No. 20-2743 ___________________________

United States of America,

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee,

v.

Ranson Long Pumpkin,

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant. ___________________________

No. 20-2770 ___________________________

United States of America,

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee,

v.

Moses Crowe,

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant. ____________

Appeals from United States District Court for the District of South Dakota - Western ____________

Submitted: October 22, 2021 Filed: December 30, 2022 ____________ Before COLLOTON, SHEPHERD, and KELLY, Circuit Judges. ____________ COLLOTON, Circuit Judge.

Ranson Long Pumpkin and Moses Crowe were convicted of committing a carjacking resulting in serious bodily injury. Under a separate count, they were convicted of using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, the carjacking. Crowe was also convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm as a convicted felon. Long Pumpkin and Crowe appeal and raise several issues. We conclude that there was no error in the court’s challenged evidentiary rulings or jury instruction, and that sufficient evidence supported the carjacking convictions, but that the convictions for discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence must be reduced to convictions for simply using a firearm during the carjacking.

I.

The charges arose from events on October 12, 2017, and the evidence is described here in a light most favorable to the jury’s verdict. The trouble began while Phillip Moore and Saul Crowe were shopping at a Walmart store in Rapid City with Zach Perry, Vanessa High Pipe, and Jessica Maho. Saul Crowe and Moore argued after Saul accused Moore of falsely calling him a thief. The accusation arose because an amplifier was stolen from Moore’s van during a time when Saul Crowe and Maho had borrowed the vehicle.

After leaving the store, the group entered Moore’s van, and Moore began to drive. Saul Crowe spoke on the telephone with someone, then drew a handgun and pointed it at Moore’s head. Saul directed Moore to drive to the Ramkota Hotel, and Moore complied.

-2- When the van reached the Ramkota Hotel, Saul Crowe told Moore to turn off the van, and everyone but Moore hurried out of the vehicle. Saul told Jessica Maho to call for Long Pumpkin and Moses Crowe. Moore attempted to shift the van into reverse and flee, but he was stopped by Moses Crowe and Long Pumpkin. Moses Crowe ran up to the driver’s side of the van and punched Moore in the face. Long Pumpkin jumped into the back seat of the van, dragged Moore out of the driver’s seat, and choked him to the point of unconsciousness while Saul Crowe held a gun on Moore.

Saul Crowe then drove the van to a location on Nike Road on the outskirts of Rapid City. Long Pumpkin, Vanessa High Pipe, Zach Perry, and the victim Moore were inside the van. Moses Crowe followed in another car. Moore regained consciousness a few times during the ride, but each time Long Pumpkin choked him again until he fell unconscious.

Once at Nike Road, Moses Crowe struck Zach Perry in the head with a handgun and told him to leave. Moses Crowe and Long Pumpkin then pulled Moore from the vehicle and beat him while he was on the ground. Moore testified that he fought with Saul Crowe and Long Pumpkin. Moses Crowe yelled at Saul and Long Pumpkin that they should “kill him and leave no witnesses,” but Long Pumpkin objected. Two of the perpetrators then fired shots that sailed to the right of Moore. Moore was then punched again, and he fell unconscious. When he awakened later, the others were gon