Opinion ID: 741779
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: U.S. v. Buchannan

Text: 14 On appeal, Buchannan argues that the district court's refusal to give his proffered jury instruction deprived him of a fair trial with respect to the drug charges. He also contends that there was insufficient evidence to support his assault conviction. Finally, he urges reversal of his sentencing enhancement for obstruction of justice because the judge failed to make an explicit finding that he committed perjury. The government cross-appeals Buchannan's sentence seeking remand for findings of the amount and type of drugs that Buchannan handled.
15 Buchannan testified that he was only involved in the transaction with Lee and Kempfer on March 11 because he was attempting to gather information for Officer Legere. The district court rejected each of the three instructions offered by Buchannan that related to this testimony. 1 As a result, Buchannan appeals his conviction claiming that he was entitled to have his theory of defense presented to the jury as a potential ground for acquittal. 16 A defendant is entitled to an instruction on his theory of defense if: (1) he proposes a correct statement of the law, (2) the theory is supported by the evidence, (3) the theory is not otherwise part of the charge and (4) the failure to include an instruction on the defendant's theory of defense would deny him a fair trial. See, e.g., United States v. Neville, 82 F.3d 750, 761 (7th Cir.1996) (citing United States v. Howell, 37 F.3d 1197, 1203 (7th Cir.1994)), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 249, 136 L.Ed.2d 177 (1996). If, viewing the jury charge as a whole, the defendant can show that these four conditions applied, the failure to give the instruction is reversible error. See United States v. Edwards, 36 F.3d 639, 645-46 (7th Cir.1994). 17 Buchannan's proposed Instruction No. 1 held the defendant to a purely subjective standard: if the jury found that Buchannan believed that he was acting as a government agent, they should find him not guilty regardless of how unreasonable that belief may have been. The trial court properly refused to give this instruction because it misstates the law. The defendant's mistaken belief that he is acting as a government agent only shields the defendant from prosecution if the defendant's belief is objectively reasonable. See, e.g., Neville, 82 F.3d at 761; United States v. Howell, 37 F.3d 1197, 1204 (7th Cir.1994) (defendant's reliance must be actual and reasonable). However, proposed Instructions No. 2 and No. 3 accurately set forth the requirements for his theory of defense, namely that he actually believed that he was a government agent and that his belief was objectively reasonable. Thus, these instructions meet the requirement of correctly stating the law. 18 The defendant's theory was not part of the charge given to the jury. Thus, if Buchannan's theory were sufficiently supported by the evidence, it would have been error for the district court to refuse to so instruct the jury. Rejecting a defendant's proffered jury instruction because it has insufficient factual support is similar to ruling as a matter of law that the defendant's theory is insufficient. See United States v. Perez, 86 F.3d 735, 736 (7th Cir.1996). As noted, the defense's proposed Instructions Nos. 2 and 3 contain both a subjective and an objective element. Therefore, we must first determine whether a reasonable jury could conclude that Buchannan subjectively believed that he was acting as an undercover informant during the drug transaction between Lee and Kempfer. Second, we must determine whether a reasonable jury could conclude that this belief was objectively reasonable. 19 Although Buchannan testified that he considered himself to be acting as an informant, his actions did not reflect such a belief. Buchannan met with Officer Legere, and others, both before and after his release from jail to discuss acting as an informant. At each meeting, Buchannan was told that an informant must introduce government agents to drug dealers and must stay in constant contact with government agents. Buchannan did not maintain contact with the officers, in any real sense, after he was released from jail. After he was released, he feigned cooperation because he assumed, that if Officer Legere could get him out of jail, Officer Legere could also put him back in jail. At one point, Buchannan told Legere that he was planning to make a large drug purchase with personal funds. Legere told Buchannan that he should not purchase any drugs with personal funds, and that he should not buy any drugs without authorization in advance. Legere told Buchannan that, were he to participate in a sting operation, government agents would accompany him and provide the money. Soon after Buchannan was released from jail, he ceased contacting Legere, stating that his phone calls made his associates suspicious. 20 At trial, Buchannan testified that he never wanted to be an informant and that he had told the police he would act as an informant only because he wanted Officer Legere to get him out of jail. Even so, Buchannan testified that he thought he was acting on behalf of the government when he rode in the car with Lee and Kempfer on March 11. Yet there is no evidence that Buchannan contacted Officer Legere or any other law enforcement official subsequent to his involvement in the Carbondale drug sale. Even after Buchannan was arrested for the assault on Agent Gregory on May 3, and until trial, he did not reveal anything about the March 11 drug deal in Carbondale. Since Kempfer had been the sole purchaser at the March 11 transaction, Buchannan did not know until he was charged that the police were involved. In fact, Buchannan chose not to reveal his knowledge of this earlier drug deal, and to claim protection as an informant, until his trial in connection with the May 3 incident. The only reasonable explanation for his failure to report to Officer Legere after the drug deal on March 11 is that he no longer considered himself to be acting as an informant. 21 In light of his actions, no reasonable jury could conclude that Buchannan subjectively believed that he was an informant during this transaction. By the same token, Buchannan could not have reasonably believed that he was an informant. Therefore, the district court did not err in refusing to incorporate the defendant's theory of defense into the jury instructions. 22
23 Buchannan admits assaulting Agent Gregory, but he denies using anything other than his hands and feet in the attack. Because Buchannan was convicted, we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the government. 24 Buchannan makes two arguments. First, he contends that the note sent out by the jury during its deliberations indicates that it did not believe Buchannan used the scale to assault Gregory. 2 Buchannan argues that this note shows that the jury was either mistaken or illogical when it announced its final verdict. Even if the note accurately reflected the jury's opinion when it was written, the jury is not precluded from changing its mind during its deliberations, and in fact it is encouraged to consider different positions as part of the deliberative process. Therefore, the government correctly concludes that this note is irrelevant. 25 Second, Buchannan presents a rather unpersuasive insufficiency of the evidence argument. He argues that no reasonable jury could conclude that he used a deadly or dangerous weapon--the scale--in his assault on Gregory. At trial, both Gregory and Kempfer testified that Buchannan hit Gregory with the scale. Additionally, the jury viewed photographs of Gregory's injuries. On the other hand, Buchannan testified that he did not hit Gregory with the scale. Instead, he claimed that he hit Gregory with his hands and threw the scale against the wall. Conflicting testimony requires the jury to make credibility assessments. The jury weighed the evidence, assessed the credibility of the witnesses and returned a verdict that Buchannan did use a deadly or dangerous weapon in his assault of Gregory. Sufficient evidence was presented to support the jury's findings. Thus, this court will not disturb the verdict.
26 At Buchannan's sentencing hearing, the district court imposed a two point sentencing enhancement for obstruction of justice. Buchannan argues that this enhancement must be vacated because the district court failed to make an explicit finding that Buchannan committed perjury. Upon a determination that the defendant committed perjury, 3 the court must enhance the sentence for obstruction of justice under the federal sentencing guidelines. U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1; United States v. Dunnigan, 507 U.S. 87, 113 S.Ct. 1111, 122 L.Ed.2d 445 (1993). In Dunnigan, the Supreme Court expressly noted that the sentencing enhancement is not automatic for every defendant who testifies in his own defense and is found guilty. Id. at 95, 113 S.Ct. at 1116-17. To minimize the tendency to apply the enhancement woodenly after a defendant testifies in his own defense, the Supreme Court stated that when the defendant objects to the enhancement, the district court should make separate findings sufficient to establish a willful impediment to or obstruction of justice, or an attempt to do the same. Id. The Dunnigan Court went on to stress that, it is preferable for a district court to address each element of the alleged perjury in a separate and clear finding. Id. However, the Court also recognized that the enhancement could be upheld on appeal so long as the [district] court makes a finding of an obstruction of or impediment of justice that encompasses all of the factual predicates for a finding of perjury. Id. 27 Before Dunnigan, this court sometimes upheld perjury enhancements where the district court failed to make specific findings to support such an enhancement, but when the trial record clearly established that the jury must have determined that the defendant lied on the witness stand. See, e.g., United States v. Lozoya-Morales, 931 F.2d 1216, 1219-20 (7th Cir.1991); United States v. Doubet, 969 F.2d 341, 349 (7th Cir.1992). To the extent that these cases affirmed sentencing enhancements merely on the basis of a verdict that was inconsistent with the defendant's testimony, they are no longer authoritative after Dunnigan. Therefore, the government's argument urging us to affirm the sentencing enhancement because the jury necessarily disbelieved Buchannan, is inadmissible after Dunnigan. 28 Here the district court failed to make specific findings regarding Buchannan's alleged perjury that would support the obstruction of justice enhancement. As we have noted, an enhancement for obstruction of justice cannot be upheld merely on the presumption that the jury disbelieved the defendant's testimony. Therefore, this case must be remanded for resentencing, at which time the district court can either provide the necessary findings or drop the enhancement.
29 Buchannan's base offense level, for sentencing purposes, depends rather dramatically on whether he sold cocaine powder or cocaine base (crack). The district court accepted Buchannan's proffered base offense level of 32 in preference to the level 38 suggested by the government. The government argues that the sentence should be vacated because the district court failed to make the required factual findings to support its choice of offense level. See United States v. Beler, 20 F.3d 1428, 1432 (7th Cir.1994). The first paragraph of the police report that was prepared after Buchannan's arrest for parole violations, states that Buchannan admitted to selling one and one-half kilograms of cocaine during the preceding two months. Additional paragraphs of the report reveal some of Buchannan's suppliers. All of the paragraphs that detail cocaine purchases or sales by Buchannan distinguish between crack cocaine and powder cocaine--except the first paragraph. Agent Smith, the agent who prepared the report, stated that Buchannan was referring to crack cocaine in the first paragraph. Buchannan claims that he was talking about one and one-half kilograms of powder cocaine. Buchannan further claims that he neither bought nor sold this cocaine; he was merely aware that it was coming into the area. Obviously, it makes a great deal of difference whom the district court credited. 30 The district court failed to make any express findings about the amount or type of cocaine that supported the defendant's sentence. Normally, we would remand the case for findings by the district court regarding the amount and type of drugs attributable to the defendant. See, e.g., United States v. Acosta, 85 F.3d 275, 281-83 (7th Cir.1996). We have, in rare cases, upheld a sentence where the district court's implicit findings seemed sufficient. See United States v. McKinney, 98 F.3d 974, 980-81 (7th Cir.1996), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 1119, 137 L.Ed.2d 319 (1997) (affirming the sentence despite a lack of express findings where it was clear from the sentencing transcript that the district court adopted the drug quantities in the presentence report); United States v. DePriest, 6 F.3d 1201, 1213 (7th Cir.1993) (when a district court fails to make specific findings ... resentencing is not required in every case). This is one of those rare cases where a lack of express findings does not mandate resentencing. 31 It is apparent from the transcript of the sentencing hearing that the court considered the presentence investigation report and Buchannan's testimony and ultimately concluded that the government had failed to carry its burden of proof. 4 Thus, the court properly erred on the side of caution and adopted the defendant's version of the amount and type of drugs involved. See Acosta, 85 F.3d at 282. 32 It is always preferable for the district court to expressly state the amount and quantity of drugs upon which the defendant's sentence is based. It is the rare case where the district court's implicit findings are sufficiently obvious and the factual basis sufficiently adequate that we will uphold a sentence absent express factual findings.