Opinion ID: 775981
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Validity of Graham's Sentence Under Apprendi

Text: 97 Finally, we consider whether Graham's thirty-year sentences for the marijuana charges, based upon a finding by preponderance of the evidence that Graham's criminal activity involved 100 or more marijuana plants, were constitutional in light of Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000). At sentencing, Graham objected to the Presentence Report's conclusion that he was responsible for 100 marijuana plants, contending that the testimony at trial proved he was responsible for between fifty and seventy-five marijuana plants. J.A. at 1456 (PSR at 32). The district judge overruled this objection, citing videotape evidence introduced at trial showing 100 or more marijuana plants. Sentencing Hr'g at 45. After sentencing, but before oral argument on this case, the Supreme Court decided Apprendi, which held that facts, other than prior convictions, which increase the maximum sentence faced by the defendant must be presented to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. 530 U.S. at 490. Because the finding that Graham was responsible for 100 or more marijuana plants increased the maximum sentence that could be imposed and was not found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt, we believe it is appropriate to consider the validity of Graham's sentence in light of the rule announced in Apprendi. 98 Graham did not raise the Apprendi issue on appeal. Nevertheless, this Court has discretion to correct plain errors affecting important rights of criminal defendants, even when not raised on appeal. See United States v. Finch, 998 F.2d 349, 354 (6th Cir. 1993) (explaining that appellate court possessed discretion pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(b) to consider Fourth Amendment claim, even though the issue was not raised by appellant). Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 52(b) provides [p]lain errors or defects affecting substantial rights may be noticed although they were not brought to the attention of the court. Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(b). Rule 52(b) permits sua sponte consideration of plain errors that have not been raised before the court of appeals. As one commentator explained: 99 Ordinarily Rule 52(b) is invoked by counsel who, in preparing an appeal, discover what they consider to be an error to which they took no objection below. The rule is not so limited, however, and the appellate court may take notice of an error on its own motion though it is never put forward by counsel. 100 3A Charles Alan Wright, Federal Practice and Procedure, 856, at 338 (2d ed. 1982). As the Supreme Court has explained, '[i]n exceptional circumstances, especially in criminal cases, appellate courts, in the public interest, may, of their own motion, notice errors to which no exception has been taken, if the errors are obvious, or if they otherwise seriously affect the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings.' Silber v. United States, 370 U.S. 717, 717-18 (1962) (holding that defect in indictment not raised before either the Supreme Court or the court of appeals could be noticed as plain error) (quoting United States v. Atkinson, 297 U.S. 157, 160 (1936)). Both the Supreme Court and this circuit have found sua sponte consideration of plain error to be appropriate to remedy unlawful sentences imposed by the district court. See Bartone v. United States, 375 U.S. 52, 53 (1963) (holding that district court's error in increasing sentence by one day in the absence of the defendant was so plain . . . that it should have been dealt with by the Court of Appeals, even though it had not been alleged as error); United States v. Winston, 37 F.3d 235 (6th Cir. 1994) (vacating sentence sua sponte where district judge sentenced defendant to life imprisonment based upon aggregate quantity of drugs involved in multiple counts, whereas plain meaning of the statute authorized life sentence only upon finding that the required quantity was involved in a single violation). 101 In the instant case, the facts relevant to the Apprendi issue are fully set forth in the record, and the governing legal principles are clear. See Finch, 998 F.2d at 335 (declining to conduct plain error review because failure of defense to raise issue may have influenced development of facts, and issue involved conflicting theories of law). Therefore, we believe this is an appropriate case for sua sponte consideration of the Apprendi issue. 22 102 The power of courts of appeal to correct forfeited claims is circumscribed by the standard of review for plain error. See United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 732 (1993). This circuit summarized the test for plain error in United States v. Martinez, 253 F.3d 251, 255 (6th Cir. 2001): 103 (1) there must be an error; (2) the error must be plain; (3) the error must affect the Appellants' substantial rights; and (4) the error must seriously affect the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings. 104 Id. (citing Johnson v. United States, 520 U.S. 461, 467 (1997)). The district court's error must be plain under current law. 'Current law,' for purposes of plain error review, is the law that exists at the time of review. United States v. Calloway, 116 F.3d 1129, 1136 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 925 (1997). Because Apprendi was decided before we heard the appeal in this case, it is the current law for the purposes of our plain error analysis. 105 In Apprendi, the Supreme Court held that [o]ther than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. 530 U.S. at 490. This circuit has held that where a finding as to the weight of the drugs determined the range of penalties that would apply to the defendant, Apprendi requires that the weight or quantity of the drugs involved be determined by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Flowal, 234 F.3d 932, 936 (6th Cir. 2000). Where there is no mention of drug quantity in the indictment and the jury makes no findings as to the quantity of drugs involved, the defendant can only be sentenced according to the statutory range provided for an unspecified amount of the drugs involved. See Martinez, 253 F.3d at 255. 106 The sentence imposed by the district court was plain error under the Apprendi rule as applied in this circuit. Graham received concurrent thirty-year sentences for Count 10 (attempt to manufacture marijuana) and Count 11 (conspiracy to manufacture marijuana). The thirty-year sentences were based upon 21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(B)(vii), which authorizes a sentence of five to forty years' imprisonment for violations of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) (prohibiting manufacturing marijuana) which involve 100 or more marijuana plants. The statutory maximum for manufacturing an unspecified amount of marijuana is five years. 21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(D); Martinez, 253 F.3d at 255 (concluding that 841(b)(1)(D) represents the maximum sentence available under Apprendi where the jury does not find a particular quantity of marijuana). The district court's finding that Counts 10 and 11 involved 100 or more marijuana plants increased the maximum penalty available for these counts from five years to forty years. This quantity was not found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. Neither the jury verdict nor the indictment specified the quantity of marijuana charged. See J.A. at 94-95 (Superseding Indictment at 19-20); Jury Verdict Form. The sentences imposed by the district court pursuant to Counts 10 and 11, therefore, were plain error under the current law. See Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 474 (The constitutional question . . . is whether the 12-year sentence imposed on count 18 was permissible, given that it was above the 10-year maximum for the offense charged in that count). 107 Our inquiry does not end there, however. Review for plain error also requires a determination that the defendant has been prejudiced, and that the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the proceedings. See United States v. Page, 232 F.3d 536, 544 (6th Cir. 2000), cert. denied, -- U.S. --, 121 S. Ct. 2202 (2001). This circuit has held that the second two prongs of plain error review are satisfied when the defendant's total sentence exceeds the maximum sentence that could lawfully be imposed based upon the jury's verdict as to all counts of conviction. See Martinez, 253 F.3d at 255; Page, 232 F.3d at 544. As one panel explained: 108 There is no doubt that imposing additional years of imprisonment beyond that authorized by a jury's verdict affects a defendant's substantial rights. Furthermore, a sentencing error substantially affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings when a court's error results in imposition of a sentence which is not authorized by law. 109 Page, 232 F.3d at 544 (citation omitted). The Sentencing Guidelines provide that [i]f the sentence imposed on the count carrying the highest statutory maximum is less than the total punishment, then the sentence imposed on one or more of the other counts shall run consecutively, but only to the extent necessary to produce a combined sentence equal to the total punishment. U.S.S.G. 5G1.2(d). Therefore, plain error could only be found if the sentence imposed by the district court exceeds the sentence that would be imposed if Graham had been sentenced consecutively, rather than concurrently, on all counts of conviction. See Page, 232 F.3d at 544-45. 110 Graham received a sentence of fifty-five years. As noted above, the maximum sentence permitted for each of the two marijuana charges is five years. 23 The statutory maximum for the conspiracy charge (Count 1) is five years' imprisonment. 18 U.S.C. 371. The statutory maximum for possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance (Count 9) is ten years. 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(2). Graham also faces mandatory consecutive sentences of five years and twenty years for Counts 13 and 14 ( possession of a firearm in connection with crimes of violence and drug trafficking). 18 U.S.C.A. 924(c)(1) (West 1998). The combined maximum prison sentences of all counts of conviction if served consecutively would be fifty years. Because Graham's sentence exceeded this limit, the plain error test has been satisfied. We therefore VACATE the district court's sentence and REMAND for resentencing upon consideration of the Apprendi question.