Opinion ID: 566066
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Rojas-Oquita's Double Jeopardy Claim

Text: 19 Rojas-Oquita contends that, given his CCE conviction, his convictions for the conspiracies charged in counts 2 and 6 violate the double jeopardy clause. Count 2 charged a conspiracy to import cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 963, and count 6 charged conspiracy to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 846. 20 Rojas-Oquita is correct and we vacate his convictions on those two counts. In United States v. Hernandez-Escarsega, 886 F.2d 1560 (9th Cir.1989), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 3237, 111 L.Ed.2d 748 (1990), we held that Congress did not intend cumulative punishment of Sec. 846 conspiracies and the greater offense of a Sec. 848 CCE violation, and the only remedy ... is for the sentencing court to vacate the convictions for the lesser offenses. Id. at 1582. The same reasoning applies to cumulative punishments under Sec. 848 and the lesser offenses of Sec. 963 conspiracies. A defendant may not be convicted for both a CCE and a conspiracy predicate to the CCE conviction. Cf. United States v. Burt, 765 F.2d 1364, 1368-69 (9th Cir.1985) (defendant may be convicted of CCE simultaneously with substantive predicate offense) (following Garrett v. United States, 471 U.S. 773, 105 S.Ct. 2407, 85 L.Ed.2d 764 (1985)). 21 We recognize that district courts faced with convictions on both CCE and lesser-included conspiracy counts are put in a bind. If the district court itself vacates the conspiracy convictions, citing Hernandez-Escarsega, and the court of appeals subsequently reverses the CCE conviction, the courts would be powerless to reinstate the potentially valid lesser-included counts of conviction. In such circumstances, the more efficient course for a district court to follow is to impose a sentence on the CCE count and an alternative sentence on the lesser-included convictions. For example, the court may sentence a defendant based on the CCE count and vacate the lesser-included convictions subject to the condition that the CCE conviction is not reversed on appeal. At the same time, the court should sentence in the alternative based upon the lesser-included count or counts; the alternative sentence would be conditioned upon an appellate reversal of the CCE count. If a district court employs this method, the parties, as well as the appellate court, are apprised of the situation facing them. If, for reasons of double jeopardy, vacation of the lesser-included offenses becomes warranted, there will be no need for a remand because the vacation will have been accomplished automatically. If an appellate court, on the other hand, reverses the CCE count, the conviction and sentence on the lesser-included counts will be effective and subject to the same appeal. Thus, needless remand will be avoided.