# Morrison v. United States

> District of Columbia Court of Appeals · June 16, 1980 · 417 A.2d 409

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9650794

## Case

- **Full name:** Leonard MORRISON, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES, Appellee
- **Court:** District of Columbia Court of Appeals
- **Decided:** June 16, 1980
- **Citations:** 417 A.2d 409; 1980 D.C. App. LEXIS 324
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Newman
- **Judges:** Newman, Harris
- **Cited by:** 29 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9650794

## Opinion text

NEWMAN, Chief Judge,
dissenting:
I decline to join the majority’s unprincipled holding that because an object looked like a pistol and was described by the victim of an armed robbery as being one, a jury could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that it was a pistol in operable condition. To affirm a conviction of carrying a pistol without a license on such lack of proof of operability raises issues of constitutional dimension. See Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421 U.S. 684 , 95 S.Ct. 1881 , 44 L.Ed.2d 508 (1975) (prosecution must establish each element of an offense beyond a reasonable doubt); Thompson v. City of Louisville, 362 U.S. 199 , 80 S.Ct. 624 , 4 L.Ed.2d 654 (1960) (conviction devoid of evidentiary support violates the Due Process Clause).

---

Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9650794. Public record. Not legal advice.