Rhymez - Testimony ( Official Video ) [PORTABLE]
An individual named Eric Green testified that he saw two individuals shooting toward the King of Diamonds on the night of the shooting and that he returned fire. (Dkt. 217, PgID 2029-30.) This was further corroborated by the surveillance video, which showed two figures emerge from a vehicle, run toward the club just before the shooting, and then flee. There were also bullet casings recovered from the scene and testimony supporting an inference that bullets from three different calibers were fired that night.
Rhymez - Testimony ( Official Video )
In addition, the jury heard testimony regarding the casings recovered from the scene of the shooting and how they matched the casings retrieved from other shooting scenes. And, finally, Antoine Woods made comments on his Instragram account and in his rap videos, which could be construed as admissions of his involvement in the shooting, such as "boy don't make me wake grandma up again." And while Rhymes did not testify that he was present during this shooting, he did testify that he and Woods had previously gone to 557 Alger Street to verify that it was their target's grandmother's home and that Woods had told him that he had shot at the house. In sum, there was sufficient evidence establishing Antoine Woods committed attempted murder and assault with a firearm the night of the December 20, 2015 shooting or, alternatively, that he aided and abetted the commission of these crimes.
Defendant Antoine Woods argues the evidence was insufficient to establish that a firearm was discharged during the commission of the VICAR offenses, which serve as the predicate crimes for his convictions under 924(c) (Counts 5 and 11). "Although 924(c) requires proof that the gun is real, the government's proof need not reach a level of scientific certainty." United States v. Willis, 232 F. App'x 527, 537 (6th Cir. 2007) (noting that "descriptive lay opinion testimony" is sufficient to support a conviction under 924(c)) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). Here, an eyewitness, who was present during both shootings, testified that he saw the discharge of firearms during the December 6, 2015 shooting and heard gunshots and saw bullets piecing the walls during the December 20, 2015 shooting. For the December 6, 2015 shooting, there was also photographic evidence of the bullet holes in a car that was parked at the club's entrance, video evidence of the flashes from the area where the shooters were located, and bullet fragments and discharged casings retrieved from the scene. For the December 20, 2015 shooting, discharged casings were also retrieved from the scene. A firearms expert witness testified regarding how the recovered casings from both shootings were fired from the same firearms that had fired casings recovered from other shooting scenes. This evidence was sufficient to establish that a firearm had been discharged during both shootings for purposes of Defendants' 924(c) convictions. 041b061a72