Opinion ID: 775225
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Apprendi Backdrop

Text: 15 In Apprendi, the Supreme Court held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires 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[,] rather than be submitted to a judge and proved by a preponderance of the evidence. Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 469, 490, 497. This circuit has recently applied Apprendi to the federal drug statute set out in 21 U.S.C. 841. See, e.g., United States v. Strayhorn, 250 F.3d 462, 469-70 (6th Cir. 2001); United States v. Ramirez, 242 F.3d 348, 350 (6th Cir. 2001); United States v. Flowal, 234 F.3d 932, 936 (6th Cir. 2000). In so doing, we have held that the determination of drug quantity, when it subjects a defendant to enhanced sentencing under 841(b), constitutes an element of the offense that the government must prove to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt. Strayhorn, 250 F.3d at 468; Flowal, 234 F.3d at 936. 16 In this case, the government seeks to prove that the defendants conspired to possess with the intent to distribute one thousand kilograms or more of marijuana. This drug quantity subjects the defendants to profound sentencing enhancements. Should the government be able to prove that the defendants' conspiracy involved drugs of this amount, the defendants, because both have a prior felony drug conviction, would face a minimum sentence of twenty years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. 841(b)(1)(A)(vii). In contrast, if they were convicted of the same offense without any drug quantity specification, the defendants would be sentenced under 841(b)(1)(D), the provision pertaining to conspiracies involving trace amounts of marijuana up to fifty kilograms, and their maximum sentence would be ten years' imprisonment. Strayhorn, 250 F.3d at 468 & n.1. 17 Thus, as Apprendi and its progeny in this circuit teach us, because the alleged drug quantities involved in this conspiracy so dramatically increase the sentencing range to which the defendants will be exposed, these facts constitute an element of the crime that must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. Strayhorn, 250 F.3d at 468. The government does not dispute this, and, indeed, it plans on presenting evidence to the jury to meet this burden when the defendants are retried. 18 Rather than simply go forward with its second superseding indictment (which contains no specific allegations of drug quantity) and attempt to prove the specific amount of marijuana involved in the conspiracy to the jury, the government has acknowledged that the protections of Apprendi likely extend beyond the trial to the earlier stage of indictment. More specifically, the government assumes, as will we for purposes of this appeal, that, pursuant to Apprendi, if the government seeks sentencing enhancements based on the quantity of drugs involved in an offense, then drug quantity must also be specifically alleged in the indictment. Indeed, based on our reading of Apprendi, we have already stated on more than one occasion that Apprendi speaks not only to those facts that must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt at trial, but also to those facts that must be included in the indictment. For example, in Strayhorn, we noted that the first of three principal lessons taught by Apprendi was that '[t]he offense charged in an indictment must be stated with sufficient 'certainty and precision' so that there can be no doubt as to the judgment which should be given if the defendant is convicted[.]' Strayhorn, 250 F.3d at 467 (quoting Ramirez, 242 F.3d at 350-51). Moreover, in Ramirez, we noted that, pursuant to Apprendi, [a]ggravating factors, other than a prior conviction, that increase the penalty from a nonmandatory minimum sentence to a mandatory minimum sentence, or from a lesser to a greater minimum sentence, are now elements of the crime to be charged and proved. Ramirez, 242 F.3d at 351-52 (emphasis added). See also id. at 352 (remanding with instructions to resentence the defendant under the applicable default statutory maximum because the government did not charge or attempt to prove to the jury a quantity of drugs that would permit a mandatory sentence). 4 19 Based on the government's assumption that Apprendi requires certain facts to be stated in the indictment if those facts will be used to enhance a sentence, it sought, through the fourth superseding indictment, to allege a specific drug amount in the indictment. As stated earlier, the fourth superseding indictment was returned beyond 3288's six-month statute of limitations, and in order for this indictment to relate back to the second superseding indictment, it must not materially broaden the charges set forth in that indictment. If the fourth superseding indictment does materially broaden the earlier charges made against the defendants, then, under our operating assumption, drug quantity may not be used to enhance their sentences because the only validly pending indictment will be the second superseding indictment, which makes no specific allegation of the drug quantity involved in the conspiracy. If convicted under the second superseding indictment, the defendants can be sentenced to no more than the default statutory maximum set out in 841(b)(1)(D). We now turn to the all-important question whether the fourth superseding indictment materially broadened the defendants' already pending charges. 20