A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the conviction and 20-year prison sentence of a Minnesota man found with a loaded handgun in his shorts after police revived him from a multi-drug overdose.
A divided three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Jeremy Jantile Burton’s appeal. Burton argued that the trial judge improperly blocked expert testimony about his mental state and imposed an unreasonable sentence.
The case stems from an emergency call in Onamia, Minnesota, where Mille Lacs Tribal Police officers responded to a suspected overdose at a home known for illicit drug use. Officers found Burton lying on a bedroom floor “unconscious, sweating profusely,” and struggling to breathe. Drug paraphernalia—including bindles, a snort tube, a torch, and a spoon—surrounded him.
After two doses of Narcan, Burton regained consciousness and lunged to his feet, appearing confused and unstable. A responding officer spotted a handgun magazine sticking out of Burton’s shorts.
When police attempted a pat-down, another occupant in the room interfered, grabbing the gun from Burton’s pocket before an officer wrestled it away. Hospital tests later revealed Burton had amphetamine, methamphetamine, benzodiazepines, cocaine, and marijuana in his system.
Burton was indicted as a felon in possession of a firearm under the Armed Career Criminal Act, having accumulated at least three prior violent felony convictions.
At trial, Burton claimed someone had planted the weapon on him while he was unconscious. He sought to introduce testimony from Dr. Peter Vos, a pharmacologist, to explain how the drugs affected his mental state and consciousness. U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz excluded the expert witness, ruling that voluntary intoxication is not a legal defense to a general-intent crime like felon in possession of a firearm.
A jury convicted Burton, and Judge Schiltz sentenced him to 240 months in prison, granting a 22-month downward variance below the federal sentencing guidelines.
Writing for the majority, Circuit Judge L. Steven Grasz ruled that the district court acted within its discretion. Grasz noted that Burton offered no physical evidence that a third party planted the weapon and failed to show his expert would specifically testify to the duration of his unconsciousness rather than general intoxication.
The majority also affirmed the 240-month term, pointing to Burton’s extensive criminal history, evidence that he traveled to the reservation to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine, and his poor prison record, balanced against his difficult upbringing and addiction history.
Circuit Judge Jane Kelly dissented, arguing that Burton’s conviction should be overturned. Kelly wrote that Dr. Vos’s testimony was directly relevant to whether Burton was physically capable of knowing the gun had been placed on him, rather than a simple claim of being too intoxicated to form criminal intent.
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