Source: http://openjurist.org/print/441884
Timestamp: 2015-04-27 04:40:08
Document Index: 45278884

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 846', '§ 1952', '§ 841', '§ 2', '§ 841', '§ 2']

981 F2d 1123 United States v. Pace D
981 F2d 1123 United States v. Pace D 981 F.2d 1123
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Otto PACE, Travis D. Leonard, and Clifton Andrew Carter,Defendants-Appellants.
Defendants Otto Pace, Travis D. Leonard, and Clifton Andrew Carter were charged in a four-count indictment alleging violations of the federal drug laws. Count 1 charged all three defendants with a conspiracy with two objects: (1) to possess with intent to distribute "methamphetamine/amphetamine;" and (2) to attempt to manufacture "methamphetamine," in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a)(1). Count 4 charged all three defendants with traveling in interstate commerce to promote the attempted manufacture and distribution of "methamphetamine/amphetamine," in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1952 and 2. Count 2 charged Carter with possession of a listed chemical to be used to manufacture a controlled substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(d)(2) and 18 U.S.C. § 2. Count 3 charged Leonard with distribution of "methamphetamine/amphetamine," in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2. With one exception,1 defendants were convicted as charged. Defendants' sentences were calculated from the base offense level for methamphetamine, which is higher than that for amphetamine.
Because defendants did not object to the use of a general verdict or to the use of methamphetamine in the sentencing calculations, we will not consider these issues unless they "constitute[ ] plain error resulting in manifest injustice." United States v. Taylor, 800 F.2d 1012, 1017 (10th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 838, 108 S.Ct. 123, 98 L.Ed.2d 81 (1987). We believe that they do constitute plain error, see Newman v. United States, 817 F.2d 635, 637 n. 3 (10th Cir.1987), and therefore we address the merits.
Defendants assert that the instant case is indistinguishable from and controlled by this court's opinion in Newman. In Newman the defendant had been convicted by general verdict of conspiring to distribute both narcotic and nonnarcotic drugs. Id. at 637. See Griffin v. United States, --- U.S. ----, ----, 112 S.Ct. 466, 473, 116 L.Ed.2d 371 (1991) (" 'when a jury returns a guilty verdict on an indictment charging several acts in the conjunctive ... the verdict stands if the evidence is sufficient with respect to any one of the acts charged' " (quoting Turner v. United States, 396 U.S. 398, 420, 90 S.Ct. 642, 654, 24 L.Ed.2d 610 (1970))).
Defendants also rely on United States v. Owens, 904 F.2d 411 (8th Cir.1990), which involved an indictment charging a drug conspiracy involving "methamphetamine/amphetamine." Id. at 412. In Owens the Eighth Circuit observed that "[t]he punctuation mark used between the words methamphetamine and amphetamine is called a 'virgule,' and ordinarily means 'or.' " Id. at 414. Thus, the indictment charged a crime "involving either methamphetamine or amphetamine." Id. Because there was conflicting testimony as to which drug was the object of the conspiracy, and because of the sentencing discrepancy between the two drugs, the Eighth Circuit held that the use of a general verdict "elicited an ambiguous verdict of guilty" that could not support the higher sentence based on methamphetamine. Id. at 414-15. The court gave the government the option of consenting to resentencing based on amphetamine or retrying the defendant.
We have reviewed the trial transcript for references to methamphetamine, references to amphetamine, or references that are ambiguous. The government's position that this was a methamphetamine case is consistent with its opening statement: "Basically, this is a conspiracy case, a drug conspiracy. And the drug is methamphetamine, a Schedule II substance, as you'll find." IV R. 5. There was testimony that the chemicals seized at Carter's home and business can be used to make methamphetamine. V R. 415-17. The two chemists who testified for the g