Opinion ID: 1989377
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Carter's claim of constructive amendment.

Text: The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides in pertinent part that [n]o person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, [6] unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury. In this case, the grand jury alleged that Carter touched K.D.'s genitalia, while the judge, as trier of fact, found that he touched her thigh. It is therefore undisputedindeed, it is indisputablethat there was an inconsistency between the allegations in the indictment and the proof at the trial. See, e.g., Scutchings v. United States, 509 A.2d 634, 638 (D.C.1986). The question is whether this inconsistency constituted a constructive amendment, as Carter claims, or merely a variance, as maintained by the government. This issue is a critical one, for a constructive amendment infringes on a defendant's constitutional right not to be prosecuted for a felony for which no grand jury has indicted him. In such cases, reversal per se is mandated, without the need for any showing of prejudice. Johnson v. United States, 613 A.2d 1381, 1384 (D.C.1992). [7] We have explained that [i]f there was a constructive amendment, then the absence of prejudice to [the defendant] is irrelevant, for [d]eprivation of such a basic right [to be tried on the indictment returned by the grand jury] is far too serious to be . . . dismissed as harmless error. Stirone v. United States, 361 U.S. 212, 80 S.Ct. 270, 4 L.Ed.2d 252 (1960). If, on the other hand, there was no constructive amendment, but merely a variance (or something less than a variance), then reversal is appropriate only upon a showing of prejudice[.] Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78, 82, 55 S.Ct. 629, 79 L.Ed. 1314 (1935); Johnson, 613 A.2d [at] 1384. Robinson v. United States, 697 A.2d 787, 789 (D.C.1997) (footnote omitted). The distinction between [a constructive amendment and a variance] is not always precise, however, and to evaluate whether an indictment has been constructively amended, the court must compare the evidence and the instructions to the jury with the charge specified in the indictment. Johnson, 613 A.2d at 1385. A variance becomes a constructive amendment when facts introduced at trial go to an essential element of the offense charged, and the facts are different from the facts that would support the offense charged in the indictment. Id. at 1384 (quoting Scutchings, 509 A.2d at 637) (quoting Giles v. United States, 472 A.2d 881, 883 (D.C.1984)) (emphasis in original; internal quotation marks and ellipsis omitted). [8] A variance, on the other hand, occurs when the facts proved at trial materially differ from the facts [alleged] in the indictment but the essential elements of the offense are the same. Ingram v. United States, 592 A.2d 992, 1006 (D.C. 1991) (quoting United States v. Keller, 916 F.2d 628, 634 (11th Cir.1990)) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Johnson, 613 A.2d at 1384-85 (quoting Ingram ). In light of the foregoing authorities, our first inquiry must be whether the inconsistency between the indictment and the proof went to an essential element of the offense of which Carter was convicted. In this connection, D.C.Code § 22-4106 (1996) [9] provides: Whoever engages in a sexual act or sexual contact with another person and who should have knowledge or reason to know that the act was committed without that other person's permission, shall be imprisoned for not more than 180 days and, in addition, may be fined in an amount not to exceed $1,000. D.C.Code § 22-4101(9) (1996) [10] provides: Sexual contact means the touching with any clothed or unclothed body part or any object, either directly or through the clothing, of the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks of any person with an intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person. The face of the statute reveals that the touching of the victim's genitalia is not an element of misdemeanor sexual assault, for this offense can be committed, without contact with the genitalia, by a sexual touching of any one of five other parts of the body. Analogous case law fully supports this position. See, e.g., Carter v. United States, 591 A.2d 233, 234 (D.C. 1991) (per curiam) (where the defendant, who was charged with distribution of a controlled substance sold heroin but believed it to be cocaine, the identity of the controlled substance was not an element, and the holding of Stirone was not applicable); United States v. Knuckles, 581 F.2d 305, 312 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 986, 99 S.Ct. 581, 58 L.Ed.2d 659 (1978) (where the defendants were charged with possession of heroin with the intent to distribute it, but where the contraband may have been cocaine, there was no constructive amendment because [t]he operative facts were the same whether the controlled substance was heroin or cocaine); [11] United States v. McIntosh, 23 F.3d 1454, 1457 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 935, 115 S.Ct. 333, 130 L.Ed.2d 291 (1994) (specific type of firearm is not an element of possession of firearm during a crime of violence); United States v. Hamilton, 992 F.2d 1126, 1130 & n. 5 (10th Cir.1993) (same). Because there can be no constructive amendment unless the departure affects an essential element of the offense, United States v. Rosenthal, 9 F.3d 1016, 1021 (2d Cir.1993), [c]onvictions generally have been sustained as long as the proof upon which they are based corresponds to an offense that was clearly set out in the indictment. United States v. Miller, 471 U.S. 130, 136, 105 S.Ct. 1811, 85 L.Ed.2d 99 (1985). Carter nevertheless contends that the ruling of the trial court in this case is contrary to the Supreme Court's decision in Stirone, 361 U.S. 212, 80 S.Ct. 270, 4 L.Ed.2d 252, and this court's holdings in Scutchings, 509 A.2d 634, and Johnson, 613 A.2d 1381. In Stirone, the Supreme Court reversed the defendant's conviction for violating the Hobbs Act, concluding that the trial court constructively amended the indictment. To prove a violation of this statute, the prosecutor had to establish an extortion or robbery that interfered with interstate commerce. 361 U.S. at 218, 80 S.Ct. 270. The indictment alleged that the defendant had interfered with the interstate movement of sand. The government presented evidence to that effect, but it also adduced testimony that the defendant had interfered with the transportation of steel. The trial judge had instructed the jury that it could convict if the prosecution proved interference with the interstate movement of either sand or steel. The Court explained: Here, as the trial court charged the jury, there are two essential elements of a Hobbs Act crime: interference with commerce, and extortion. Both elements have to be charged. Neither is surplusage and neither can be treated as surplusage. . . . It follows that when only one particular kind of commerce is charged to have been burdened a conviction must rest on that charge and not another, even though it be assumed that under an indictment drawn in general terms a conviction might rest upon a showing that commerce of one kind or another had been burdened. Id. at 218, 80 S.Ct. 270 (emphasis added). According to Carter, the holding in Stirone applies here by analogy. Paraphrasing Stirone, Carter argues that where a particular kind of [sexual contact] is charged . . . a conviction must rest on that charge and not another, even though it be assumed that under an indictment drawn in general terms a conviction might rest upon a showing that [sexual contact] of one kind or another had [occurred]. In our view, however, Stirone and its District of Columbia progeny are not dispositive. In Jackson v. United States, 123 U.S.App. D.C. 276, 359 F.2d 260, cert. denied, 385 U.S. 877, 87 S.Ct. 157, 17 L.Ed.2d 104 (1966), Judge Leventhal wrote for the majority of the court that [t]he federal courts have scrapped the old rule condemning every variance between indictment and proof, and convictions are not now set aside except for variance resulting in substantial prejudice to defendant. Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78, 81, 55 S.Ct. 629, 79 L.Ed. 1314(1935). 123 U.S.App. D.C. at 279, 359 F.2d at 263 (additional citations omitted). Explaining the Supreme Court's decision in Stirone, Judge Leventhal stated that the prosecution was relying at trial on a complex of facts distinctly different from that which the grand jury set forth in the indictment. Id. (emphasis added). The court added that [i]f Stirone is pushed to extremes, it would reinstate the old rule making every variance fatal, 123 U.S.App. D.C. at 280, 359 F.2d at 264, contrary to Berger, 295 U.S. at 81, 55 S.Ct. 629. Although Jackson was decided prior to M.A.P. v. Ryan, 285 A.2d 310 (D.C. 1971), we arguably are not required to follow it, for in Jackson, there was no pretrial objection, and the court was reviewing for plain error. Nevertheless, four of the six judges in Wooley and Robinson adopted the essence of Judge Leventhal's analysis. [T]he court in Jackson correctly placed the emphasis under Stirone on whether a distinct constellation of facts separated the crime charged from the crime proven. Wooley, 697 A.2d at 786 n. 2 (Farrell, J., joined by Steadman, J., concurring) (emphasis added in part). A constructive amendment of the indictment occurs if, and only if, the prosecution relies at trial on a complex of facts distinctly different from that which the grand jury set forth in the indictment. Robinson, 697 A.2d at 789-90 (opinion of Schwelb, J., joined by King, J.) (emphasis added) (quoting Jackson, 123 U.S.App. D.C. at 279, 359 F.2d at 263). The standard articulated by Judge Leventhal has thus effectively been adopted in this jurisdiction by a majority of both divisions in Wooley and Robinson, and we formally adopt it now. In the present case, it cannot fairly be said that Carter was convicted on the basis of a complex of facts distinctly different from the facts alleged by the grand jury. On the contrary, the events reflected in the trial judge's findings and those alleged in the indictment occurred on the same day, at the same time, at the same location, and between the same individuals. In fact, common sense tells us that in order to reach K.D.'s genitalia, Carter's hand must in all probability have touched her inner thigh. In substance, the offense of which the judge found Carter guilty was or resembled an unsuccessful attempt to commit the offense alleged by the grand jury. Under the cases cited, this is not the kind of variance between indictment and proof on which a successful claim of constructive amendment can be predicated. In other words, the record before us does not present a situation calling for automatic reversal; the judgment may be set aside, as in the case of any variance, only upon an adequate showing of prejudice. [12]