Opinion ID: 784816
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Sentence enhancement based on Garner's prior conviction

Text: 84 Garner was convicted of conspiring to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. A defendant convicted of violating § 841(a)(1) is subject to a sentence enhancement for a prior drug conviction if (1) the government files, before trial or a plea of guilty, an information stating in writing the prior conviction, and (2) the district court, after conviction but before sentencing, asks the defendant to admit or deny the prior conviction and informs the defendant that any challenge to a prior conviction is waived if not raised before sentencing. 21 U.S.C. § 851(a)-(b). Any challenge to the validity of a prior drug conviction must be made by a written response, 21 U.S.C. § 851(c), but a defendant may not challenge a conviction that occurred more than five years before the government files the required information. 21 U.S.C. § 851(e). 85 Garner contends that his sentence enhancement pursuant to § 841(a)(1) must be reversed because the required information was not filed by the government. The sufficiency of the government's filing under 21 U.S.C. § 851(a) presents a question of law that we review de novo. United States v. King, 127 F.3d 483, 487 (6th Cir.1997). 86 Garner's indictment contains a Specification that identifies Garner's prior drug conviction by court, date, and case number. The Specification also states that in accordance with Title 21, United States Code Section 851, the United States gives notice that should an adjudication of guilt be entered against HERMAN GARNER III on Count 1 of the within indictment, the United States will invoke the applicable penalty enhancement provisions of Title 21, United States Code Section 841(b). 87 This court has held that, in examining the adequacy of notice under 21 U.S.C. § 851(a), the proper inquiry is whether the government's information provided the defendant reasonable notice of [the government's] intent to rely on a particular conviction and a meaningful opportunity to be heard. King, 127 F.3d at 488-89 (quotations marks omitted). Courts should interpret  § 851's notice requirements so as to avoid elevating form over substance. Id. at 489. In the present case, the Specification in the indictment provided Garner with clear notice of the government's intent to seek a sentence enhancement based upon a specific prior drug conviction. Garner also had a meaningful opportunity to deny the prior conviction by a written response at any time after the grand jury handed down the indictment in this case on July 5, 2001. Overturning the enhancement because the government gave notice in a Specification included in the indictment rather than in a separate information would accomplish nothing more than elevating form over substance. Id. 88 Garner next contends that the sentence enhancement is invalid because the district court failed to satisfy its obligations under 21 U.S.C. § 851(b) to ask Garner to admit or deny the prior conviction and to inform him that any challenge to a prior conviction is waived if not raised before sentencing. A district court's failure to conduct a § 851(b) colloquy, however, is subject to harmless error review. United States v. Hill, 142 F.3d 305, 312-13 (6th Cir.1998). 89 In Hill, this court held that the district court's failure to conduct a § 851(b) colloquy was harmless because (1) the defendant failed to challenge his prior convictions in the district court, as required by 21 U.S.C. § 851(c), and (2) the prior convictions occurred more than five years before the government filed the information in that case, so that 21 U.S.C. § 851(e) prevented the defendant from challenging the validity of the convictions. Id. at 313. The present case is indistinguishable from Hill. Garner did not object to the enhancement either at sentencing or when he received the Presentence Report, which refers to his prior conviction. Garner's prior conviction, moreover, occurred on April 5, 1990. This was far more than five years before the jury handed down the indictment, which included the Specification, on July 5, 2001. Even if the district had conducted a § 851(b) colloquy, therefore, Garner could not have challenged the validity of his prior conviction. See 21 U.S.C. § 851(e). Any error by the district court was thus harmless.