDS.

HARRY T. EDWARDS, Chief Judge:

Appellant, Vernon Montague, was tried before a jury and convicted of possession of an unregistered firearm in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d) (1988) and aiding and abetting the possession of an unregistered firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2 (1988). During trial, appellant testified that he neither owned nor possessed the gun that was retrieved from a car in which he was a passenger on the night of his arrest. Montague’s story contradicted the testimony of an arresting officer, who claimed that the…