Opinion ID: 3178452
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Indictment Versus the Proof at Trial

Text: Generally, we evaluate claims of constructive amendments to or variances from an indictment de novo. United States v. Prince, 214 F.3d 740, 756 (6th Cir. 2000). However, when a defendant fails to preserve an argument for appeal, we review only for plain error. To obtain relief under that standard, a defendant must establish “(1) error, (2) that is plain, and (3) that affects substantial rights.” Johnson v. United States, 520 U.S. 461, 466-67 (1997) (internal citations and quotations omitted). If a defendant can show all three conditions, we will “exercise [our] discretion to notice a forfeited error, but only if (4) the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings.” Id. at 467 (alteration in original). The defendant bears the burden of demonstrating that a constructive amendment or variance has occurred. United States v. Chilingirian, 280 F.3d 704, 712 (6th Cir. 2002). 2 The dissent accuses the majority of “misconstru[ing] the record,” writing that “[t]he majority’s assertion that the ‘issue has been briefed by both sides and discussed at oral argument’ is misleading.” Dissent at 1. But this is incorrect; we would encourage the dissent to listen to the oral argument audio in this case (which is available on Judge Point), and to take another look at the briefs filed on behalf of Kelvin and the government. Nos. 13-6558/6559/6560 United States v. Mize, et al. Page 7 Because Kelvin preserved his claim of constructive amendment or variance at trial (and also on appeal), we review his claim de novo. We also apply this standard to Jackie because he objected at trial to the introduction of extensive evidence about the Bussell conspiracy, thus preserving his claim on appeal. But since James did not preserve this issue, we apply plain error review as to him. See United States v. Kuehne, 547 F.3d 667, 682 (6th Cir. 2008) (“[W]here no specific objection is raised regarding a constructive amendment or a variance before the district court, we are limited to ‘plain error’ review on appeal.”). b. Constructive Amendment of the Indictment/Variance Defendants argue that the evidence introduced by the government at trial so diverged from the charges set forth in the indictment as to violate their rights under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments. “An indictment may be the subject of an actual amendment, a constructive amendment, or a variance.” United States v. Budd, 496 F.3d 517, 521 (6th Cir. 2007). Thus, constructive amendments and variances are two types of modifications to indictments that we have recognized. United States v. Hynes, 467 F.3d 951, 961 (6th Cir. 2006). However, these two concepts—constructive amendments and variances—differ “with respect to the burden placed upon the defendant and the remedy mandated upon a showing that a constructive amendment or variance has occurred.” Kuehne, 547 F.3d at 683. A constructive amendment “results when the terms of an indictment are in effect altered by the presentation of evidence and jury instructions which so modify essential elements of the offense charged such that there is a substantial likelihood that the defendant may have been convicted of an offense other than the one charged in the indictment.” United States v. Martinez, 430 F.3d 317, 338 (6th Cir. 2005). Constructive amendments are “per se prejudicial because they infringe upon the Fifth Amendment’s grand jury guarantee.” Hynes, 467 F.3d at 962 (internal citations and quotations omitted). “Because of the constitutional injury that results from a constructive amendment, when proven, a defendant is entitled to a reversal of his conviction.” Kuehne, 547 F.3d at 683 (citation omitted). In contrast, a variance is “not per se prejudicial.” Budd, 496 F.3d at 521. Instead, reversal is only warranted when a defendant proves that “(1) a variance occurred and (2) that the Nos. 13-6558/6559/6560 United States v. Mize, et al. Page 8 variance affected a substantial right of the defendant.” Kuehne, 547 F.3d at 683 (citing Prince, 214 F.3d at 757). Generally speaking, a variance “occurs when the charging terms [of the indictment] are unchanged, but the evidence at trial proves facts materially different from those alleged in the indictment.” Id. (alteration in original). A defendant’s substantial rights are affected “only when the defendant shows prejudice to his ability to defend himself at trial, to the general fairness of the trial, or to the indictment’s sufficiency to bar subsequent prosecutions.” Id. (citations and quotations omitted). c. Analysis We are not convinced that a constructive amendment, as opposed to a prejudicial variance, occurred in this case. Although our precedent recognizes that the difference between the two is “shadowy,” United States v. Barrow, 118 F.3d 482, 488 (6th Cir. 1997), we have held that a constructive amendment requires a showing “that the important functions of an indictment were undermined by both the evidence presented and the jury instructions.” Hynes, 467 F.3d at 962 (emphasis in original). In this case, all of the harm was done by the introduction of extraneous and highly prejudicial evidence about the separate Bussell conspiracy. The jury instructions, on the other hand, do not support Defendants’ claim that the indictment was constructively amended. In relevant part, the jury instructions provided as follows: The indictment charges that the defendants were all members of one single conspiracy to commit the crimes of distributing prescription drugs and money laundering. Defendants Kelvin Mize and James Mize have argued that there were really two separate conspiracies, one involving Kevin Trent Bussell and his coconspirators; and another one involving Jackie Mize and his co-conspirators. To convict any one of the defendants of the conspiracy charge, the government must convince you beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was a member of the conspiracy charged in the indictment. If the government fails to prove this, then you must find that defendant not guilty of the conspiracy charge, even if you find that he was a member of some other conspiracy. Proof that a defendant was a member of some other conspiracy is not enough to convict, but proof that a defendant was a member of some other conspiracy would not prevent you from returning a guilty verdict, if the government also proved that he was a member of the conspiracy charged in the indictment. Nos. 13-6558/6559/6560 United States v. Mize, et al. Page 9 (R. 117, Jury Trial Transcript, Volume 3, PageID# 1110-11.) While not necessarily a model of simplicity and clarity, these jury instructions do seem calculated to mitigate, to the extent possible, any potential for prejudice from the evidence about the Bussell conspiracy. The instructions specifically explained that the only way the jury could convict Defendants was to find beyond a reasonable doubt that they were members “of the conspiracy charged in the indictment”—i.e., the Mize conspiracy. Moreover, we have in the past approved of similar instructions in this context. See, e.g., United States v. Gioiosa, 924 F.2d 1059, 1991 WL 15149 at n.4 (6th Cir. 1991) (unpublished table opinion); United States v. Battista, 646 F.2d 237, 243 (6th Cir. 1981). Therefore, under these circumstances, we find that there was no constructive amendment here. We do, however, find that there was a prejudicial variance between the charges in the indictment and the evidence produced at trial. To determine whether reversal is required, we must engage in a two-step inquiry: was there a variance, and if so, was it prejudicial. Kuehne, 547 F.3d at 683 (citing Prince, 214 F.3d at 757). To determine whether a variance has occurred, we look to whether the evidence can “reasonably be construed only as supporting a finding of multiple conspiracies” rather than the single conspiracy alleged in the indictment. United States v. Warner, 690 F.2d 545, 548 (6th Cir. 1982) (citing Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750 (1946)). Moreover, “defendants can establish a variance by referring exclusively to the evidence presented at trial.” Hynes, 467 F.3d at 962. The evidence in this case undoubtedly established two conspiracies, not just the one charged in the indictment. The government presented an extraordinary volume of evidence about the Bussell conspiracy. Even in its opening statement, the government began by giving the jury extensive information about the Bussell conspiracy. It then introduced testimony about the volume of drug transactions effected by the Bussell conspiracy. The government also presented a history of the investigation of the Bussell conspiracy which included wiretaps, surveillance, controlled buys, drug deals, and even surveillance photographs of members of the Bussell conspiracy. Even Bussell himself—along with several of his convicted collaborators—testified about the operation of his conspiracy. Bussell even went so far as to credit the government for his rehabilitation from being a drug user. Nos. 13-6558/6559/6560 United States v. Mize, et al. Page 10 The government then argued to the jury that the Mize conspiracy operated in the same manner to commit the same crimes. By the close of its case-in-chief, the government had presented eleven witnesses—eight of whom discussed the Bussell conspiracy at some length. Indeed, during its direct examination of Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) Agent Bethel Poston, the government even acknowledged that the majority of Poston’s testimony was about Bussell: Q [government]: That’s the Trent Bussell you have been talking about since you hit the witness stand practically? A [Poston]: It is. (R. 115 at 498.) We think that if the testimony introduced by the government established anything, it was that Kevin Bussell operated a large scale drug trafficking organization responsible for the importation and distribution of hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of pills from Florida to Tennessee. It is clear from our reading of the record that the government introduced significantly more evidence than it should have about the separate Bussell conspiracy. We therefore find that the government’s evidence rises to the level of a variance. We turn then to whether the variance was prejudicial. To demonstrate substantial prejudice, a defendant must show that the variance prejudiced either his ability to defend himself or the overall fairness of his trial. United States v. Manning, 142 F.3d 336, 339 (6th Cir. 1998). Prejudice exists “where the defendant is unable to present his case and is taken by surprise by the evidence offered at trial”; “where the defendant is convicted for substantive offenses committed by another”; or “where spillover [occurs] because of a large number of improperly joined defendants.” United States v. Swafford, 512 F.3d 833, 842-43 (6th Cir. 2008) (internal citations and quotations omitted). At least one of these conditions has occurred here. The primary risk that the variance doctrine is designed to alleviate is guilt transference—“that the appellant was convicted based on evidence of a conspiracy in which the appellant did not participate.” United States v. Hughes, 505 F.3d 578, 587 (6th Cir. 2007) (citing United States v. Blackwell, 459 F.3d 739, 762 (6th Cir. Nos. 13-6558/6559/6560 United States v. Mize, et al. Page 11 2006)). “This risk increases in direct proportion to the number of defendants, and the number of conspiracies demonstrated at trial.” United States v. Caver, 470 F.3d 220, 237 (6th Cir. 2006) (citing Kotteakos, 328 U.S. at 766). Even if a defendant can show that a variance resulted in guilt transference, “typically any danger of prejudice can be cured with a cautionary instruction to the jury that if it finds multiple conspiracies, it cannot use evidence relating to one conspiracy in determining another conspiracy.” Hughes, 505 F.3d at 587 (citing Blackwell, 459 F.3d at 762). However, as we noted in Blackwell, “the more evidence presented at trial that is unrelated to the defendant’s conduct, or a conspiracy in which the defendant took part, the less likely instructions are to cure the danger of guilt transference.” 459 F.3d at 762. “Whether or not a variance is prejudicial is a judgment that must be made on the facts of each case.” United States v. Mills, 366 F.2d 512, 514 (6th Cir. 1966) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). This is an incredibly fact-intensive analysis requiring the consideration of what occurred in each case. And in this case, we do not see any other way but to find that Defendants were prejudiced by the material variance. They were forced to defend against a conspiracy, i.e., the Bussell conspiracy, that was totally separate from the conspiracy alleged in the indictment, i.e., the Mize conspiracy. The evidence from a different scheme was used to portray Defendants in a grossly prejudicial light before the jury. This error enabled the government to bombard the jury with evidence of the Bussell conspiracy and its cast of characters and recorded conversations and photographs, when, in fairness, those things had little to do with the charged Mize conspiracy. We do not see any reason why the government should not have been required to prove its charges against Defendants without all of this prejudicial and irrelevant evidence about a totally different conspiracy involving Bussell. We think that we understand why the government did what it did—the theme of its case was that Defendants were inspired by the Bussell conspiracy to create their own conspiracy operating in a substantially similar manner. But this theme could have been told differently. The government could have easily explained to the jury that this case involves a conspiracy which was formed by Jackie Mize and that the idea for the conspiracy originated when Jackie learned of the Bussell conspiracy. That was really all that needed to be said about the Bussell Nos. 13-6558/6559/6560 United States v. Mize, et al. Page 12 conspiracy. Instead, the extensive proof presented by the government on the Bussell conspiracy likely distracted the jury from the relevant issues—all to Defendants’ prejudice. What this case really comes down to is balance—i.e., the balance between the government’s need to introduce evidence about the Bussell conspiracy and its need to introduce evidence about the Mize conspiracy. And in trying to find that balance, the government leaned too heavily on establishing the existence and intricacies of the Bussell conspiracy, rather than focusing on the conspiracy for which Defendants stood trial. The government’s extraordinary amount of evidence about the Bussell conspiracy enabled the jury to transfer the guilt of that conspiracy to the charged Mize conspiracy. Moreover, we reject the government’s argument that any error was harmless. “[T]his is not and cannot be the test.” Kotteakos, 328 U.S. at 767. Prejudice in this context means whether Defendants were found guilty of a different conspiracy from that charged in the indictment, not whether the evidence was sufficient to justify the verdict. And in any event, harmless error should not be what stands in the way of a seemingly unconstitutional conviction. We likewise reject the government’s argument that any danger of prejudice was minimized by the district court’s instructions to the jury. While that may be the general rule, it does not apply here. Because of the sheer volume of evidence introduced to establish the Bussell conspiracy, it is substantially less likely that the court’s instructions cured the danger of creating unfair prejudice. See Blackwell, 459 F.3d at 762. For all of these reasons, we find a prejudicial variance between the charges in the indictment and the proof offered at trial. Moreover, we find that the error was plain, that it affected the substantial rights of all three defendants, and that it seriously affected the fairness of the trial. We therefore REVERSE and VACATE all three convictions and REMAND for a new trial. Nos. 13-6558/6559/6560 United States v. Mize, et al. Page 13 _________________ DISSENT _________________