Source: http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/114/228/494090/
Timestamp: 2017-09-20 11:17:15
Document Index: 407691772

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 841', '§ 843', '§ 845', '§ 861', '§ 22', '§ 22', '§ 924', '§ 5032', '§ 5031', '§ 1962', '§ 846', '§ 845', '§ 861', '§ 1962', '§ 1961', '§ 1962', '§ 1962', '§ 1962', '§ 1962', '§ 1962', '§ 1962', '§ 1962', '§ 1962', '§ 1962', '§ 1962', '§ 1962', '§ 1962', '§ 1962', '§ 1962', '§ 1962', '§ 1962', 'art, 971', '§ 1962', '§ 1', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 3', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 3742', '§ 1', '§ 846', '§ 1962', '§ 12', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 5032', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 5031', '§ 1', '§ 3553', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 3', '§ 2', '§ 3', '§ 2', '§ 3', '§ 2', '§ 3551', '§ 5']

United States of America, Appellee, v. Gregory M. Thomas, Appellant, 114 F.3d 228 (D.C. Cir. 1997) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › D.C. Circuit › 1997 › United States of America, Appellee, v. Gregory M. Thomas, Appellant
United States of America, Appellee, v. Gregory M. Thomas, Appellant, 114 F.3d 228 (D.C. Cir. 1997)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit - 114 F.3d 228 (D.C. Cir. 1997)
Argued Feb. 26, 1997. Decided June 3, 1997
According to a 115-count superseding indictment, appellants McKinley Board, Gregory Thomas, Donnell Williams, Andre Williams, and Derrin Perkins, and nineteen others were players in a sizable conspiracy (the "R Street Crew") to distribute marijuana, PCP, and cocaine around the intersection of R Street and Lincoln Road in Northeast Washington, D.C. On December 23, 1991, Judge Revercomb divided the 24 defendants into four groups for separate trials; the convictions of the first group, which included the three principal leaders of the gang still alive (Anthony Nugent, Kevin Williams-Davis, and Darryl Williams), were affirmed on appeal in United States v. Williams-Davis, 90 F.3d 490 (D.C. Cir. 1996), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S. Ct. 986, 136 L. Ed. 2d 867 (1997). Appellants, who were tried in the second group of defendants, contest their convictions and life sentences for various drug-related offenses. We affirm.
Viewed in the light most favorable to the government, the evidence introduced at trial established that by 1983 the R Street Crew had established a single coordinated drug distribution network selling principally PCP and marijuana. Following the familiar pattern, see Williams-Davis at 494; United States v. Childress, 58 F.3d 693, 711 (D.C. Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1098, 116 S. Ct. 825, 133 L. Ed. 2d 768 (1996), Nugent, Williams-Davis, and Darryl Williams (and other unindicted leaders) used a number of lieutenants to coordinate the sale of drugs by others (the runners), who were often juveniles. The organization's lieutenants provided the runners with drugs, collected money from them, and paid them; the lieutenants in turn paid the leaders proceeds from the sales. Many of the lieutenants and runners were close friends or relatives of Nugent, Williams-Davis, Darryl Williams, and others in the organization. In 1987, the group began selling cocaine, which it obtained mostly from connections made by Williams-Davis and Nugent in New York (a total of about [324 U.S.App.D.C. 382] 500 kilograms) and in California (about 150 kilograms). The organization would shift configuration slightly as various members (including Nugent and Darryl Williams) were arrested and occasionally did time for drug offenses, but the basic structure--a classic chain conspiracy--held.
Shortly after the close of the government's case, Judge Revercomb became too ill to continue, and Judge Hogan was assigned to continue the case pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 25(a). To familiarize himself with the case, Judge Hogan had a lengthy telephone conversation with Judge Revercomb; was briefed by Judge Revercomb's law clerk; read all 44 volumes of the trial transcript; and reviewed all pre-trial and trial motions and motions rulings, some of the physical evidence, Judge Revercomb's chamber notes, and some transcripts from the trial in Williams-Davis. Appellant Board objected, arguing that Judge Hogan should have read all of the transcripts from the first trial as background material and, even if he were to do so, Judge Hogan still would not have been in a position to judge the demeanor of the witnesses. Taking the objection on behalf of all defendants, Judge Hogan denied it, stating that his review of the materials satisfied Rule 25(a).
The jury also found Board guilty of six counts of distribution or possession with intent to distribute drugs, 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a) (1), (b) (1); four counts of use of a communication facility in connection with the drug offenses, 21 U.S.C. § 843(b); one count of employing juveniles to distribute drugs, 21 U.S.C. § 845b (now § 861); assault with intent to kill while armed, D.C.CODE §§ 22-501, 22-3202; possession of a firearm during that offense, D.C.CODE § 22-3204(b); and unlawful shipment, transportation or receipt of a firearm, 18 U.S.C. § 924(b). Donnell Williams was convicted of one count of distribution of drugs and one count of use of a communication facility in connection with that offense, and Thomas and Perkins were convicted of one count each of employment of juveniles to distribute drugs. The jury acquitted Andre Williams of the four non-conspiracy counts with which he was charged.1
18 U.S.C. § 5032. A "juvenile" under the FJDA is a "person who has not [yet] attained his eighteenth birthday, or for the purpose of proceedings and disposition under [the FJDA] for an alleged act of juvenile delinquency, a person who has not attained his twenty-first birthday...." 18 U.S.C. § 5031. " [J]uvenile delinquency" is "the violation of a law of the United States committed by a person prior to his eighteenth birthday which would have been a crime if committed by an adult." Id.
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, Donnell Williams was eleven years old when he began participating in the illegal activities of the R Street Crew. He turned eighteen on December 18, 1989, and was nineteen when he was indicted for his involvement in the conspiracy and for various related substantive offenses. He was convicted of RICO conspiracy (Count 2), narcotics conspiracy (Count 3), unlawful distribution of narcotics on October 22, 1990 (Count 93) and unlawful use of a communications facility on October 22, 1990 (Count 94). The two substantive offenses were acts in furtherance of the narcotics and RICO conspiracies, but they constitute separate crimes from the conspiracy offenses. See United States v. Felix, 503 U.S. 378, 390-91, 112 S. Ct. 1377, 1384-85, 118 L. Ed. 2d 25 (1992). The FJDA's definition of juvenile delinquency clearly does not apply to the two substantive offenses because they were committed after Donnell Williams was eighteen years old; there is no question that it was permissible to prosecute Donnell Williams as an adult for those crimes. On the other hand, both conspiracy offenses began before Williams turned eighteen and ended afterward.
Under established circuit precedent, a defendant charged with conspiracy may be tried as an adult even if he first became involved in the conspiracy while still a minor, so long as he continues to participate in the conspiracy after reaching the age [324 U.S.App.D.C. 385] of eighteen. See United States v. Strothers, 77 F.3d 1389, 1392 (D.C. Cir.), cert. denied,--- U.S. ----, 117 S. Ct. 374, 136 L. Ed. 2d 263 (1996); see also United States v. Spoone, 741 F.2d 680, 687 (4th Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1162, 105 S. Ct. 917, 83 L. Ed. 2d 929 (1985). Relying on United States v. Chambers, 944 F.2d 1253, 1257 (6th Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1112, 112 S. Ct. 1217, 117 L. Ed. 2d 455 (1992), Donnell Williams argues nonetheless that since "most" of his involvement in the R Street Crew conspiracy took place prior to his reaching age eighteen, he should still benefit from the FJDA. In Chambers, 944 F.2d at 1257, the Sixth Circuit applied the special procedural protections of the FJDA to defendants who "were under eighteen years of age during the greater part of the conspiracy and performed their overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy while they were between fifteen and eighteen years of age." Though its literal language is ambiguous and could be construed to lend some support to Williams' claim, we note that other and later Sixth Circuit decisions involving the identical issue, see United States v. Gjonaj, 861 F.2d 143, 144 (6th Cir. 1988); United States v. Maddox, 944 F.2d 1223, 1233 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1206, 114 S. Ct. 1328, 127 L. Ed. 2d 675 (1994); United States v. Odom, 13 F.3d 949, 957 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1094, 114 S. Ct. 1859, 128 L. Ed. 2d 481 (1994), discount any suggestion that the quantum of a defendant's pre- and post-majority involvement in a conspiracy is relevant for the purpose of determining subject matter jurisdiction so long as the defendant signaled his desire to continue as an active participant after the age of eighteen, and we see no persuasive rationale for any other rule. Additionally, in contrast to the Chambers defendants, Donnell Williams was convicted of two substantive offenses committed in furtherance of the conspiracy after he turned eighteen, surely sufficient indicia of his intent to continue with the R Street Crew. In such circumstances, the FJDA does not bar his prosecution for the conspiracies charged. See Strothers, 77 F.3d at 1392. As we discuss in Section III.D.3 of this opinion, see infra pp. 263-266, an adult conviction for such age-of-majority spanning conspiracies must be based solely on the adult participation in the conspiracy.
Appellant Derrin Perkins was convicted of RICO conspiracy, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) (1984) (Count 2); narcotics conspiracy, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a) (1) & 841(b) (1) (A) (ii) (II), (b) (1) (A) (iv), (b) (1) (A) (iii), (b) (1) (B) (i) & (b) (1) (D) (1984) (Count 3); and employment of juveniles to distribute drugs, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. §§ 845(b), (a) (1) (1984) (now 21 U.S.C. § 861 (1996)), 841(a) (1) & 841(b) (1) (A) (iv) & (b) (1) (D) (Count 11). On appeal he contends that his convictions must be reversed because the government failed to introduce sufficient evidence to support his conspiracy convictions, there was a material variance between the charged conspiracy and the evidence presented at trial, he was substantially prejudiced by prosecutorial misconduct during opening argument to the jury, and the district court refused to instruct the jury on his theory of defense. We find no basis for reversal of his convictions.
Based on this evidence, the government maintains that a reasonable jury could find that Perkins was selling drugs for his own account as well as being part of the hierarchy of the R Street Crew in 1984-85, and further, that his association with the Crew in later years showed that he was part of the drug and RICO conspiracies. Perkins maintains that the evidence showed only that he was an independent dealer, who was "universally described" as not being a member of the R Street Crew. He contends that no inference can be drawn from Dale Webster's testimony that Perkins sold with the R Street Crew during the early stages of the conspiracy in 1983 and 1984, and that Webster's testimony on cross-examination demonstrated that he had merely seen Perkins talking with others on a street corner where drugs were sold in a neighborhood in which Perkins had lived most of his life. He also contends that although the R Street Crew targeted rival drug sellers with violence, certain members, including Perkins, were not involved in such attacks. Perkins emphasizes that only Rosalind Cherry testified about his link to R Street Crew drug deliveries and that this activity occurred only during the summer of 1989. He further maintains that Witherspoon's testimony confirmed that Perkins and the R Street Crew operated in "competiti [on]" with one another. To support his contention that he operated independently, Perkins relies in part on Frankie Pelham's testimony that when he bought drugs from Perkins in 1988, rather than from Nugent or Williams-Davis, he was confident that the R Street Crew would not become aware of his purchases. Finally, Perkins maintains that Witherspoon's testimony "contradicts the government's theory of hierarchical control over a monolithic drug organization," because, according to Witherspoon, directions and payment for a delivery he made for Nugent and Williams-Davis while "on loan" from Perkins came directly from Nugent, rather than through Perkins.
Although a jury could view the evidence as Perkins suggests, it was not required to do so and the evidence, as the government contends, was sufficient for a reasonable jury to find that Perkins repeatedly bought drugs from R Street Crew members, sold in the R Street Crew's turf without being targeted for retaliation as were the Crew's rivals, and shared at least one runner with the R Street Crew. Further, contrary to Perkins' contention that the evidence showed only that he maintained a buyer-seller relationship with the R Street Crew, a reasonable jury could find that his relationship was more extensive and involved the R Street Crew's overall drug operations. While a mere buyer-seller relationship is insufficient to show conspiratorial activity, where the evidence shows that a buyer procured drugs with knowledge of the overall existence of the conspiracy, he may be found to have entered into the conspiratorial agreement. See United States v. Theodoropoulos, 866 F.2d 587, 594 (3d Cir. 1989); United States v. Douglas, 874 F.2d 1145, 1151-55 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 841, 110 S. Ct. 126, 107 L. Ed. 2d 87 (1989); see also United States v. Sobamowo, 892 F.2d 90, 94-95 (D.C. Cir. 1989), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 825, 111 S. Ct. 78, 112 L. Ed. 2d 51 (1990); United States v. Morris, 836 F.2d 1371, 1373-74 (D.C. Cir. 1988); United States v. Bascaro, 742 F.2d 1335, 1359-60 (11th Cir. 1984), cert. denied sub nom. Hobson v. United States, 472 U.S. 1017, 105 S. Ct. 3476, 87 L. Ed. 2d 613 (1985). The jury could reasonably conclude, based on Perkins' long-term, drugrelated contacts with the R Street Crew and his ongoing drug activities in the area under their control, that Perkins was aware of the existence of the R Street Crew and that he directly profited from the existence of the conspiracy by procuring drugs and receiving, at a minimum, cooperation from the organization. See United States v. Dickey, 736 F.2d 571, 582-83 (10th Cir. 1984), cert. denied sub nom. Beasley v. United States, 469 U.S. 1188, 105 S. Ct. 957, 83 L. Ed. 2d 964 (1985); see also United States v. Bynum, 485 F.2d 490, 496 (2d Cir. 1973), vacated and remanded on other grounds, 417 U.S. 903, 94 S. Ct. 2598, 41 L. Ed. 2d 209 (1974). Accordingly, Perkins' sufficiency challenge to his drug conspiracy conviction fails. [324 U.S.App.D.C. 388] 2. Sufficiency of the Evidence for RICO Conspiracy Conviction
Perkins' challenge to his RICO drug conspiracy conviction is no more persuasive. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c), it is unlawful for an individual "employed by or associated with any enterprise engaged in, or the activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce, to conduct or participate directly or indirectly in the conduct of such enterprise's affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity...." An "enterprise" includes "any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity, and any union or group of individuals associated in fact although not a legal entity." 18 U.S.C. § 1961(d). See also United States v. Turkette, 452 U.S. 576, 580, 101 S. Ct. 2524, 2527, 69 L. Ed. 2d 246 (1981). Section 1962(d) makes it "unlawful for any person to conspire to violate" subsection (c). The government meets its burden of proof to show the existence of an agreement to participate in an unlawful enterprise by showing that the defendant agreed personally to the commission of two or more predicate acts defined by the RICO statute. See United States v. Crosby, 20 F.3d 480, 481 (D.C. Cir.), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 883, 115 S. Ct. 221, 130 L. Ed. 2d 148 (1994); United States v. Church, 955 F.2d 688, 694 (11th Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. Coppola v. United States, 506 U.S. 881, 113 S. Ct. 233, 121 L. Ed. 2d 169 (1992).
Perkins does not dispute that the government presented sufficient evidence to show the existence of the RICO enterprise, namely the R Street Crew, but rather contends that the evidence was insufficient to convict him of RICO conspiracy because the government failed to prove the two predicate offenses and that he participated in the direction and control of the enterprise. Perkins' first contention is meritless because the government presented sufficient evidence to prove his involvement in the drug conspiracy. His second contention rests on the proposition that the direction and control requirements set forth in Reves v. Ernst & Young, 507 U.S. 170, 113 S. Ct. 1163, 122 L. Ed. 2d 525 (1993), apply to a RICO conspiracy. This is a question of first impression in this circuit.
In Reves, the Supreme Court held that to be convicted of a substantive RICO offense under § 1962(c), "one must participate in the operation or management of the enterprise itself." Id. at 185, 113 S. Ct. at 1173. This interpretation, the Court concluded, was supported by the plain meaning of the terms and the context of § 1962(c), as well as the legislative history of the RICO statute. Id. at 177-84, 113 S. Ct. at 1169-73. Specifically, the Court concluded that the term "conduct" as used in § 1962(c) required that defendants be found to exercise "some degree of direction" over the enterprise, id. at 178, 113 S. Ct. at 1169, and that the word "participate" required "some part in that direction." Id. at 179, 113 S. Ct. at 1170. The Court affirmed the lower court's view that an accounting firm, engaged in the valuation of a farming cooperative based on yearly audits and financial statements, could not be held civilly liable to the cooperative's noteholders under § 1962(c) after the cooperative filed for bankruptcy. Id. at 186, 113 S. Ct. at 1172-73. Although the Court indicated that "liability under § 1962(c) is not limited to upper management," id. at 184, 113 S. Ct. at 1172-73, the Court declined to decide "how far § 1962(c) extends down the ladder of operation...." Id. at 184 n. 9, 113 S. Ct. at 1173 n. 9.
The four circuits that have confronted the contention that the management and control test set forth in Reves should apply to RICO conspiracy charges brought under § 1962(d) have split. Prior to Reves, a majority of the circuits had held that § 1962(d) is violated when a defendant agrees to join in the commission of a substantive RICO offense, regardless of whether he agrees to commit personally two predicate acts. See, e.g., United States v. Pryba, 900 F.2d 748, 760 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 924, 111 S. Ct. 305, 112 L. Ed. 2d 258 (1990); United States v. Rosenthal, 793 F.2d 1214, 1228 (11th Cir. 1986), cert. denied sub nom. Stewart v. United States, 480 U.S. 919, 107 S. Ct. 1377, 94 L. Ed. 2d 692 (1987); United States v. Neapolitan, 791 F.2d 489, 498 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 939, 107 S. Ct. 421, 93 L. Ed. 2d 371 (1986); United States v. Joseph, 781 F.2d 549, 554 (6th Cir. 1986); United States v. Adams, 759 F.2d 1099, 1116 (3d [324 U.S.App.D.C. 389] Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. Mustacchio v. United States, 474 U.S. 906, 106 S. Ct. 275, 88 L. Ed. 2d 236 (1985); United States v. Tille, 729 F.2d 615, 619 (9th Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. Tillie v. United States, 469 U.S. 845, 105 S. Ct. 156, 83 L. Ed. 2d 93 (1984).4 The rationale underlying these decisions is that conspiracy to commit a RICO violation should be treated no differently than is conspiracy generally. As the Seventh Circuit points out, requiring in the RICO context that a conspirator agree to participate personally in carrying out the racketeering activities ins 1962(c) would require a "degree of involvement in the affairs of the conspiracy that is not required in any other type of conspiracy, where agreeing to a prescribed objective is sufficient." Neapolitan, 791 F.2d at 498. Consequently, the Seventh and Eleventh Circuits have held that, notwithstanding Reves, evidence that a defendant has conspired to participate in the operation or management of the enterprise is unnecessary to support a RICO conspiracy conviction under § 1962(d). See United States v. Starrett, 55 F.3d 1525, 1547 (11th Cir. 1995), cert. denied,517 U.S. 1111, 116 S. Ct. 1335, 134 L. Ed. 2d 485 (1996); United States v. Quintanilla, 2 F.3d 1469, 1484-85 (7th Cir. 1993); see also Jones v. Meridian Towers Apartments, Inc., 816 F. Supp. 762, 773 (D.D.C. 1993). The Third and the Ninth Circuits have taken the opposite position, viewing Reves' interpretation of § 1962(c) necessarily to apply as well to conspiracy charges under § 1962(d) to violate § 1962(c). Neibel v. Trans World Assurance Co., 108 F.3d 1123, 1128 (9th Cir. 1997); United States v. Antar, 53 F.3d 568, 581 (3d Cir. 1995).
The view that the usual legal standards applicable to criminal conspiracy should apply to § 1962(d) is in accord with this court's pre-Reves statement in Danielsen v.Burnside-Ott Aviation Training Center, Inc., 941 F.2d 1220, 1224 (D.C. Cir. 1991) (dictum), that Congress did not intend in § 1962(d) to create a new substantive offense: " [§ 1962(d) ] adds nothing substantive to the law. Rather, it makes it unlawful to conspire to violate any of the preceding three sections." Yet this statement provides little guidance on whether the distinction drawn by the Supreme Court in Reves applies to a conspiracy charge under § 1962(d). Further, nothing in Danielsen is inconsistent with the interpretation of the Third Circuit in Antar, 53 F.3d at 581, that to avoid eviscerating Reves, the RICO conspiracy provision must be read to provide for conviction only where the defendant conspires to operate or manage the enterprise, and not where the defendant simply conspires with someone who is operating or managing the enterprise.
Perkins also contends that he was prejudiced by a material variance between the [324 U.S.App.D.C. 390] indictment and the evidence at trial, maintaining that the evidence demonstrated the existence of multiple conspiracies and not simply the one drug conspiracy charged in the indictment. See, e.g., Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 765-66, 66 S. Ct. 1239, 1248-49, 90 L. Ed. 1557 (1946); United States v. Tarantino, 846 F.2d 1384, 1391-92 (D.C. Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. Burns v. United States, 488 U.S. 840, 109 S. Ct. 108, 102 L. Ed. 2d 83 (1988). Again, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the government because this contention presents the question whether a reasonable jury could have found Perkins guilty of each element of the single conspiracy with which he was charged. See Childress, 58 F.3d at 709; United States v. Pou, 953 F.2d 363, 369 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 504 U.S. 926, 112 S. Ct. 1982, 118 L. Ed. 2d 580 (1992); Tarantino, 846 F.2d at 1391-92; United States v. Universal Trade & Indus., Inc., 695 F.2d 1151, 1153 (9th Cir. 1983).
Perkins confuses two independent claims, neither of which has merit. His contention that witnesses failed to establish that he was aware of the R Street Crew or that his own narcotics dealings were dependent upon that network simply rephrases his sufficiency challenge to his drug conspiracy conviction, which we have concluded is meritless. His second contention, that the government's failure to prove the existence of an overarching conspiracy resulted in a material and prejudicial variance between the indictment and the proof presented at trial, is unpersuasive because Perkins has neither defined nor identified the several conspiracies that he claims the evidence showed. Even if, as Perkins maintains, Sparrow's testimony "illuminated the ups and downs of the 'R' Street [Crew]," that the organization's strength and activities may have varied over time does not negate evidence of the existence of an overarching conspiracy. The cases on which Perkins relies are distinguishable because each involved evidence showing the existence of identifiable multiple conspiracies. See, e.g., United States v. Durades, 607 F.2d 818, 819 (9th Cir. 1979); United States v. Bertolotti, 529 F.2d 149, 154-59 (2d Cir. 1975). Indeed, by acknowledging that the government "presented a number of witnesses who linked Anthony Nugent and Kevin Williams-Davis with West Coast and New York narcotics distribution rings, and from there to the District of Columbia and then on to the 'R' Street and Lincoln Road N.E. area," Perkins comes close to acknowledging the existence of a single overarching conspiracy. In any event, because Perkins fails to explain in what way the government's evidence fell short of establishing the existence of a single conspiracy, to identify evidence supporting his contention that multiple conspiracies existed, and even to advance his conception of the dates and members of the several conspiracies that he claims operated, his variance challenge fails.
Perkins further contends that the district court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on his theory of defense that the government's evidence showed multiple conspiracies and possible drug activity by him that was unconnected to the R Street Crew. In his view, the jury instructions failed to address two points essential to his defense: first, that proof of a buyer-seller relationship is insufficient evidence of a conspiratorial agreement, and second, that to convict of conspiracy, the jury had to find, in addition to evidence of the existence of a conspiracy, that he was a member of the same conspiracy charged in the indictment. As a general rule, the refusal to give an instruction requested by the defendant is reversible error only if the instruction is substantively correct, not already substantially covered in other instructions given to the jury, and concerns an important point in the trial such that the failure to give it seriously impairs the defendant's ability to present effectively his defense. See United States v. Taylor, 997 F.2d 1551, 1558 (D.C. Cir. 1993). We find no such error here.
Appellants Derrin Perkins and Andre Williams contend that their convictions must be reversed because of prosecutorial misconduct during opening argument to the jury. The touchstone of a prosecutorial misconduct claim is prejudice: the court must consider "the probable effect the prosecutor's [statements] would have on the jury's ability to judge the evidence fairly." United States v. Young, 470 U.S. 1, 12, 105 S. Ct. 1038, 1044, 84 L. Ed. 2d 1 (1985). To determine whether improper remarks by the prosecutor have substantially prejudiced a defendant's trial, the court looks to "the severity of the misconduct, the measures adopted to cure the misconduct, and the certainty of conviction absent the improper remarks." Williams-Davis, 90 F.3d at 507 (quoting United States v. Monaghan, 741 F.2d 1434, 1443 (D.C. Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 470 U.S. 1085, 105 S. Ct. 1847, 85 L. Ed. 2d 146 (1985)).
On appeal, the government concedes, as it must, that it failed to produce evidence supporting its opening statement. In Williams-Davis, which involved the trial of high-level members of the R Street Crew, the court characterized similar errors as "severe misconduct." 90 F.3d at 507. In that case the court also had occasion to observe that " [t]his court has long recognized that a prosecutor is obliged 'to avoid making statements of fact to the jury not supported by proper evidence introduced during trial.' " Id. (quoting Gaither v. United States, 413 F.2d 1061, 1079 (D.C. Cir. 1969)). The purpose of an opening statement is to "provid [e] background on objective facts while avoiding prejudicial references...." United States v. Small, 74 F.3d 1276, 1283 (D.C. Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S. Ct. 1867, 134 L. Ed. 2d 965 (1996). In Small, the court quoted with approval the Fourth Circuit's statement in United States v. Brockington, [324 U.S.App.D.C. 394] 849 F.2d 872, 875 (4th Cir. 1988), that " [t]he prosecutor's opening statement should be an objective summary of the evidence reasonably expected to be produced, and the prosecutor should not use the opening statement as an opportunity to 'poison the jury's mind against the defendant' or 'to recite items of highly questionable evidence.' " 74 F.3d at 1283 (citations omitted). In other words, " [t]he prosecutor's opening statement should be confined to a statement of the issues in the case and the evidence the prosecutor intends to offer which the prosecutor believes in good faith will be available and admissible [,]" "scrupulously avoid [ing] any utterance that [the prosecutor] believes cannot and will not later actually be supported with [competent and reliable] evidence." Id. (quoting ABA STANDARDS FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE 3-5.5, commentary at 100 (3d ed.1993)). Consequently, where the prosecutor informs the jury that the government will produce certain evidence to show a defendant's guilt and then, without good cause, fails to do so, the prosecutor fails to give a proper opening statement to the jury. Otherwise, the risk to the defendant is that the jury's mindset will be tainted, resulting in an unfair trial. See Williams-Davis, 90 F.3d at 506. The risk to the government is that it may have to retry the case.
Having said this, we recognize that the complexity of large, multiple defendant drug conspiracy trials means that prosecutors may overstate their promises of evidence because of genuine confusion about which defendants are implicated in particular conspiratorial activities and as result of the unreliability or equivocation of certain witnesses. See id. (citing Frazier v. Cupp, 394 U.S. 731, 736, 89 S. Ct. 1420, 1423, 22 L. Ed. 2d 684 (1969)). In some instances, the complexity of the government's case may work to a defendant's benefit. Here, for example, the jury was confronted with a dozen defendants, an indictment with over one hundred counts, and evidence of criminal activity spanning more than a decade. Keeping all of the evidence in mind, much less clearly in mind as to individual defendants, would be a difficult [324 U.S.App.D.C. 395] task for any juror where, as here, the trial lasted for more than two months. See Williams-Davis, 90 F.3d at 508. For this additional reason the district court's evaluation of the three-month lapse between the opening statement and the beginning of the jury's deliberations supported its ruling that no prejudice resulted from the prosecutor's improper opening statement. Yet it cannot be gainsaid that a failure by the government to provide proof promised in the prosecutor's opening statement to the jury adds complexity where clarity is important.
While we do not doubt the severity of the misconduct by the prosecutor during the opening statement nor ignore the potential prejudice it may have caused, given the overwhelming evidence of Williams' and Perkins' involvement in illegal drug sales and related illegal activities of the R Street Crew, we conclude that the prosecutor's failures to produce evidence to support the opening statement were harmless. See United States v. Young, 470 U.S. at 19, 105 S. Ct. at 1048; Williams-Davis, 90 F.3d at 507-508; Small, 74 F.3d at 1280. The district court instructed the jury that the arguments of counsel were not evidence, and absent further instruction requested by the defense, such a general instruction suffices to render error in opening statements harmless except in "particularly egregious cases." Williams-Davis, 90 F.3d at 507 (quoting United States v. North, 910 F.2d 843, 897-98 n. 33 (D.C. Cir. 1990), cert. denied, 500 U.S. 941, 111 S. Ct. 2235, 114 L. Ed. 2d 477 (1991)). In Williams' case, the district court gave special instructions to the jury to disregard the mention of the Joel Mays murder. In Perkins' case, many of the government's failures to present promised evidence were harmless: six others concerned the same subject, namely whether he had created a scheme to acquire expensive cars to launder drug money and taught leaders of the conspiracy the technique, and two concerned his ownership of the Mercedes Benz, about which there was considerable evidence at trial. Although there is a marginal difference between demonstrating that Perkins bought expensive cars based on his drug sales and showing that he devised the idea and enlisted other members of the R Street Crew in his plans, Perkins fails to demonstrate prejudice. Accordingly, we hold that appellants have failed to show prejudice warranting reversal of their convictions. See Frazier, 394 U.S. at 736, 89 S. Ct. at 1423; Williams-Davis, 90 F.3d at 508.
The district court refused to permit Andre Williams to cross-examine a police officer concerning his acquittal in juvenile court for the conduct that was the subject of Racketeering Act 5, which charged him with possession with intent to distribute PCP, marijuana and cocaine on November 14, 1984. Appellant asserts that the court's decision violated his Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights and denied him the opportunity to present his theory that while he may have been in the presence of individuals engaged in drug activity, he was not a part of it. Appellant cites Washington v. Texas, 388 U.S. 14, 87 S. Ct. 1920, 18 L. Ed. 2d 1019 (1967), which concerns the right of a defendant to call witnesses in his defense, but we view this claim as asserting a violation of the Confrontation Clause's guarantee that a defendant may engage in meaningful cross-examination of witnesses. See Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 315-17, 94 S. Ct. 1105, 1109-11, 39 L. Ed. 2d 347 (1974).
The district court "enjoys wide discretion to control cross-examination." Harbor Ins. Co. v. Schnabel Found. Co., Inc., 946 F.2d 930, 935 (D.C. Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 504 U.S. 931, 112 S. Ct. 1996, 118 L. Ed. 2d 592 (1992). Limits on cross-examination amount to an abuse of discretion only if they "result [ ] in prejudice to the substantial rights of the appellant." Id. The general rule with respect to the type of testimony that appellant sought to elicit is that "a judgment of acquittal is relevant to the legal question of whether the prosecution is barred by the constitutional doctrine of double jeopardy or of collateral estoppel. But once it is determined that these pleas in bar have been rejected, a judgment of acquittal is not usually admissible to rebut inferences drawn from evidence that was admitted." United States v. Viserto, 596 F.2d 531, 537 (2d Cir.), cert. [324 U.S.App.D.C. 396] denied, 444 U.S. 841, 100 S. Ct. 80, 62 L. Ed. 2d 52 (1979); Prince v. Lockhart, 971 F.2d 118, 122 (8th Cir. 1992) (citing cases), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 964, 113 S. Ct. 1394, 122 L. Ed. 2d 768 (1993). The two primary reasons to exclude judgments of acquittal are (1) they are hearsay and (2) they generally are not relevant because they simply show that the government failed to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Sutton, 732 F.2d 1483, 1493 (10th Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1157, 105 S. Ct. 903, 83 L. Ed. 2d 919 (1985); United States v. Jones, 808 F.2d 561, 566 (7th Cir. 1986), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1006, 107 S. Ct. 1630, 95 L. Ed. 2d 203 (1987). They may also be more prejudicial than probative. United States v. Kerley, 643 F.2d 299, 301 (5th Cir. 1981).
Appellant argues that Racketeering Act 5, which charged him with possession with intent to distribute PCP, marijuana and cocaine on November 14, 1984, should also be vacated because he was found not guilty of the same offense after a juvenile proceeding in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. Because appellant's claim rests on his prior acquittal of the offense reproduced in Racketeering Act 5, his claim is one of collateral estoppel, which "bars relitigation between the same parties of issues actually determined at a previous trial...." Ashe v. Swenson, 397 U.S. 436, 442, 90 S. Ct. 1189, 1193, 25 L. Ed. 2d 469 (1970). The government contends that the Office of the Corporation Counsel, which prosecuted the juvenile case, is not the "same party" as the Office of the United States Attorney, which is prosecuting the instant litigation, and, therefore, that the doctrine of collateral estoppel is inapplicable. We find it unnecessary to resolve this issue, however, because even if we were to accept appellant's collateral estoppel argument, it would not lead to the invalidation of his conviction for RICO conspiracy.
Although superficially appealing, appellant's argument places far too much significance on the meaning of inconsistent verdicts. The Supreme Court has explained that "inconsistent verdicts--even verdicts that acquit on a predicate offense while convicting on the compound offense should not necessarily be interpreted as a windfall to the Government at the defendant's expense." United States v. Powell, 469 U.S. 57, 65, 105 S. Ct. 471, 476, 83 L. Ed. 2d 461 (1984). The jury might find a defendant guilty of one offense but, either through "mistake, compromise, or lenity, arrive [ ] at an inconsistent conclusion" with respect to the other offense. Id. There may be error because the jury has not followed the court's instructions, "but it is unclear whose ox has been gored." Id.
The burden of jury lenity falls on the government, which cannot challenge an inconsistent acquittal because of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Constitution. On the other hand, where there has been an inconsistent verdict, the criminal defendant is protected against jury irrationality and error by a review of the sufficiency of the evidence. United States v. Vastola, 989 F.2d 1318, 1331 (3d Cir. 1993). In analyzing a claim of insufficient evidence to support a conviction, we consider "whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt." United States v. Washington, 12 F.3d at 1135-36 (emphasis in original) (quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S. Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L. Ed. 2d 560 (1979)). We conduct such a review independent of the jury's determination on either of the counts.
In this case appellant has not challenged the sufficiency of the evidence for his conviction of Racketeering Act 33. Thus, even assuming that the verdicts are inconsistent, we see no reason to depart from the established rule that inconsistent verdicts rendered in the same proceeding ordinarily cannot be upset. United States v. Powell, 469 U.S. at 65-69, 105 S. Ct. at 476-79. As the jury convicted Andre Williams of at least two racketeering acts, his conviction of RICO conspiracy must stand.
A defendant can prevail on a conflict of interest claim--a type of ineffective assistance of counsel claim--under Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335, 100 S. Ct. 1708, 64 L. Ed. 2d 333 (1980), if the defendant can show (1) that his lawyer acted under "an actual conflict of interest" and (2) that the "conflict had some negative effect upon his defense (defined as 'an actual lapse in representation')." United States v. Shark, 51 F.3d 1072, 1075-76 (D.C. Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S. Ct. 405, 133 L. Ed. 2d 324 (1995). A defendant who proves an actual conflict of interest thus avoids the more stringent requirement of proving that the lawyer's "deficient performance prejudiced the defense," Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S. Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L. Ed. 2d 674 (1984), for such prejudice is presumed, United States v. Farley, 72 F.3d 158, 166 (D.C. Cir. 1995). An actual conflict of interest exists where a lawyer is " 'required to make a choice advancing his own [or another client's] interests to the detriment of his client's interest.' " United States v. Bruce, 89 F.3d 886, 893 (D.C. Cir. 1996) (quoting United States v. Litchfield, 959 F.2d 1514, 1518 (10th Cir. 1992)).
The government contends that Grimm9 did not have a conflict of interest because " [g]iven the attorney-client waiver by Sparrow, it is not obvious, to say the least, what constraints attorney Grimm's prior representation of Sparrow could have put on Grimm's examination of that witness." In other words, because Sparrow waived the privilege, Grimm was not placed in the position of having to choose between the interests of different clients.
Without any conflict of interest, Board is left asserting a standard ineffective assistance claim under Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S. Ct. at 2064. But Board has not demonstrated prejudice from the alleged lapse in representation, and we thus reject this claim.
Board also claims that his substantive RICO and RICO conspiracy convictions should be vacated because, under United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549, 115 S. Ct. 1624, 131 L. Ed. 2d 626 (1995), RICO exceeds the power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce. According to Board, RICO is unconstitutional as applied to him because he was involved in a "very localized" business. The evidence established, however, that the organization had purchased between nine and ten million dollars of cocaine from Columbian drug dealers in New York (and that one member of the organization had traveled to New York on several occasions to pick up the cocaine); that the organization had purchased 150 kilograms of cocaine from Los Angeles (and that members of the organization had traveled to Los Angeles to pick up the cocaine); and that the organization's PCP supplier was in California. And 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c) contains a jurisdictional element: the RICO enterprise must be "engaged in" or have activities "which affect ... interstate or foreign commerce." The statute thus "contains a requirement that [the offense] be connected in any way to interstate commerce," Lopez, 514 U.S. at 551, 115 S. Ct. at 1626, and is "directed specifically at a particular type of commercial activity," United States v. Hawkins, 104 F.3d 437, 439-40 (D.C. Cir. 1997) (holding that the provision of the Drug Free School Zones Act making possession with intent to distribute drugs within 1,000 feet of a school illegal is within Congress' power). Under Lopez and Hawkins, the RICO statute is within Congress' Commerce Clause power.
Fed. R. Crim. P. 25. Although we have not directly addressed the scope of review of a decision to proceed under Rule 25(a), we have declined to find an abuse of discretion in a decision not to substitute a new judge under Rule 25(a), United States v. Lynch, 598 F.2d 132, 135-36 (D.C. Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 939, 99 S. Ct. 1287, 59 L. Ed. 2d 498 (1979), and other courts have held that the decision to proceed with a case under Rule 25(b) is a matter committed to the broad discretion of the successor judge, see United States v. Whitfield, 874 F.2d 591, 593 (8th Cir. 1989); United States v. Spinney, 795 F.2d 1410, 1413 (9th Cir. 1986). We will thus review Judge Hogan's decision to proceed under Rule 25(a) only for abuse of discretion.
Although the complexity of a case and the abundance of evidence typically determine the extent of the review necessary to familiarize a successor judge with the record, compare United States v. Makes Room, 49 F.3d 410, 415 (8th Cir. 1995) (in a "relatively straightforward case ... there is no requirement that the sentencing judge review a transcript of the trial") with United States v. Bourgeois, 950 F.2d 980, 987-88 (5th Cir. 1992) (in complex tax fraud conspiracy, judge "capable of assessing the credibility of the witnesses and the evidence at trial" where judge reviewed transcript of the trial and pretrial hearings and sentencing materials), and this was a long and relatively complex trial, Judge Hogan did not abuse his discretion in proceeding as he did. Indeed, there appears to be little more that Judge Hogan could have done to familiarize himself with the record: Judge Hogan read all 44 volumes of the trial transcripts, all pre-trial and trial motions, and all motions rulings; he reviewed some of the physical evidence and Judge Revercomb's chamber notes; and he was briefed by Judge Revercomb and Judge Revercomb's law clerk.
At the heart of appellants' argument is the contention that the credibility of the government's witnesses was of paramount importance and that Judge Hogan was incapable of assessing the credibility of these witnesses. But Judge Hogan found, in sentencing Andre Williams, that to the extent that witnesses contradicted one another, "they conflict [ed] with each other because they were talking about different aspects of the case and because of the different levels of involvement they themselves had." Appellants have not contested this finding, nor have they identified on appeal any specific inconsistencies. Judge Hogan did not abuse his discretion in the manner in which he replaced Judge Revercomb.
Under the Sentencing Guidelines, the district court determines a defendant's base offense level by delineating his "relevant conduct," U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3; in drug-related offenses the base offense level depends on the amount of drugs involved in the "relevant conduct." See U.S.S.G. Ch. 2, Pt. D. In the case of jointly undertaken criminal activity, "there are two substantive limitations [324 U.S.App.D.C. 401] on a defendant's responsibility for acts undertaken by co-conspirators: Those acts must be 'in furtherance of' the same conspiracy to which the defendant has agreed, and they must be reasonably foreseeable to the defendant." Childress, 58 F.3d at 722. Because only the conduct of co-conspirators that is "in furtherance of" the conspiracy may be attributed to a particular defendant, "proper attribution requires analysis of the scope of the conspiracy that the defendant has joined," id.; the scope of a defendant's conspiratorial agreement depends on whether "the evidence establish [es] a single conspiracy, in which each defendant has joined in the overall scheme, or multiple conspiracies involving separate agreements [and whether] there are any 'side deals' by co-conspirators that are not attributable to the conspiracy joined by the defendant." Id. And whether drug transactions entered into by co-conspirators were reasonably foreseeable to a defendant "depends on factual findings regarding reasonable foreseeability as it relates to each appellant's conspiratorial participation." Id.
A district court cannot simply assume reasonable foreseeability or scope; rather, the district court is required to make "particularized findings" about both the scope of the agreement and "the basis on which it finds the amount of drugs reasonably foreseeable to th [e] individual defendant." Id. (citing United States v. Edmond, 52 F.3d 1080, 1104 (D.C. Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S. Ct. 539, 133 L. Ed. 2d 443 (1995); United States v. Anderson, 39 F.3d 331, 351-53 (D.C. Cir. 1994), rev'd on other grounds, 59 F.3d 1323 (D.C. Cir. 1995) (en banc); United States v. Saro, 24 F.3d 283, 288-90 (D.C. Cir. 1994), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S. Ct. 375, 136 L. Ed. 2d 264 (1996)). This requirement of findings is a "strict procedural mandate: Even where the evidence likely supports the conclusion that there was a single conspiratorial agreement joined by all the defendants, the district court at sentencing must spell out in some detail the evidentiary basis for this conclusion." Childress, 58 F.3d at 722. A jury verdict that convicts defendants of participation in a single conspiracy does not eliminate the requirement of these individualized findings, id.; when facing a claim of factual inaccuracy, the district court cannot satisfy this requirement by simply adopting the presentence report, United States v. Graham, 83 F.3d 1466, 1477, 1480 (D.C. Cir. 1996), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S. Ct. 993, 136 L. Ed. 2d 874 (1997), and the failure to make such findings is harmless "only where the district court ha [s] made a specific finding that the individual defendant had personally handled the requisite amount of drugs in furtherance of the conspiracy." Childress, 58 F.3d at 724 (emphasis in original). Where specific findings have been made, however, a district court's decision to attribute a particular quantity of drugs to a defendant is reviewed for clear error. United States v. Badru, 97 F.3d 1471, 1477-78 (D.C. Cir. 1996), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S. Ct. 1700, 137 L. Ed. 2d 825 (1997), cert. denied in part sub nom. Fashina v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 117 S. Ct. 1327, 137 L. Ed. 2d 488 (1997). Although "caution should be properly exercised in the attribution area," even a "brief" finding can be sufficient if, "when viewed in context, it is more than simply a generalized or conclusory finding that [the defendant] was involved in the conspiracy." Id. at 1477-78 & n. 4.
For purposes of sentencing, the district court assigned Derrin Perkins a base offense level of 43 by attributing to him all of the drugs handled during the duration of the conspiracy, from 1983 to 1991, and adding one level for the employment of a person under 18 years of age to distribute a controlled substance. See U.S.S.G. §§ 2D1.1(a) (3) (c) (1), 2D1.2(a) (3) (1992). The court added a two-level enhancement for possession of a firearm, see id. § 2D1.1(b) (1), and a two-level enhancement for participation as a manager or supervisor in the conspiracy. See id. § 3B1.1(c). Perkins' total offense level was 47, which was treated as 43 under the Guidelines, pursuant to U.S.S.G. Ch. 5, Pt. A. With a criminal history category of II, the Guidelines sentencing range for all three of Perkins' convictions was life imprisonment, and the district court sentenced him to three concurrent life sentences. On [324 U.S.App.D.C. 402] appeal, Perkins challenges the amounts of drugs attributed to him pursuant to his relevant conduct in the conspiracy and the weapons enhancement. We conclude that his challenges lack merit.
The district court addressed each of Perkins' contentions and concluded that " [t]he recitation of the conduct of the organization in which Mr. Perkins was found to be involved by the Jury ... seems to support ... the findings in the presentence report that [Perkins] was engaged in these activities." The court referred, by name, to the testimony of Witherspoon, Cherry, and Brookholder14 with regard to the amount of drugs involved in the conspiracy and its link to Perkins, and found that Perkins "was engaged in a conspiracy with the others and was engaged in substantial distribution activities along with Odenga Dyson for distributing PCP." The court relied upon the evidence of Perkins' use of the green Mercedes Benz at a time when he was unemployed, and referred to the testimony of several witnesses to the effect that Perkins associated with the other defendants socially as well as conspiratorially. The court found the testimony of Rosalind Cherry regarding the ten drug deliveries to be "particularly telling," and noted the testimony of Officer Kenneth Parker that Perkins was tied to the R Street Crew, as well as testimony of other witnesses who referred to Odenga Dyson's delivery of drugs to Perkins. Although the district court concluded that Perkins was not one of the major directors of the R Street Crew on a level with Anthony Nugent or Kevin Williams-Davis, the court concluded that he was substantially involved with the organization's distribution of drugs, even though at times Perkins "was off on his own selling drugs." The court specifically found that:
[T]here is evidence that Mr. Perkins was engaged in the distribution of drugs back in '85 from Lieutenant Melvin Scott and right through '89, as the Jury found, with the use of juveniles to distribute drugs and Dax Nelson's testimony that Mr. Perkins was a distributor and a supplier of major amounts of PCP and cocaine to several people at different locations. [324 U.S.App.D.C. 403] It seems to the Court this is the kind of evidence that makes it clearly foreseeable to the Defendant that the amount of drugs that had been assessed in this drug ring are fairly attributable to the Defendant.
The district court's findings were more extensive than those found to be inadequate in Childress, and more thorough than those in United States v. Anderson, 39 F.3d 331 (D.C. Cir. 1994), rev'd in part on other grounds, 59 F.3d 1323 (D.C. Cir.) (in banc), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S. Ct. 542, 133 L. Ed. 2d 445 (1995), where the district court simply adopted a conclusory paragraph from the presentence report. The district court outlined the evidence showing the nature of Perkins' involvement in the conspiracy and addressed Perkins' objections to the presentence report. Although the findings were not as detailed as those deemed to be sufficient in Booze, 108 F.3d at 380-85, and Badru, 97 F.3d at 1476-79, we are unpersuaded that greater specificity was required here. We expect, as a result of our suggestion in United States v. Dudley, 104 F.3d 442, 447 (D.C. Cir. 1997), that in the future the government and the defense will submit proposed findings to the district court, and that henceforth the district court's findings will be more detailed. But from our review of the district court's findings it is clear that the court examined the specific nature of Perkins' changing role in assisting in the workings of the R Street Crew and the benefits he derived in terms of narcotics procurement and protection for his own drug activities. Our review also indicates that the district court found that Perkins was aware of the significance of his access to expensive cars and that his role gave him firsthand knowledge of the scope and location of the organization's ongoing drug activities.
Perkins also challenges the two-level enhancement of his sentence for use of firearms in the conspiracy. The district court found that " [t]here was no question that there were firearms used during the conspiracy, Dyson supplied [Perkins] with PCP directly, was armed, and [Perkins] was aware of that." The court also found that " [g]uns were reasonably foreseeable," and that Perkins had actual knowledge that guns were used during the course of the conspiracy.
Perkins can hardly dispute that there was abundant evidence demonstrating that he handled large quantities of drugs and that the R Street Crew engaged in violent activity involving guns when the organization sought to crush rival drug operations. Although there was no direct evidence that Perkins knew that Odenga Dyson was armed when he delivered drugs to Perkins, direct evidence was not required. See United States v. Salamanca, 990 F.2d 629, 635 (D.C. Cir.), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 928, 114 S. Ct. 337, 126 L. Ed. 2d 281 (1993); United States v. Lawson, 682 F.2d 1012, 1017 (D.C. Cir. 1982). Perkins knew the value of the drugs that Dyson was delivering, and there was ample circumstantial evidence, such as the volume of the organization's drug activity, see supra pp. 383-384, to support a finding that Perkins was aware of the use of guns in the conspiracy. See Childress, 58 F.3d at 725. The government also provided direct evidence [324 U.S.App.D.C. 404] that Perkins assisted in removing a bullet lodged in Williams-Davis' leg after a shootout in which the R Street Crew tried to wipe out a rival drug operation, and that he continued thereafter to associate himself with the conspiracy. Hence, the district court reasonably could conclude that Perkins knew that other members of the R Street Crew, including Williams-Davis, were armed and that the use of guns was reasonably foreseeable to Perkins given the R Street Crew's repeated violent interchanges with rival operations. For these reasons, Perkins' sentencing challenges fail.
Andre Williams was convicted of RICO conspiracy (Count 2) and narcotics conspiracy (Count 3). The district court assigned him a base offense level of 42 by attributing to him all of the drugs handled by the conspiracy during its duration from 1984 through 1990, see U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(a) (3) (c) (1), then added a three-level enhancement for participation as a manager or supervisor in the conspiracy and a two-level enhancement for possession of a firearm. See U.S.S.G. §§ 2D1.1(b) (1), 3B1.1(b). His total offense level was 47, which is treated as 43 under the Guidelines. U.S.S.G. Ch. 5, Pt. A, comment. to the Sentencing Table (note 2). With a criminal history category of I, the Guidelines imprisonment range for both RICO conspiracy and narcotics conspiracy was life imprisonment and appellant was sentenced to two concurrent life sentences.
The district court's erroneous consideration of these verdicts does not automatically require us to remand the case for resentencing, however. United States v. Root, 12 F.3d 1116, 1121 (D.C. Cir. 1994). " [I]n determining whether a remand is required ..., a court of appeals must decide whether the district court would have imposed the same sentence had it not relied upon the invalid factor or factors." Williams v. United States, 503 U.S. 193, 203, 112 S. Ct. 1112, 1120, 117 L. Ed. 2d 341 (1992); see 18 U.S.C. § 3742(f) (1). We look to the district court's other findings at sentencing to evaluate whether on that record as a whole, the error was harmless.
4/21/94 Tr. at 39. The court determined that " [t]here is no question her home was a center for the storage and manufacture of large quantities of drugs, both PCP and marijuana...." Id. The court also referred to testimony by Margaret R. Williams that " [Andre Williams] went forward for several years in this operation, and even toward the end, after he had a job and perhaps you could hope that he had gotten out of the situation, he went and talked to Margaret [R.] Williams concerning her proposed testimony...." Id. at 41. The district court relied on Margaret R. Williams' testimony as evidence of appellant's conduct, his relationship to and knowledge of the conspiracy and the duration of his involvement in the conspiracy.
Finally, in discussing Williams' involvement, the court referred to appellant's "history of [ ] arrests on the street along with others who were identified as co-conspirators in this case in distributing of drugs, ... [and] his history of involvement with the Joel Mays matter, the killing...." 4/21/94 Tr. at 39. Appellant objects to the district court's mention of the Joel Mays murder because the government did not present any evidence regarding the murder at trial. Andre Williams' presentence report recounts that on March 26, 1988, Joel Mays was approached by Neil Hilliard, Ronnie Isler and Andre Williams and was told that he could not distribute drugs in their area. According to the report, when Mr. Mays refused to comply Mr. Isler got a gun and shot Mr. Mays. In connection with the murder Andre Williams entered a plea, without admitting his guilt, to the charge of simple assault and possession of a prohibited weapon. See North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S. Ct. 160, 27 L. Ed. 2d 162 (1970) (permitting guilty plea without an admission of guilt so [324 U.S.App.D.C. 407] long as there is a factual basis for the plea). Under most circumstances, a sentencing court may rely on undisputed facts reported in a presentence report and objecting to the report's legal conclusion does not suffice to dispute the factual assertions on which that conclusion rests. See United States v. Pinnick, 47 F.3d 434, 437 (D.C. Cir. 1995). Appellant has not challenged the accuracy of the report's description of his involvement with Joel Mays. Accordingly, the sentencing court was permitted to consider it as evidence of appellant's involvement in the Crew's efforts to protect its drug territory.
Appellant objects that the court cannot conclude that he supervised others because the jury acquitted him of Count 18, which charged him with employment of persons under the age of eighteen for the purpose of distributing drugs. Appellant insists that the acquittal demonstrates that the jury rejected testimony concerning his role as a supervisor. The Sentencing Guidelines instruct the sentencing court to consider the numerous factors listed above, no one of which is determinative. An acquittal on any one count concerning supervisory conduct proves only that the government did not prove that particular count beyond a reasonable doubt. It does not mean that the court cannot draw on the evidence presented at trial in support of that count to determine by a preponderance of the evidence under the enumerated factors that Andre Williams was a lieutenant or manager in the R Street Crew. United States v. Watts, --- U.S. ----, ----, 117 S. Ct. 633, 634, 136 L. Ed. 2d 554 (1997). Moreover, as we have discussed, other evidence at trial demonstrated that Andre Williams participated in the conspiracy at a significant level, that he was involved in processing, packaging and distributing drugs, that he communicated with the leaders of the conspiracy and was aware of their activities, that he enjoyed the profits of the drug sales, that he sought to protect the Crew's territory, and that he played a managerial role when his brothers were out of town. Applying a deferential standard of review in light of the district court's familiarity with the entire case and its corresponding ability to assess the relative culpability of the [324 U.S.App.D.C. 408] individuals involved in the conspiracy, United States v. Williams, 891 F.2d 921, 926 (D.C. Cir. 1989), we see no error in the application of an enhancement of appellant's base offense level for his role as a manager or supervisor in the R Street Crew conspiracy.
Appellants cite Application Note 2 to U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3, which states that "a defendant's relevant conduct does not include the conduct of members of a conspiracy prior to the defendant joining the conspiracy, even if the defendant knows of that conduct." (emphasis added). The agreement to join is central to conviction for a drug conspiracy because neither common law nor the drug conspiracy statute require proof of any overt act by a conspirator in furtherance of the conspiracy. United States v. Shabani, 513 U.S. 10, 12-14, 115 S. Ct. 382, 384, 130 L. Ed. 2d 225 (1994); 18 U.S.C. § 846. Similarly, in a RICO conspiracy, it is the act of forming the conspiracy to commit a substantive RICO violation that constitutes the crime. 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d). " [T]he criminal agreement itself is the actus reus...." Shabani, 513 U.S. at 16, 115 S. Ct. at 386.
Appellants analogize the agreement to join a conspiracy to the agreement to be bound by a contract and point out that, under generally recognized legal principles, individuals under the age of eighteen are not considered to have the "capacity" to enter a contract. RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF CONTRACTS §§ 12, 14 (1981). Because interpretive Guidelines' commentary ordinarily is considered authoritative, Stinson v. United States, 508 U.S. 36, 42-46, 113 S. Ct. 1913, 1917-20, 123 L. Ed. 2d 598 (1993), Andre and Donnell Williams contend that the district court misapplied the Guidelines by attributing to each the drugs handled by the conspiracy before he reached age eighteen and gained the requisite capacity to "join" the conspiracy.16
clarif [y] the operation of § 1B1.3 with respect to the defendant's accountability for the action of other conspirators prior to the defendant joining the conspiracy. The amendment is in accord with the rule stated in recent case law. See, e.g., United States v. Carreon, 11 F.3d 1225 (5th Cir. 1994); United States v. Petty, 982 F.2d 1374, 1377 (9th Cir. 1993); United States v. O'Campo, 973 F.2d 1015, 1026 (1st Cir. 1992)....
U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual app. C, amend. 503 (1995). Although appellants were sentenced under a version of the Guidelines issued prior to 1994, a "clarifying" amendment to the Guidelines generally has retroactive application. See, e.g., United States v. Carrillo, 991 F.2d 590, 592 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 883, 114 S. Ct. 231, 126 L. Ed. 2d 186 (1993). The cases relied on by the Sentencing Commission in crafting Application Note 2 to U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3 reasoned that the use of the phrase "reasonably foreseeable" in the definition of "relevant conduct" implies a prospective understanding that something may occur. Carreon, 11 F.3d at 1234-35; Petty, 982 F.2d [324 U.S.App.D.C. 409] at 1376-77; O'Campo, 973 F.2d at 1025-26. The courts concluded that the point at which foreseeability is determined is the time that the defendant agreed to become part of the conspiracy, because it is only at that point that what is foreseeable coincides with the defendant's agreement about the scope of the conspiracy. See Carreon, 11 F.3d at 1235-36; Petty, 982 F.2d at 1377; O'Campo, 973 F.2d at 1026. Neither the application note, nor the amendment explaining its addition to the Guidelines, nor the cases cited in the amendment discuss at what point a juvenile has the capacity to "join" a conspiracy.
Nor do we find support in the common law or relevant legislation for the proposition that the legal fiction employed in contract law to protect minors from their immaturity and inexperience in commerce, and from the snares of unprincipled people who would exploit them, applies as well to their engagement in criminal activity. In criminal cases at common law age was only relevant in the application of legal presumptions. It was conclusively presumed that a child under the age of seven years could entertain no criminal intent and thus was incapable of committing a felony. Allen v. United States, 150 U.S. 551, 558, 14 S. Ct. 196, 198, 37 L. Ed. 1179 (1893). A child between the ages of seven and fourteen was also presumed incapable of entertaining criminal intent, but the presumption was rebuttable. Id. No presumption existed in favor of an accused older than fourteen years old.
The FJDA carved out an exception to these common law principles in order to encourage rehabilitation of juveniles, but the Act did not change the common law conception that a juvenile was capable of committing a criminal act. Under the FJDA, violations of law committed by a person younger than eighteen are considered acts of juvenile delinquency rather than crimes. A person not yet twenty-one who committed such an act ordinarily may not be prosecuted as an adult in federal court and generally is placed into state juvenile court systems or proceeded against in a juvenile delinquency proceeding in the district court. 18 U.S.C. § 5032. This is because he is considered still rehabilitatable outside the regular criminal process. Such defendants receive special rights and immunities, are shielded from publicity, are confined apart from adult criminals and are protected from certain consequences of adult conviction. See In re Sealed Case, 893 F.2d 363 (D.C. Cir. 1990). Adjudication as a juvenile delinquent results in an adjudication of a status rather than in a conviction of a crime. The Sentencing Guidelines expressly exclude application of the Guidelines to persons found delinquent under the FJDA. U.S.S.G. § 1B1.12. Conversely, a person who has reached twenty-one can be criminally indicted for the acts committed under eighteen because it is assumed he can no longer benefit from FJDA protections.
There is no question, however, that juveniles may be prosecuted for juvenile delinquency based on violations of federal law that would constitute crimes of conspiracy if committed by adults. E.g., United States v. De Leon, 768 F.2d 629 (5th Cir. 1985); United States v. J.H.H., 22 F.3d 821 (8th Cir. 1994); United States v. Three Juveniles, 886 F. Supp. 934 (D. Mass. 1995); In re Daniel S., 103 Md.App. 282, 653 A.2d 512 (Spec.App.1995); In re Elieser C., 14 Conn.App. 445, 541 A.2d 528 (1988). Moreover, the FJDA authorizes certain juveniles to be transferred to adult status where they may be tried for conspiracy crimes in adult court.17 E.g., United States v. Doe, 49 F.3d 859 (2d Cir. 1995); United States v. I.D.P., 102 F.3d 507 (11th Cir. 1996); United States v. Parker, 956 F.2d 169 (8th Cir. 1992); United States v. Hemmer, 729 F.2d 10 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1218, 104 S. Ct. 2666, 81 L. Ed. 2d 371 (1984). Appellants' argument that they were not capable of "joining" the R Street Crew conspiracy prior to reaching age eighteen, therefore, must fail.
[324 U.S.App.D.C. 410] While we disagree in the main with appellants as to the application of U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3 Note 2 to their situation, we do conclude that in the case of a defendant younger than twenty-one at the time of the indictment who joined a conspiracy prior to reaching eighteen, the government must either obtain a transfer of the defendant to adult status or prove that the defendant personally engaged in some affirmative act in furtherance of the conspiracy after turning eighteen before the court may attribute to him as relevant conduct drugs sold by co-conspirators before he reached age eighteen. Although Andre and Donnell Williams were prosecuted for violations of federal conspiracy law committed before as well as after reaching age eighteen, neither one was accorded any of the procedural protections guaranteed by the FJDA. The fact that Andre had reached his twenty-second birthday by the time that he was indicted for offenses arising out of his membership in the R Street Crew placed him outside of the Act's protection. 18 U.S.C. § 5031; United States v. Hoo, 825 F.2d 667 (2d Cir. 1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1035, 108 S. Ct. 742, 98 L. Ed. 2d 777 (1988). Donnell, on the other hand, was only nineteen at the time of his indictment and fell squarely within the terms of the FJDA's definition of a juvenile.
Under prior circuit precedent, the fact that Donnell continued to participate in the R Street Crew after reaching age eighteen permitted his prosecution as an adult for membership in the conspiracy See Strothers, 77 F.3d at 1392. Every court that has considered the issue has required posteighteen participation in the conspiracy because only such conduct signals the adult individual's ratification of prior involvement in the conspiracy as a juvenile. E.g., United States v. Tolliver, 61 F.3d 1189 (5th Cir. 1995); United States v. Wong, 40 F.3d 1347, 1365 (2d Cir. 1994), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S. Ct. 190, 133 L. Ed. 2d 127 (1995); Maddox, 944 F.2d at 1233; United States v. Doerr, 886 F.2d 944, 969 (7th Cir. 1989); United States v. Cruz, 805 F.2d 1464, 1476 (11th Cir. 1986), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1006, 107 S. Ct. 1631, 95 L. Ed. 2d 204 (1987). This requirement of continued active participation in order to ratify earlier conspiratorial conduct is a departure from ordinary conspiracy law, which generally requires affirmative withdrawal from a conspiracy in order to end the period of liability rather than continued affirmative acts in furtherance of the conspiracy. In the case of a conspiracy straddling the defendant's age of majority, however, courts have recognized that a defendant must do something affirmatively to further the conspiracy as an adult in order for his offense to fall outside the FJDA's definition of "juvenile delinquency." Thus, it is clear that the FJDA would not have permitted the government to prosecute a nineteen-year-old Donnell Williams as an adult for substantive offenses completed before he turned eighteen, or for a conspiracy which he abandoned before age eighteen, without first obtaining a FJDA requested transfer from the juvenile court to adult court.
The FJDA requires certification by the Attorney General as well as a hearing and specific findings of fact by a district judge before a juvenile may be transferred into adult court. Thus, juvenile non-criminal treatment is the rule for wrongful acts including conspiracy committed prior to age eighteen and adult criminal treatment the exception which must be governed by the particular factors of each juvenile's individual case. Cf. Harling v. United States, 295 F.2d 161, 164-65 (D.C. Cir. 1961). The Supreme Court has recognized that the decision to place a juvenile in adult court is a " 'critically important' action determining vitally important statutory rights of the juvenile." Kent v. United States, 383 U.S. 541, 556, 86 S. Ct. 1045, 1055, 16 L. Ed. 2d 84 (1966). Moreover, under the FJDA, if a juvenile is transferred to adult court, but is not convicted of the crime upon which the transfer was based or another crime that would have warranted transfer had the juvenile initially been charged with that crime, any further proceedings concerning the juvenile must be conducted under the terms of the FJDA. This safety valve provision returns a transferred juvenile to his former status if he is found not to have committed an offense that would justify the transfer, indicating Congress' clear intent to limit adult jurisdiction over persons younger than twenty-one only to cases involving specific offenses.
In the case of Donnell Williams, the jury was not given a limiting instruction and evidence of his juvenile conduct was admitted at trial as evidence of guilt. We have previously held in Strothers, 77 F.3d at 1392, that evidence of premajority acts in a prosecution for an age-of-majority spanning conspiracy is admissible in order to help the jury assess postmajority acts. We believe that includes evidence of juvenile involvement in the conspiracy as probative of knowledge of the conspiracy, when the defendant joined it, the scope of the conspiracy he agreed to and the foreseeability of the acts of co-conspirators. The absence in Donnell's case of an instruction limiting the use of juvenile acts evidence to these permissible purposes, which we believe fall within Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b), did not result in prejudicial error [324 U.S.App.D.C. 413] because there was overwhelming evidence of post-eighteen action in furtherance of the conspiracy; two undercover officers testified that they purchased drugs from Donnell Williams in 1990, after he had reached his eighteenth birthday. (32-115-17, 33-63-68). The error resulting from the failure to give a limiting instruction is harmless because the jury verdict on other points effectively embraces the component that was missing from the jury instructions, see Rose v. Clark, 478 U.S. 570, 580-81, 106 S. Ct. 3101, 3107-08, 92 L. Ed. 2d 460 (1986); Carella v. California, 491 U.S. 263, 271, 109 S. Ct. 2419, 2423-24, 105 L. Ed. 2d 218 (1989) (Scalia, J., concurring), and demonstrates beyond a reasonable doubt that the jury found the requisite facts necessary to support the conviction. Here Donnell Williams was convicted separately of two substantive offenses committed in furtherance of the narcotics and RICO conspiracies after he turned eighteen. These verdicts are more than sufficient to meet the adult "actus reus" requirement and demonstrate that Donnell Williams' adult behavior reaffirmed any earlier agreement to participate in the R Street Crew conspiracy. The substantive convictions, therefore, are functionally equivalent to finding that Donnell Williams committed an act in furtherance of the conspiracy after reaching age eighteen and allow no reasonable doubt that the jury found the facts necessary to justify adult jurisdiction and convictions of conspiracy.
Once it is determined that Donnell Williams was properly prosecuted and convicted in adult court of narcotics and RICO conspiracy, we reach the final question of how the Sentencing Guidelines are applied to a conviction for a conspiracy that straddled the defendant's eighteenth birthday. Our decision today rests on the premise that adult involvement in such a conspiracy permits the district court to assert adult jurisdiction over the offense without there being an FJDA transfer hearing. The adult conduct ratifies the juvenile agreement to join the conspiracy and the juvenile participation in the conspiracy. See Maddox, 944 F.2d at 1233. The Sentencing Guidelines apply to the adult conviction according to their plain terms. The court may consider as relevant conduct all acts of the defendant and all reasonably foreseeable acts or omissions of others in furtherance of the jointly undertaken activity, "that occurred during the commission of the offense of conviction, in preparation for that offense, or in the course of attempting to avoid detection or responsibility for that offense." U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3(a) (1). Since Donnell Williams was properly convicted in adult court of a conspiracy he joined as a juvenile but continued in after eighteen, the Guidelines unambiguously permit the court to consider his and his co-conspirators' foreseeable conduct "that occurred during the commission of the [entire conspiracy] offense," id., starting when he joined the conspiracy at age eleven.
A conspiracy is an "ongoing offense that lasts, absent one's affirmative withdrawal from the enterprise, as long as any coconspirator continues to further common ends...." Childress, 58 F.3d at 733. If a conspiracy's ends have not been fully accomplished, the relationship of the conspirators to it remains the same as it was at the moment the conspiracy was brought to life. Hyde v. United States, 225 U.S. 347, 368, 32 S. Ct. 793, 802-03, 56 L. Ed. 1114 (1912). Whatever overt acts are committed along the way are steps toward the conspiracy's ends, but do not completely accomplish those ends. Thus conspirators remain members of conspiracies until they "mak [e] a clean breast to the authorities or communicat [e] the abandonment in a manner reasonably calculated to reach co-conspirators." United States v. [324 U.S.App.D.C. 414] Walls, 70 F.3d 1323, 1327 (D.C. Cir. 1995) (citations omitted). Appellant has the burden of proving that he affirmatively withdrew from the conspiracy if he wishes to benefit from his claimed lack of involvement after October 22, 1990. United States v. Dale, 991 F.2d 819, 854 (D.C. Cir.), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 906, 114 S. Ct. 286, 126 L. Ed. 2d 236 (1993). Appellant has not met that burden here. Accordingly, there was no error in the district court's attribution to Andre Williams as relevant conduct the drugs handled by the conspiracy after October 22, 1990.
A sentence must be within the applicable Guideline range unless the court "finds that there exists an aggravating or mitigating circumstance of a kind, or to a degree, not adequately taken into consideration by the Sentencing Commission in formulating the guidelines." 18 U.S.C. § 3553(b). Departures from the presumptively applicable Guideline range are discretionary. United States v. Sammoury, 74 F.3d 1341, 1343 (D.C. Cir. 1996). "Hence, if the judge correctly understood the Sentencing Guidelines and the evidence, knew he could depart, and yet decided to stick to the guideline range, there has been no incorrect application of the Guidelines ... and so the resulting sentence cannot be set aside." Id. A sentencing decision is reviewable, however, if the sentencing court mistakenly believes that it lacks authority to depart or if the sentencing court rested its decision not to depart on a clearly erroneous factual finding. Id. at 1343-44.
Appellant requested a downward departure based on youthful lack of guidance. The mitigating circumstance of lack of youthful guidance may exist when "a past condition ... may have led a convicted defendant to criminality." United States v. Floyd, 945 F.2d 1096, 1101 (9th Cir. 1991); United States v. Clark, 8 F.3d 839, 845 (D.C. Cir. 1993).19 Appellant argued that all his early role models, including his three older brothers--two of whom are convicted leaders of the R Street Crew--members of his extended family, and his step-father were actually involved in dealing drugs. Vast amounts of guns and drugs were stored and processed in the home. As proof of his unhealthy environment, appellant pointed out at his sentencing that he missed over 100 days of school in 11th grade alone, had a GPA of .333, and never graduated high school. The district court recognized that Andre Williams "was the youngest of these brothers who engaged in, in fact, the whole family, as defense counsel is asserting, engaged in, except for the [younger] sister, in narcotics dealing for many years, and he was raised apparently in a family where at the males of which and some of the females were engaged in drugs since he was a young child and that he became involved in that situation as a matter of course." 4/21/94 Tr. at 35. Nonetheless, the court denied the request, explaining
For sentencing purposes, the district court assigned appellant Donnell Williams20 a base offense level of 42 by attributing to him all of the drugs handled during the conspiracy.21 See U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(a) (3) (c) (1). The court added a two-level enhancement for possession of a firearm. See id. § 2D1.1(b) (1). Agreeing with Williams' objection to the suggestion in the presentence report that he receive a supervisory role enhancement, see id. § 3B1.1(b), the district court applied a total offense level of 44, which is treated as 43 under the Guidelines pursuant to U.S.S.G. Ch. 5, Pt. A. With a criminal history category of I, the sentencing range under the Guidelines for Williams' conspiracy convictions was life imprisonment. The district court sentenced Williams to life imprisonment on both conspiracy counts, to 240 months imprisonment for drug distribution, and to 48 months imprisonment for the use of a communications facility in connection with drug transactions, all sentences to run concurrently. Williams challenges the drug quantities attributed to him as a result of his relevant conduct in the conspiracy and the weapons enhancement; neither challenge has merit.22
As with the other appellants, Judge Hogan attributed the total amount of drugs to Thomas, which yielded a base offense level of 43. See U.S.S.G. §§ 2D1.1(a) (3) (c) (1), 2D1.2 (1992). Judge Hogan then imposed a three-level increase for Thomas' managerial role in the conspiracy, U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(b); a two-level increase for possessing a firearm on the basis of Thomas' 1987 Superior Court conviction for possession of a pistol, U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b) (1); and a two-level increase because Thomas allegedly had threatened a family member of a government informant, U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 (obstruction of justice). These increases yielded an adjusted offense level of 50, which under the Sentencing Guidelines is treated as a total offense level of 43.
Thomas (joined by Donnell Williams) argues that the Sentencing Guidelines cannot be applied to his conspiracy convictions without running afoul of the Ex Post Facto Clause. In United States v. Dale, 991 F.2d at 853, however, we held that the Sentencing Guidelines apply to conspiracies that begin before the effective date of the Sentencing Guidelines and continue after the effective date. See also United States v. Dean, 55 F.3d 640, 666 (D.C. Cir. 1995), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S. Ct. 1288, 134 L. Ed. 2d 232 (1996); United States v. Wilson, 26 F.3d 142, 161 (D.C. Cir. 1994), cert. denied, 514 U.S. 1051, 115 S. Ct. 1430, 131 L. Ed. 2d 311 (1995). Evidence established, and Thomas does not contest, that he participated in the conspiracy after 1987, so the Guidelines were properly applied to Thomas.
Thomas also argues that the rule of lenity requires that sentencing be based only on post-enactment conspiratorial conduct--particularly where Thomas' involvement in the conspiracy was already effected by November 1, 1987. Thomas' argument is that the provision of the Sentencing Act of 1987, Pub. L. No. 100-182, § 2(a), 101 Stat. 1266 (1987), codified at 18 U.S.C. § 3551 note (1994), which provided that the Sentencing Guidelines "shall apply only to offenses committed after" November 1, 1987, is ambiguous as to the applicability of the guidelines to offenses begun before and continuing after November 1, 1987. In support of this position, Thomas cites United States v. Story, in which the court found the statutory language ambiguous, but ultimately held that the Guidelines apply to straddling conspiracies. 891 F.2d 988, 992 (2d Cir. 1989).
The rule of lenity, however, is not applicable unless there is a grievous ambiguity or uncertainty in the language and structure of the Act, such that even after a court has seize [d] every thing from which aid can be derived, it is still left with an ambiguous statute. The rule comes into operation at the end of the process of construing what Congress has expressed, not at the beginning as an overriding consideration of being lenient to wrongdoers.
Chapman v. United States, 500 U.S. 453, 463, 111 S. Ct. 1919, 1926, 114 L. Ed. 2d 524 (1991) (internal quotations and citations omitted). The legislative history of the Sentencing Act of 1987--which Story and other courts have read as indicating Congress' intent that the Sentencing Guidelines apply to straddling conspiracies, see 891 F.2d at 991-95--and the numerous opinions that have applied the Guidelines to "straddling" conspiracies, see infra p. 418, weigh against applying the rule of lenity.
We believe, as the government argues, that since the Sentencing Guidelines apply to "straddling" conspiracies, sentencing should be based on all of the conspiratorial conduct, not just the conduct that occurred post-enactment. As one of our sister circuits put it: "Since the guidelines affirmatively direct the sentencing court to include relevant conduct in furtherance of the conspiracy offense when calculating the guidelines ranges, and since there is absolutely no indication that Congress intended to prohibit the court's reliance on such conduct simply because it occurred prior to the guidelines' effective date, we find no merit to appellant's argument that the court improperly relied on drug deliveries which occurred prior to November 1, 1987." United States v. Terzado-Madruga, 897 F.2d 1099, 1124 (11th Cir. 1990); see also United States v. David, 940 F.2d 722, 740-41 (1st Cir.) (same), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 989, 112 S. Ct. 605, 116 L. Ed. 2d 628 (1991); United States v. Cusack, 901 F.2d 29, 32 (4th Cir. 1990) (same); United States v. Allen, 886 F.2d 143, 145-46 (8th Cir. 1989) (same); Cf. United States v. Roederer, 11 F.3d 973, 976 (10th Cir. 1993) (district court properly included as relevant conduct quantity of drugs involved in drug conspiracy that terminated prior to effective date of Sentencing Guidelines in determining sentence for post-enactment crime).
As the government points out, Thomas' argument is quite similar to the argument made in Bordenkircher v. Hayes, 434 U.S. 357, 98 S. Ct. 663, 54 L. Ed. 2d 604 (1978). In Bordenkircher, the defendant was indicted for an offense punishable by a term of two to ten years in prison. The prosecutor offered to recommend a sentence of five years in prison if the defendant would plead guilty; if the defendant did not, the prosecutor would seek to indict the defendant as a habitual criminal, subjecting the defendant to a mandatory life sentence. Id. at 358-59, 98 S. Ct. at 665-66. Noting that the "case would be no different if the grand jury had indicted [the defendant] as a recidivist from the outset, and the prosecutor had offered to drop that charge as part of the plea bargain," id. at 361, 98 S. Ct. at 666, the Court held that "the course of conduct engaged in by the prosecutor in this case, which no more than openly presented the defendant with the unpleasant alternatives of forgoing trial or facing charges on which he was plainly subject to prosecution, did not violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment," id. at 365, 98 S. Ct. at 669. So long as the defendant is "free to accept or reject the prosecution's offer," id. at 363, 98 S. Ct. at 668, the choice is simply the inevitable consequence of plea bargaining, which the Court accepted as a legitimate process. Id. at 363-65, 98 S. Ct. at 667-69.
[324 U.S.App.D.C. 419] Thomas claims that Bordenkircher is inapplicable because the Supreme Court was never confronted with a "robotic sentencing system" which "virtually guarantee [s]" that the decision to proceed to trial will result in a much greater sentence. But Thomas simply does not explain how his situation differed from the defendant's in Bordenkircher: Thomas was fully aware that he was exposing himself to the possibility of a huge sentence; he points to no evidence that the prosecutor was motivated by a desire to punish him for exercising his right to go to trial; and he knowingly declined a five-year sentence.
See United States v. Wynn, 61 F.3d 921, 923 (D.C. Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S. Ct. 578, 133 L. Ed. 2d 501 (1995); United States v. Mitchell, 49 F.3d 769, 772 (D.C. Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S. Ct. 327, 133 L. Ed. 2d 228 (1995) (quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S. Ct. 2781, 61 L. Ed. 2d 560 (1979)); United States v. Lewis, 626 F.2d 940, 951 (D.C. Cir. 1980)
By contrast, the First and Second Circuits require the government to prove that a defendant agreed to commit personally two or more predicate crimes to be convicted of RICO conspiracy. See United States v. Ruggiero, 726 F.2d 913, 921 (2d Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. Rabito v. United States, 469 U.S. 831, 105 S. Ct. 118, 83 L. Ed. 2d 60 (1984); United States v. Winter, 663 F.2d 1120, 1135-37 (1st Cir. 1981), cert. denied sub nom. Goldenberg v. United States, 460 U.S. 1011, 103 S. Ct. 1249, 75 L. Ed. 2d 479 (1983)
See, e.g., United States v. Booze, 108 F.3d 378, 380-85 (D.C. Cir. 1997); United States v. Dudley, 104 F.3d 442, 446-48 (D.C. Cir. 1997); United States v. Badru, 97 F.3d at 1476-79; United States v. Graham, 83 F.3d at 1479-80
The Guidelines were amended in 1992 to prohibit departures based on youthful lack of guidance. U.S.S.G. § 5H1.12. Because the instant offense occurred prior to the amendment to the Guidelines, and retroactive application of the amendment would violate the Ex Post Facto Clause, United States v. Johns, 5 F.3d 1267 (9th Cir. 1993), it remained a legally permissible basis for departure at the time of Mr. Williams' sentencing