[PUBLISH]

In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

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No. 20-12364 ____________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus JESSIE JAMES TURNER, JR.,

Defendant-Appellant.

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Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama D.C. Docket No. 2:18-cr-00336-TFM-MU-1 ____________________ USCA11 Case: 20-12364 Document: 42-1 Date Filed: 03/01/2023 Page: 2 of 83

2 Opinion of the Court 20-12364

Before ROSENBAUM, TJOFLAT, Circuit Judges, and MOODY, ∗ District Judge. TJOFLAT, Circuit Judge: This appeal concerns a felon-in-possession-of-firearms pros- ecution under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). 1 Jessie James Turner, Jr., a convicted felon, was indicted for possessing three firearms on No- vember 8, 2018. 2 Aware that he was a convicted felon and could not lawfully possess the firearms, Turner sought to avoid convic- tion by asserting three affirmative defenses to the charge: he was insane at the time of the offense;3 he possessed the firearms in the exercise of public authority on behalf of a law enforcement

∗ Honorable James S. Moody, Jr., United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida, sitting by designation. 1 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) states in relevant part: It shall be unlawful for any person . . . who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year . . . to . . . possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition . . . which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce. 2 Turner was also indicted for knowingly possessing a stolen firearm in viola- tion of 18 U.S.C. § 922(j). See infra note 38. The jury found him not guilty of the charge. The trial and disposition of the § 922(j) charge has no bearing on this appeal. 3 See 18 U.S.C. § 17, Insanity defense; Fed. R. Crim. P. 12.2, Notice of an In- sanity Defense. USCA11 Case: 20-12364 Document: 42-1 Date Filed: 03/01/2023 Page: 3 of 83

20-12364 Opinion of the Court 3

agency; 4 and law enforcement officers entrapped him into pos- sessing the firearms.5 At trial, the Government, in its case in chief, pursued an unorthodox strategy. It undertook to rebut Turner’s three affirmative defenses by establishing that they lacked a factual foundation. Its strategy was successful. The jury found Turner guilty as charged, and the District Court sentenced him to a prison term of ten years. Turner appeals his conviction. He raises one issue. It in- volves the expert opinion testimony the Government presented in its case in chief over his objection to disprove his allegation that he was insane when he committed the § 922(g)(1) offense. Rule 704(b) of the Federal Rules of Evidence precludes an expert witness in a criminal case from “stat[ing] an opinion about whether the defend- ant did or did not have a mental state or condition that constitutes an element . . . of a defense.”6 Notwithstanding this preclusion,