Opinion ID: 70500
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: D-methamphetamine versus L-methamphetamine

Text: 11 Trout also argues that the government failed to establish that materials seized from one of Trout's coconspirators contained D-methamphetamine rather than L-methamphetamine, a less potent isomer of the same drug. D-methamphetamine carries a heavier penalty under the Sentencing Guidelines than does an equivalent amount of L-methamphetamine. See U.S.S.G. Sec. 2D1.1; United States v. Patrick, 983 F.2d 206, 208 (11th Cir.1993). In Patrick, we held that the government must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that controlled substances contain D-methamphetamine rather than L-methamphetamine. Id. Trout would have us read Patrick as imposing an even stricter burden on the government by requiring the performance of one of two specific, laboratory procedures to distinguish between D-methamphetamine and L-methamphetamine. 4 12 We decline to interpret Patrick to establish this sort of static, scientific orthodoxy. Our decision there depended less on the particular tests employed by government experts than it did on the testimony offered by those same experts. In Patrick, the government's expert witnesses referred to the seized materials as methamphetamine, but they did not offer any testimony to establish whether they intended D-methamphetamine or L-methamphetamine. See id. at 209. We concluded that the government failed to satisfy its burden to prove which isomer was present in the illegal sample. Id. at 209, 211. 13 In contrast, the government did provide such direct evidence in this case; on numerous occasions, government witnesses specifically identified the seized materials as containing D-methamphetamine and described the tests used to analyze these materials, see, e.g., R19-177. At trial, Trout offered no evidence to suggest that the seized materials did not contain D-methamphetamine or that the tests relied upon by the government were incapable of distinguishing between the two isomers. Consequently, the district court was not clearly erroneous in concluding that the government had proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the material seized from Trout's coconspirator contained D-methamphetamine.