Opinion ID: 784866
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Apprendi and Related Issues

Text: a) Apprendi Error (Alicea-Torres, Fernández-Malavé, Vega-Pacheco, Vega-Cosme, Vega-Colón) 185 Five of the non-CCE defendants — Alicea-Torres, Fernández-Malavé, Vega-Pacheco, Vega-Cosme, and Vega-Colón — assert that their sentences violated the rule of Apprendi. They argue that the amount of drugs distributed by the conspiracy was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury, that the drug amount raised the statutory maximum, and that their sentences must be vacated as a result. We conclude that Apprendi error did occur, but that the error was harmless. 186 The jury instructions in this case did not make direct reference to drug amount or quantity. Instead, the jury was instructed that, to find the defendants guilty of the conspiracy count, it had to find that the government proved the conspiracy charged in the indictment beyond a reasonable doubt. The jury was provided with a copy of the indictment, which charged the defendants with knowingly and intentionally distributing more than five kilograms of heroin, more than five kilograms of cocaine, more than five kilograms of crack cocaine, and more than 100 kilograms of marijuana. However, the jury was also instructed that the actual amount of drugs need not be proven, and that the government need only prove that defendants distributed or possessed with intent to distribute a measurable amount of drugs. 187 The latter part of these instructions resulted in Apprendi error. This case presents an even stronger case of Apprendi error than United States v. Nelson-Rodriguez, 319 F.3d 12 (1st Cir.2003). In that case, as here, the jury was given a copy of the indictment and instructed that to find the defendants guilty on the conspiracy count, it had to find them guilty of the conspiracy in the indictment. Id. at 45. The indictment in Nelson-Rodriguez, as here, specified drug types and quantities sufficient to support the defendants' sentences. Id. We concluded that this instruction was insufficient to elicit a jury determination of the threshold drug amount and quantity. Id. The same analysis applies here with greater force because the jury was specifically instructed that it need only find a measurable amount of drugs. 188 All five defendants who raise the Apprendi issue were sentenced above the default statutory maximum. Absent a jury determination of drug amount or type, the default statutory maximum is based on the distribution of unspecified amounts of marijuana, which results in a maximum sentence of five years for first-time felony drug convictions and ten years if a prior such conviction exists. 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(b)(1)(D), 846. Alicea-Torres, Fernández-Malavé, Vega-Pacheco, and Vega-Cosme were sentenced to life imprisonment, and Vega-Colón was sentenced to 292 months, or about twenty-five years, of imprisonment. 189 The existence of an Apprendi error, however, does not end the inquiry. If the defendants failed to preserve their Apprendi objection below, their sentences are vacated only if we find plain error. United States v. Cotton, 535 U.S. 625, 631, 122 S.Ct. 1781, 152 L.Ed.2d 860 (2002). If they did preserve their objection, their sentences are vacated only if we find that the error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Nelson-Rodriguez, 319 F.3d at 49. 190 Fernández-Malavé preserved his Apprendi objection, and we assume without deciding that the remaining defendants did the same, as it makes no difference to the outcome. Defendants' trial took place from December 1998 to June 1999, before Apprendi was decided. At the time, several defendants requested a special verdict form requiring the jury to determine the drug amount and type as to each defendant. But only Fernández-Malavé, who was the sole non-CCE defendant sentenced after Apprendi was decided, challenged his sentence before the district court on this basis. The question whether the remaining defendants' special verdict request was sufficient to preserve an Apprendi objection, absent a separate objection at sentencing, is a complex one. Nelson-Rodriguez, 319 F.3d at 48. Here, as in Nelson-Rodriguez, we prefer to assume without deciding that the objection was preserved and the harmless error standard applies. Id. 191 The Apprendi error in this case was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. An Apprendi error is harmless where the evidence overwhelmingly establishes the minimum drug quantity needed to justify the statutory maximum under which the defendants were sentenced. Martinez-Medina, 279 F.3d at 121-22. Here, the government produced overwhelming evidence that the conspiracy involved at least five kilograms of cocaine, which triggers a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for all co-conspirators under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A) and § 846. Government witnesses Negrón-Maldonado and Torrens-Alicea both testified that Rodríguez-López and Gonzalez-Ayala stole a 200 kilogram shipment of cocaine in Fajardo, which was then brought back to Bitumul for distribution. Negrón-Maldonado further testified that in 1991 he purchased a kilogram of cocaine per week from Soto-Ramírez. After May 1992, Negrón-Maldonado stated, he and another co-conspirator named Manolín, who managed Soto-Ramírez's point while Soto-Ramírez was in prison, each purchased one kilogram of cocaine per week from Soto-Beníquez to be sold at their respective drug points. Negrón-Maldonado also testified that after January 1993, he continued to purchase from Soto-Beníquez three-eighths of a kilogram of cocaine each week for his drug point. 192 In addition, the government presented overwhelming evidence that the conspiracy distributed more than the 50 grams of crack cocaine necessary to trigger a life sentence under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A). According to Negrón-Maldonado, 125 grams of crack cocaine would yield approximately 800 to 850 crack capsules using the conspiracy's packaging techniques. Negrón-Maldonado testified that Cintrón-Caraballo received 600 capsules of crack cocaine (90 grams) per week for distribution at his drug point in 1990, 800 to 850 capsules (125 grams) per week in 1991, and 1000 capsules (150 grams) per week in early 1993. Furthermore, Negrón-Maldonado testified that at the beginning of 1992, he would cook 500 grams to a kilogram of cocaine into crack cocaine two to three times per week for Soto-Ramírez's points; this alone amounts to one to three kilograms per week. At around the same time, Negrón-Maldonado himself was also selling 500 to 800 crack capsules, or between 75 to 125 grams of crack, per week. When he left for the United States, he sold an additional 2000 crack capsules, or over 300 grams of crack. All told, Negrón-Maldonado estimated that a single drug point would distribute at least one kilogram of crack cocaine per month — more than twenty times the amount necessary to trigger a life sentence. 193 In the face of this overwhelming evidence, defendants argue that the testimony of co-conspirators alone is never a sufficient basis to find an Apprendi error harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. That is not so. See United States v. Stewart, 306 F.3d 295, 324-25 (6th Cir.2002) (finding Apprendi error harmless beyond a reasonable doubt based on the testimony of co-conspirators). Defendants offered no evidence contradicting the conspiracy-wide drug quantities at trial, and they point to no such evidence on appeal, except their attack on the general credibility of the two witnesses. 194 The jury in this case could not have convicted all eleven defendants of participation in the conspiracy without believing the testimony of Negrón-Maldonado and Torrens-Alicea regarding at least some of the transactions. Negrón-Maldonado and Torrens-Alicea also testified regarding the quantity of drugs involved in those transactions. Defendants offer no explanation for why the jury would believe Negrón-Maldonado and Torrens-Alicea's account of each defendant's activities in furtherance of the conspiracy, but discredit their testimony regarding the quantity or type of drugs involved in those activities. In Nelson-Rodriguez, we found an Apprendi error harmless on very similar facts: the jury could not have convicted without crediting informant testimony, the same informant testified to the drug amount, and the defendant offered no reason to disbelieve the testimony except a general attack on the witness's credibility. 319 F.3d at 49-50. 195 Defendants further protest that even if the conspiracy writ large involved the requisite quantities and types of drugs, the Apprendi error is not harmless. They argue that it was not reasonably foreseeable to each of them individually, from their limited involvement, that such quantities of drugs would be involved. Under the Sentencing Guidelines, a narcotics conspirator's sentence is based on the amount of drugs he actually handled, negotiated, or saw, as well as the amount of drugs that he reasonably could have foreseen to be embraced by the conspiracy he joined. Rodriguez, 162 F.3d at 149; U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3 & cmt. 2. Defendants argue that unless this court is certain that the jury would find the drug quantity reasonably foreseeable to each defendant, the Apprendi error cannot be harmless. 196 We reject this argument. Apprendi does not require that the jury determine beyond a reasonable doubt the quantity of drugs foreseeable to each defendant. Apprendi requires only that juries determine facts necessary to increase the statutory maximum. 530 U.S. at 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348. Here, the conspiracy-wide drug quantity determines the statutory maximum. See 21 U.S.C. § 846 (holding each conspirator responsible for the quantity of drugs distributed by the conspiracy). As long as the sentence falls within this statutory maximum, the district court may determine the quantity of drugs reasonably foreseeable to each defendant by a preponderance of the evidence and sentence each defendant accordingly. Derman v. United States, 298 F.3d 34, 42-43 (1st Cir.2002). In determining whether an Apprendi error is harmless, the determinative question is whether the evidence overwhelmingly establishes the amount of drugs distributed by the conspiracy as a whole. It does here. 197 b) Multi-Object Conspiracy (Vega-Cosme) 198 Vega-Cosme raises a related argument that the defendants were charged with a multi-object conspiracy. In a multi-object conspiracy charge, a jury convicts the defendants of distributing one type of drug or another type of drug. See, e.g., United States v. Dale, 178 F.3d 429, 431 (6th Cir.1999) (jury instructed to convict if conspiracy distributed crack cocaine or marijuana). Although the First Circuit has not ruled on this issue, other circuits have held that when a defendant is charged with a multi-object conspiracy, and the jury returns a general verdict, the statutory maximum should be based on the object carrying the lowest maximum penalty. See, e.g., id. at 432; United States v. Orozco-Prada, 732 F.2d 1076, 1083-84 (2d Cir. 1984). Vega-Cosme argues that the jury in this case returned a general verdict on a multi-object conspiracy charge — namely, that the defendants distributed more than five kilograms of heroin, cocaine, or cocaine base, or more than 100 kilograms of marijuana. He argues that the statutory maximum should therefore have been based on the penalty for conspiring to distribute 100 kilograms of marijuana, which is up to forty years imprisonment under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(B). If this were indeed the case, Vega-Cosme's life sentence would be problematic. 199 Vega-Cosme's argument, though, is without merit. The defendants were not charged with a multi-object conspiracy. The indictment charged them with distributing more than five kilograms each of heroin, cocaine, and crack cocaine, and more than 100 kilograms of marijuana. 10 Because those drug quantities and types were joined by the conjunctive term and rather than the disjunctive term or, there was no ambiguity about the crime charged. See United States v. Neuhausser, 241 F.3d 460, 469-70 (6th Cir.2001) (no Apprendi error in sentencing defendant to higher statutory maximum for cocaine conspiracy, when defendant was charged with conspiracy to distribute both cocaine and marijuana); United States v. Banks, 78 F.3d 1190, 1203 (7th Cir.1996) (no ambiguity where indictment was phrased in conjunctive rather than disjunctive); United States v. Watts, 950 F.2d 508, 515 (8th Cir.1991) (same). 200 Vega-Cosme argues that, regardless of the indictment, the jury instructions transformed Count Two into a multi-object conspiracy charge. The jury instructions contain a definition of possession with intent to distribute that required the government to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knew he was possessing a controlled substance but not that the defendant knew which particular controlled substance was involved. Vega-Cosme contends that this instruction changed the conjunctive term and in the indictment into the disjunctive term or. This argument is meritless. First, this definition should not have affected the jury's consideration of the conspiracy charge. The conspiracy count of the indictment and the jury instructions regarding the elements of conspiracy require the jury to find that defendants conspired to distribute controlled substances to return a guilty verdict; nowhere does the term possession with intent to distribute appear. Second, even if the term had appeared, the definition requires the government to prove that the defendants did in fact possess specific drugs, even if they did not know which drugs they possessed. Thus, the government must still show that the defendant possessed cocaine and cocaine base and heroin and marijuana, even if the defendant himself did not know the specific drugs that he had in his possession. Finally, even if a multi-object conspiracy were charged and an Apprendi error therefore occurred, Vega-Cosme admits that review would be for plain error because he did not preserve this argument below. We have already determined that any Apprendi error as to drug amount or type would be harmless; a fortiori, no plain error occurred. 201 On petition for rehearing, Miguel Vega-Cosme clarified and expanded on his original claim that a multi-object conspiracy was charged. Although it is likely that Vega-Cosme's discussion in his original appellate brief of Edwards v. United States, 523 U.S. 511, 118 S.Ct. 1475, 140 L.Ed.2d 703 (1998), without developed argument as to why the jury instructions gave rise to a multi-object conspiracy charge, waived the issue, we still reach the issue because what is at stake is the difference between the life sentence Vega-Cosme received and the forty-year maximum for marijuana-only conspiracy. 202 Review is for plain error because Vega-Cosme did not object on this ground to the jury instructions. Assuming arguendo that a multi-object conspiracy error did occur as a result of the instructions, we still conclude that the error was not plain because it did not affect Vega-Cosme's substantial rights. To affect substantial rights, an error must affect[] the outcome of the district court proceedings. United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 735, 113 S.Ct. 1770, 123 L.Ed.2d 508 (1993). This inquiry is similar to the harmless error analysis, except that the defendant rather than the government bears the burden of persuasion as to prejudice. Id. Here, as noted above, the outcome was not affected because the evidence of drug type and quantity was overwhelming, whether the issue is viewed under the rubric of plain error or of harmless error. 203 Vega-Cosme seeks to avoid this result by suggesting, without explanation, in his petition for rehearing that a multi-object conspiracy error is always plain, regardless of the amount of evidence showing drug type. This argument presumably relies on the notion that a multi-object conspiracy error is structural and, hence, may be corrected regardless of its effect on the outcome. See Olano, 507 U.S. at 735, 113 S.Ct. 1770. The circuits have split on this issue. Compare United States v. Bell, 154 F.3d 1205, 1212 (10th Cir.1998) (error was not plain because of overwhelming evidence of drug type), with United States v. Zillgitt, 286 F.3d 128, 139-40 (2d Cir.2002) (error was plain regardless of the amount of evidence showing drug type). We disagree with Zillgitt, which was decided over a vigorous dissent. Zillgitt is contrary to our precedent. Cf. Nelson-Rodriguez, 319 F.3d at 49-51 (finding that various Apprendi errors were not plain because of overwhelming evidence as to drug type). We do not see why multi-object conspiracy errors of this type should be treated as structural when Apprendi errors are not. See United States v. Cotton, 535 U.S. 625, 631, 122 S.Ct. 1781, 152 L.Ed.2d 860 (2002) (treating Apprendi errors as non-structural); United States v. Peréz-Ruiz, 353 F.3d 1, 17-18 (1st Cir.2003) (same). Apprendi errors, like multi-object conspiracy errors, are of constitutional import and arise from sentencing the defendant beyond the statutory maximum authorized by the jury's findings as to drug type and quantity. Cf. United States v. Barbosa, 271 F.3d 438 (3d Cir.2001) (treating a multi-object conspiracy error as a species of Apprendi error). We hold that any Edwards -type error is not structural and that ordinary plain error or harmless error analysis applies. 204 c) Failure to Reference § 841(b)(1)(B) in Indictment (Fernández-Malavé) 205 Fernández-Malavé argues that his sentence must be vacated because the indictment was defective under Apprendi for failing to reference specifically § 841(b)(1)(B), the statutory penalty sub-section under which he was sentenced. This claim is meritless. The indictment included threshold drug quantities and types. There is no Apprendi requirement that the penalty subsection be included in the indictment once the drug quantity and type are alleged. See United States v. Eirby, 262 F.3d 31, 38 (1st Cir.2001). 206