Opinion ID: 3021899
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Lacy’s Lesser Included Offense Claim

Text: Lacy argues that simple possession of five or more grams of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 844, is not “necessarily included in” the offense with which he was charged, possession with intent to distribute five or more grams of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b). We do not agree and, in fact, find that his convictions of both lesser included offenses fit well within the parameters described above. As noted above, an offense “necessarily included in the offense charged” under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 31(c) “is one that does not require proof of any additional element beyond those required by the greater offense.” Gov’t of the Virgin Islands v. Joseph, 765 F.2d 394, 396 (3d Cir. 1985) (emphasis omitted). To resolve Lacy’s claim, then, we must compare the elements of the charged offense with those of the convicted offense. 8 We have addressed this question once before. In 1992, we noted, without further explanation, that “[t]he crime of simple possession under 21 U.S.C. § 844 is a lesser offense included within the offense of possession with intent to distribute under 21 U.S.C. § 841(a).” United States v. Frorup, 963 F.2d 41, 42 (3d Cir. 1992) (citing United States v. GarciaDuarte, 718 F.2d 42, 47 (2d Cir. 1982)).1 However, changes in the law regarding what constitutes an “element” of an offense, as a result of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), require that we examine this issue anew. After Apprendi, “[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.” Id. at 490. Such facts are the “functional equivalent[s]” of “elements” of an aggravated offense that carries a higher statutory maximum penalty. Id. at 494 n.19. See also United States v. Barbosa, 271 F.3d 438, 452-53 (3d Cir. 2001) (explaining Apprendi). Thus, we held, in United States v. Barbosa, 271 F.3d at 457, and United States v. Vazquez, 271 F.3d 93, 98 (3d Cir. 2001) (en banc), that drug identity and quantity must be treated as elements of a section 841 possession with intent to distribute offense when taking either factor into account increases the 1 Other courts of appeals disagreed, concluding that simple possession required proof of drug amount and type, while possession with intent to distribute did not. See United States v. Stone, 139 F.3d 822, 828-34, 836 (11th Cir. 1998) (collecting cases). 9 applicable statutory maximum. Although we have not previously discussed this issue in the context of a section 844 simple possession offense, we conclude that applying Apprendi to that statute yields the same result that we reached with respect to section 841: drug identity and quantity should be considered the functional equivalents of elements of a simple possession offense when they increase a defendant’s maximum statutory sentence exposure. Lacy was charged with “knowingly possess[ing] with intent to distribute 5 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine base, a Schedule II narcotic controlled substance, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and (b).” The statutory provision under which Lacy was charged in the indictment, 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), provides “it shall be unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally–to manufacture, distribute, or dispense, or possess with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense, a controlled substance.” Thus, the elements of the base offense are (1) knowing or intentional (2) possession (3) with intent to distribute (4) a controlled substance. Lacy’s indictment did not just charge the base offense, however; it specified a particular drug type and amount. We apply the tests from Barbosa and Vazquez to determine whether those facts act as “elements,” or their equivalents, of the charged offense. Subsection 841(b), which is labeled “Penalties,” sets forth statutory sentencing ranges based on the type and amount of drug involved. The “default” or “catchall” sentence for a violation of 841(a)(1) is a term of imprisonment of not more than one year, as set forth in 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(3). See 10 Barbosa, 271 F.3d at 457. By contrast, the maximum penalty for possession with intent to distribute an unspecified quantity of a mixture or substance containing cocaine base is 20 years, see 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C),2 and the maximum penalty for possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of a mixture or substance that contains cocaine base is 40 years, 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(B)(iii). Thus, in this case, both the drug type and amount serve to increase the maximum statutory penalty, and must be treated as “elements” of the offense. Effectively, then, the elements of the charged offense are (1) knowing or intentional (2) possession (3) with intent to distribute (4) five grams or more (5) of a mixture or substance containing cocaine base. Lacy was convicted of “possession of more than five (5) grams of cocaine base.” The basic elements of a simple possession offense are (1) knowing or intentional (2) possession (3) of a controlled substance. See 21 U.S.C. § 844 (“It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally to possess a controlled substance . . . .”). Like section 841, however, section 844 provides a schedule of escalating penalties that depend on the drug type and amount. The basic penalty, as under section 841, is “a term of imprisonment of not more than one year.” Id. The penalty for conviction of possession of more than five grams of a mixture or substance that contains cocaine base, however, is imprisonment for up to 20 years. As under section 841, the drug amount and quantity increase the statutory maximum penalty applicable to a simple possession conviction. 2 Cocaine and its derivatives are schedule II controlled substances. See 21 U.S.C. § 812, sched. II (a)(4). 11 Thus, the functional elements of the simple possession offense for which Lacy was convicted are (1) knowing or intentional (2) possession (3) of more than five grams (4) of a mixture or substance containing cocaine base. Comparing the elements of the two offenses, it is clear that the simple possession offense of which Lacy was convicted is a lesser included offense of the charged possession with intent to distribute offense. The only difference between the two offenses is that the section 841 offense requires proof of intent to distribute the drugs. The District Court therefore properly charged simple possession of more than five grams of cocaine base as a lesser included offense of possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of cocaine base. It is also clear that the second offense of which Lacy was convicted–which he does not challenge on appeal–is a lesser included offense of the charged offense. Possession with intent to distribute an unspecified quantity of cocaine base requires proof of a “subset” of the facts that must be proved to sustain a conviction for possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of cocaine base–everything except for the drug amount. Finally, although Lacy has not raised this as an issue, we note that the two offenses of which he was convicted are not lesser included offenses of each other, because each requires proof of a fact that the other does not. The simple possession conviction requires proof of the specific drug amount, while the possession with intent conviction requires proof of intent to distribute. Lacy was not convicted twice for the same conduct. 12 Thus, the District Court properly charged Lacy with, and the jury properly convicted him of, two separate lesser included offenses.