Opinion ID: 202742
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Interpreting Section 2D1.11

Text: 36 Although the district court's thoughtful, measured, and reasonable interpretation of section 2D1.11 does not constitute plain error, we go further to provide guidance to sentencing courts. 37 We address the situation where the sentencing court has before it a non-tablet mixture containing methamphetamine precursors. Under section 2D1.11, the relevant drug weight for sentencing purposes is the weight of the precursor chemicals themselves. The burden is on the government to prove the weight of the precursor chemicals to the district court. The initial question ordinarily is whether the methamphetamine precursors contained in such a non-tablet mixture may be isolated and separately weighed. The burden is on the prosecution to show that the isolation and weighing of the precursors is not feasible. 38 If the court finds that the process of isolating and separately weighing the precursor components is not feasible, then the district court may take guidance from Application Note 1 in section 2D1.1. The court may apply any reasonable method to approximate the undeterminable weight of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or PPA from impure mixtures. 39 Where such a process is feasible, the government bears the burden of proving the actual weight of the pure precursor components. Cf. United States v. Ching Tang Lo, 447 F.3d 1212, 1222-23 (9th Cir. 2006) (demonstrating the ability of the government to detail the percentage of ephedrine that existed in a ma huang extract). The weight of the pure precursor components will then be applied in aggregate directly to the drug quantity charts in section 2D1.11. 40 If it is feasible to isolate and weigh the precursors and the government has not done so, the government may well have failed to meet its burden. We do not, however, exclude the possibility that the non-precursor substances of the mixture are de minimis or their weight is reasonably discernable by different means. 41 The court would also be warranted in considering whether the government has engaged in affirmative misconduct in failing to conduct the necessary test to isolate and measure. There is, we stress, no claim of such misconduct here. 11 42 As to 2D1.11(c)'s cross-reference to section 2D1.1, Application Note 1 to section 2D1.1 makes clear that although the district court should use the total weight of any mixture containing a detectable amount of a controlled substance, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 2D1.1 n.A (2004), the appropriate drug weight for sentencing purposes excludes materials that must be separated from the controlled substance before the controlled substance can be used. As a result, the burden is on the government to demonstrate that no part of a mixture is a substance that must be separated before the substance may be used. If the mixture does contain such substances, and they can be separated, the government has the burden of proving the actual weight of the usable part of the mixture. If the non-usable substances cannot be segregated, the court may make a reasonable approximation of the usable substances, as provided in Application Note 1.