Opinion ID: 664742
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence on count i (conspiracy)

Text: 13 Lennick also argues that the government failed to prove he conspired to manufacture, distribute or possess with intent to distribute. In reviewing this claim, we must determine whether, 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. Bishop, 959 F.2d 820, 829 (9th Cir.1992) (quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979)). Although a defendant claiming insufficient evidence faces a formidable burden, the government proved only that Lennick possessed marijuana which he gave and sometimes sold to his friends and acquaintances. It did not show that Lennick conspired with these individuals or with any other individuals to manufacture, distribute or possess with intent to distribute. Thus, we reverse Lennick's conspiracy conviction for insufficient evidence. 14 Conspiracy, by its nature, requires the government to prove that at least two persons had an agreement to commit the underlying offense. United States v. Hart, 963 F.2d 1278, 1283 (9th Cir.1992); United States v. Becker, 720 F.2d 1033, 1035 (9th Cir.1983). The government must show (1) an agreement to accomplish an illegal objective; (2) the commission of an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy; and (3) the requisite intent necessary to commit the underlying offense. United States v. Taren-Palma, 997 F.2d 525, 536 (9th Cir.1993). Although an agreement may be inferred from the defendant's acts or from other circumstantial evidence, id., simple knowledge, approval of, or acquiescence in the object or purpose of a conspiracy, without an intention and agreement to accomplish a specific illegal objective, is not sufficient. United States v. Melchor-Lopez, 627 F.2d 886, 891 (9th Cir.1980). 15 The government did show that Lennick sold or gave marijuana to other individuals. Both Lennick's brother-in-law and his childhood friend testified that Lennick sold or gave them marijuana. In addition, a notebook found in Lennick's home and Lennick's own testimony established that Lennick had sold marijuana to several other individuals and had used marijuana to make car payments. 3 16 However, this evidence proves distribution, not conspiracy. As most circuits have held, proof that a defendant sold drugs to other individuals does not prove the existence of a conspiracy. United States v. Lechuga, 994 F.2d 346, 347-50 (7th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 482, 126 L.Ed.2d 433 (1993); United States v. Horn, 946 F.2d 738, 740-41 (10th Cir.1991). 4 Rather, conspiracy requires proof of an agreement to commit a crime other than the crime that consists of the sale itself. Lechuga, 994 F.2d at 347. Were the rule otherwise, every narcotics sale would constitute a conspiracy. 17 Nothing in the record shows that Lennick had an agreement with any of these individuals to manufacture, distribute or possess with intent to distribute. Both Lennick's brother-in-law and his friend denied knowledge of or participation in Lennick's marijuana growing operation. Both testified that they bought marijuana from Lennick for their own personal use. The government did not prove that Lennick's friends further distributed the marijuana, or even that Lennick sold them marijuana in a sufficient quantity to support an inference that they were going to further distribute it. Mancari, 875 F.2d at 105 (In a conspiracy to sell drugs, the supplier must know he is supplying a dealer.) (emphasis in original). To show a conspiracy, the government must show not only that Lennick gave drugs to other people knowing that they would further distribute them, but also that he had an agreement with these individuals to so further distribute the drugs. 5 Here, nothing in the record suggests that Lennick asked anyone else to help him distribute marijuana. 6 18 Of course, Lennick's conspiracy conviction may still be valid, notwithstanding the lack of any evidence that Lennick conspired with any particular individual, if the government proved that Lennick must have conspired with some other individual (known or unknown) in order to accomplish his illegal purposes. United States v. Howard, 966 F.2d 1362, 1363-65 (10th Cir.1992) (upholding a conspiracy conviction where the facts, including the size of the cocaine shipment involved, indicated that the defendant must have conspired with other individuals in order to effect the transaction); United States v. Valles-Valencia, 823 F.2d 381, 382, amending, 811 F.2d 1232 (9th Cir.1987). 19 However, the record does not support such an inference. Lennick testified that he decided to grow marijuana on his own, that he had learned how to grow marijuana from a publication called High Times, that he had purchased equipment from various vendors and plant sales people who had no knowledge of his intent to grow marijuana, and that he had obtained seeds from a mail-order vendor in Switzerland. Although the jury might properly have found that some of Lennick's testimony was not credible, nothing in the record contradicts his story of working alone. Lennick lived alone. He had no phone and little personal wealth. Neither the notebook nor any other evidence suggests that Lennick employed other individuals to sell or distribute marijuana for him or that other individuals helped him grow the marijuana plants. Both government witnesses and Lennick testified that Lennick was a heavy, chronic marijuana user with a small-time marijuana growing operation who gave and sold some of his harvest to his friends. 20 At most, the government proved that Lennick distributed marijuana; it did not prove a conspiracy. 21