Opinion ID: 3065342
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Estimating Ecstasy Quantities

Text: [23] Under the Sentencing Guidelines, “[w]here there is no drug seizure or the amount seized does not reflect the scale of the offense,” a district court may estimate the quantity of the drug and may consider “the size or capability of any laboratory involved.” U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1 cmt. n.12; see also United States v. Putney, 906 F.2d 477, 479 (9th Cir. 1990). The government recommended a base offense level of 38 premised on (1) a “theoretical maximum yield” (TMY) of 183.6 kilograms (kilos) of ecstasy, as calculated by DEA chemist Skinner, (2) an “actual yield” of 63.1 kilos of ecstasy, also calculated by Skinner, and (3) a detailed “business plan” discovered at the ecstasy laboratory suggesting that the conspiracy intended to produce 440 kilos of ecstasy. Forrester argues that the conspiracy involved less than 60 kilos of ecstasy and that the appropriate base level (using the 50:1 ratio) was 32. The district court applied the 500:1 ratio and, without making specific findings as to the precise quantity of ecstasy involved, concluded that the base offense level was 38. 1. Insufficient Findings as to the Amount of Ecstasy Involved Forrester claims that the district court failed to make specific findings regarding the parties’ factual disputes about the amount of ecstasy involved, in violation of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32. In United States v. Carter, we held that “[f]or each disputed fact upon which the district court intends to rely in imposing the sentence, the district court must make an explicit factual finding that resolves the dispute UNITED STATES v. FORRESTER 335 [or] must clearly state that the disputed fact was not taken into account . . . .” 219 F.3d 863, 867 (9th Cir. 2000). Here, the district court held a lengthy hearing in which the government presented evidence about the estimated yield, which led to an extensive exchange between the parties regarding the chemist’s theoretical yield estimate, the PSR, the reliability of Alba’s statement corroborating that estimate, and Alba’s business plan indicating that the goal of the conspiracy was to manufacture 440 kilos of ecstasy per month. The district court must rule on each of these disputed facts individually. See id. at 866-67. In doing so, the court ensures meaningful appellate review and avoids “the unfairness that would result to a defendant if prison or parole officials were to rely on false allegations or uncorrected reports.” Id. at 866. [24] The district judge calculated a base level offense of 38 based on the “testimony of the chemist at trial, the grafts that were seized from the lab up there, and just tangentially the fact that the Ninth Circuit actually upheld the same base offense level in Mr. Alba’s case.”9 Although the sentencing hearing was very thorough, a specific finding was not made as to the amount of ecstasy involved in the conspiracy.10 While a base offense level of 38 may well have been reasonable, that particular level applies to a range of quantities beginning at 60 kilos, so it cannot be used as a proxy for an exact finding as to the amount of ecstasy involved in this case. [25] Since this case is being remanded for additional findings as to the end date of the conspiracy, we also direct that 9 The finding that “the Ninth Circuit actually upheld the same base offense level” for Alba was erroneous. That issue was not raised on appeal in Forrester I. This error demonstrates the importance of having each finding explained so that its merits can be assessed later. 10 The lack of a specific finding as to the amount of ecstasy has, in turn, hampered us in determining whether the appropriate drug estimation method was used. 336 UNITED STATES v. FORRESTER the district court make explicit findings on all contested issues raised at sentencing, the most important of which is the amount of ecstasy involved in the conspiracy. 2. The Amount of Ecstasy Involved Although the district court did not make explicit findings as to the amount of ecstasy involved, it necessarily relied on some implicit finding of quantity in determining the base offense level. There are three criteria for approximations of drug quantity. United States v. Kilby, 443 F.3d 1135, 1141 (9th Cir. 2006). First, the government is required to prove the approximate quantity by a preponderance of the evidence . . . which means that the district court must conclude that the defendant is more likely than not actually responsible for a quantity greater than or equal to the quantity for which the defendant is being held responsible. Second, the information which supports an approximation must possess sufficient indicia of reliability to support its probable accuracy. Third, since the sentence depends in large part upon the amount of drugs . . . and approxima- tion is by definition imprecise, the district court must err on the side of caution in approximating the drug quantity. Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). We have repeatedly held that a court must “err on the side of caution” when estimating drug quantity, Chase, 499 F.3d at 1069, and when there are two “equally good measures” for making a calculation under the guidelines, a court must select the one “bringing the less punishment,” United States v. Hardy, 289 F.3d 608, 614 (9th Cir. 2002). We have also discouraged the use of a TMY analysis, and in individual cases have deemed it an inappropriate methodology to calculate UNITED STATES v. FORRESTER 337 drug quantity. Chase, 499 F.3d at 1069 (“the relevant inquiry [is] not what a theoretical maximum yield would be”).11 In theory, the TMY would be permissible in the absence of more conservative, equally reliable estimates. Where a lower approximation is an “equally good measure,” however, a rule calling for a conservative estimate is likely to be incongruous with a method that calculates maximum yield.12 Here, the government’s expert, DEA chemist Skinner, testified that one of his calculations was a maximum theoretical yield of 183.6 kilos of ecstasy. In Chase, the government’s expert had “quite candidly admitted that his calculation was a maximum theoretical yield,” an approach that this court found “unreliable as a method of estimating how much methamphetamine [the defendant] produced.” Id. However, Skinner also testified that “there is a wide range in the yield . . . from lab to lab,” and that he had also calculated a substantially lower “actual yield” of 63.1 kilos of ecstasy based upon the quantities of seized materials. The actual yield assumed that Forrester’s lab could achieve a “conservative” 50% yield at each reaction state from the seized precursor chemicals, instead of the 100% yield assumed in the TMY calculation. The chemist based his estimates to some extent on his conversation with Forrester’s co-conspirator Alba. The district judge indicated that he had calculated the base offense level of 38 relying on, among other things, the testimony of the govern11 Forrester observes that the TMY result is particularly suspect in this case because, “according to the government, the conspiracy was only able to manufacture 24.6 kilos during the preceding year, but it would then suddenly produce 159 kilos with the seized chemicals.” 12 Theoretical yield calculations are clearly permissible; it is the use of a maximum theoretical estimate that is problematic. See, e.g., United States v. Williams, 989 F.2d 1061, 1073 n.5 (using the lower estimate of a theoretical range); United States v. August, 86 F.3d 151, 153 (9th Cir. 1996) (same); United States v. Basinger, 60 F.3d 1400, 1410 n.5 (9th Cir. 1995) (explicitly “minimiz[ing] the potential for overestimating drug quantity by adopting the expert’s most conservative figure”). 338 UNITED STATES v. FORRESTER ment’s chemist, but did not specify on which of the two estimates he was relying. [26] Since the district court did not make any explicit findings about the amount of ecstasy involved when it imposed a base offense level of 38, we need not reach the question of whether the court relied on an improper method of calculating the amount of ecstasy. However, we note that when there are two reasonable methods of calculation, the district court should select the measure that brings the lesser punishment, Hardy, 289 F.3d at 614. Therefore unless, on remand, the district court’s findings show that the TMY was the most reliable method available to calculate the amount of ecstasy, the 183.6 estimate is likely too high. Forrester also claims that his sentence was substantively unreasonable under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), but we decline to reach this issue because we are remanding for additional findings and resentencing.