Opinion ID: 521003
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Materiality of Withheld Evidence to Weintraub's Punishment

Text: 29 The lower court also concluded that the withheld evidence was not material to Weintraub's sentence. Weintraub's presentence investigation report (PSI) informed the sentencing court that Weintraub was responsible for distributing 50 to 70 pounds of cocaine. This information came solely from Emrick's trial testimony; it mirrored the very evidence that would have been subject to impeachment if the prosecution had properly revealed Emrick's prior inconsistent statement suggesting that Weintraub distributed a much smaller amount. 11 The magistrate nevertheless determined that the withheld evidence was not material to Weintraub's sentence, concluding that the [sentencing] court did not consider the purported erroneous statements in the presentence investigation report, and did not base the sentence imposed upon such statements. We find this conclusion clearly erroneous. 30 Indeed, our review of the record reveals that the sentencing court did consider Emrick's trial testimony regarding the amount of cocaine Weintraub distributed when imposing Weintraub's sentence. It is true, as the magistrate and government note, that the lower court responded to some of Weintraub's objections to the presentence investigation report by disclaiming reliance on the contested information. Thus, the court ordered that an unsupported statement that Weintraub was considered by agents to be the source of several other cocaine distributors in the Dallas, Texas area be deleted from the sentencing report. The court also stated that it found nothing in the record to substantiate a claim in the PSI that Weintraub distributed pure cocaine. 31 When it came to Weintraub's objections regarding the statement that Weintraub distributed a total of 50 to 70 pounds of cocaine, however, the court did not disclaim reliance on this information. Instead, after a recess called to review the transcript of the trial, the court determined that this information in the presentence investigation report was supported by Greg Emrick's trial testimony. The court ordered that the original sentence in the PSI be deleted because it stated that Weintraub distributed 50 to 70 pounds of pure cocaine (emphasis added). But in its place the court ordered that Emrick's trial testimony regarding the amount of cocaine Weintraub distributed be attached to the sentencing report. 32 Thus, the very evidence that the parties agree would have been subject to impeachment if the government had properly revealed Emrick's pretrial statements was incorporated in Weintraub's sentencing report. Moreover, the transcript of the sentencing proceeding reflects that the parties and the court were aware that the amount of cocaine Weintraub distributed would have an impact on the length and nature of his punishment. Given these facts, the withheld impeachment evidence tended to undermine Emrick's trial testimony regarding the amount of cocaine Weintraub distributed. Yet that testimony as to amount was the only evidence known to the defendant and the judge at the time of sentencing. We conclude that the withheld impeachment evidence was material to Weintraub's punishment. We vacate Weintraub's sentence and remand for new sentencing proceedings. 12