Opinion ID: 483876
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: the amount of heroin

Text: 16 Roberts first alleges a due process violation. She claims that the severity of her offense was based on an erroneous statement in her presentence report concerning the amount of heroin distributed by the conspiracy of which she was a part. For purposes of the parole decision, the severity of a drug offense such as Roberts' is determined by the amount of drugs involved in the offense. 28 C.F.R. Sec. 2:20 chapter nine, 901(a) (1986). The Parole Commission rated the severity of Roberts' offense as 8, the maximum category for drug offenses involving 3 or more kilograms of 100% pure heroin or its equivalent. Roberts alleges that the severity of her offense should have been rated as 6, the category for drug offenses involving from 5 to 999 grams of heroin. 17 Roberts argues that the severity of her offense should be based on the equivalent of 968.36 grams of pure heroin that she claims were involved in deals proved at trial. This is patently not how the Parole Commission determines the scale of drug offenses. In some cases, the drugs actually confiscated may not accurately reflect the scale of the offense. For example, convincing evidence of negotiations and transactions of large quantities of drugs over a long period of time may be a more appropriate basis for rating the scale of the drug offense than weight/purity if the evidence shows that only one of many shipments was actually confiscated by the authorities. U.S. Parole Commission, Rules and Procedures Manual Sec. 2.20 chapter 9, note (c), at 48 (1985). The evidence before the Commission included a statement in the presentence report that the conspiracy of which Roberts was a part had distributed approximately 30 kilograms of heroin per month for up to five years. Also before the Commission was the judge's sentencing statement. It said that Roberts had been involved in a serious drug ring extending over a number of states over a considerable period of time and that she knew about all the circumstances of the drug operation. Roberts bases her due process claim on the allegedly erroneous presentence report. 18 Whether Roberts' due process allegations state a claim depends in part on whether the Federal Parole Act creates a cognizable liberty interest. See Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 96 S.Ct. 893, 47 L.Ed.2d 18 (1976). The Supreme Court has held that some state parole statutes create an expectation of parole sufficient to create a liberty interest entitled to some measure of constitutional protection. Greenholtz v. Inmates of Nebraska Penal and Correctional Complex, 442 U.S. 1, 12, 99 S.Ct. 2100, 2106, 60 L.Ed.2d 668 (1979). The Eighth Circuit has held that the Federal Parole Act creates a substantial expectation of parole, perhaps more than that created by the Nebraska statute at issue in Greenholtz, but did not decide what process is due in connection with the federal parole process. Evans v. Dillahunty, 662 F.2d 522, 526 (8th Cir.1981). The Seventh Circuit has held that the Federal Parole Act creates the same liberty interest as does the Nebraska statute. See Solomon v. Elsea, 676 F.2d 282, 285 (7th Cir.1982). The Fifth Circuit has held that the Federal Parole Act creates a lesser liberty interest than does the Nebraska statute. See Page v. United States Parole Commission, 651 F.2d 1083, 1086 (5th Cir.1981). We have held that the federal parole statute creates, at most, a liberty interest entitled to no more protection of due process than Greenholtz applied to Nebraska parole procedures. Reynolds v. McCall, 701 F.2d 810, 812 (9th Cir.1983); Bowles v. Tennant, 613 F.2d 776, 778 (9th Cir.1980). 19 We need not decide here what if any liberty interest the federal parole statute creates, because Roberts received all the process she would be due under Greenholtz. She had notice of the initial parole hearing and of the information--including the presentence report--that the Commission would consider. She had the opportunity to challenge that information at her initial hearing, and in her two subsequent administrative appeals. As the Seventh Circuit has said, such procedures reduce the risk of inaccuracy when the Parole Commission relies--as it may--on information such as a presentence report that has not been proved in an adversary setting. Solomon v. Elsea, 676 F.2d at 288. Although Roberts alleges that the statement in the presentence report is erroneous, it is supported by the trial judge's own sentencing statement. Roberts' own brief cites testimony from the trial on which the statement could have been based. Roberts argues that that testimony is not credible, but the credibility of evidence is just the sort of judgment that is absolutely committed to the discretion of the Parole Commission. 20 In short, Roberts' due process allegation is without merit. The district court properly dismissed for failure to state a claim. In light of Wallace, this failure to state a claim on a constitutional issue means that we lack jurisdiction. Thus, we affirm the decision of the district court on jurisdictional grounds. Of course, the district court, acting prior to Wallace, did not err in assuming that it had jurisdiction. 21
22 As part of her due process claim, Roberts argues that the Commission's reliance on an alleged error in the presentence report violated its own regulations. She argues that the information on which the Commission relied did not meet its preponderance of the evidence standard. See 28 C.F.R. Sec. 2.19(c) (1986). Roberts misunderstands this standard. It is not applied to each item of information, but to the evidence taken as a whole. If the Commission had acted beyond its discretion by considering information barred by statute or regulation, then we could review that aspect of its decision-making process. See Wallace, 802 F.2d at 1551. Where the Commission properly has evidence before it, however, the evaluation of that evidence is almost entirely at its discretion. Such an evaluation is a judgment as to the nature and circumstances of the offense. Id. at 1549. There was considerable evidence properly before the Commission to support its judgment concerning the amount of heroin with which Roberts was involved. Its evaluation of the evidence was not so arbitrary as to be outside the boundary imposed by the preponderance of evidence standard. Therefore, we have no jurisdiction to review that judgment. 23 Roberts also alleges that the Commission violated its regulation requiring it to ascertain the sources and reliability of information upon which it bases its decisions. See 28 C.F.R. Sec. 2.19(c). The sources of information before the Commission were clear, and their reliability is again a matter we leave to the discretion of the Commission. See Wallace, 802 F.2d at 1551.