Opinion ID: 339970
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Vicarious Liability for Substantive Offenses of Coconspirators

Text: 8 In April and May of 1975, several persons were engaged in the distribution of cocaine from a supplier, one Herman or Roland Alonzo, to several consumers, some of which turned out to be Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, narcotics agents. Joseph Oddo testified that he received the cocaine from Alonzo on several occasions and that he supplied William Orgeron and Joey Danford with the drugs, who in turn sold them to the various agents. Decker and Vice were connected to the conspiracy through the testimony of Oddo and an accomplice, Violet Cheramie, and through extensive surveillance by narcotics agents. Though the evidence tying appellants to the particular sales alleged in the substantive counts of the indictment was negligible, both were convicted of several substantive violations of § 841 as well as conspiracy. 9 The Government relied principally on a theory of vicarious liability in its cases against Decker and Vice for the sales of the cocaine to the agents. The jury was charged in part as follows: 10 A party to a continuing conspiracy may be responsible for a substantive offense committed by a co-conspirator in furtherance of the conspiracy, even though that party does not participate in the substantive offense or have any knowledge of it. 11 The charge arises from Pinkerton v. United States, 328 U.S. 640, 66 S.Ct. 1180, 90 L.Ed. 1489 (1946), in which the Supreme Court, after finding that any overt act of a co-conspirator is attributable to all the members of the conspiracy in supplying that element of the offense where required, stated: 12 . . . we fail to see why the same or other acts in furtherance of the conspiracy are likewise not attributable to the others for the purpose of holding them responsible for the substantive offense. (Emphasis supplied.) 328 U.S. at 647, 66 S.Ct. at 1184. 13 Appellants here urged either that Pinkerton is unsound and should be overruled or that the theory of vicarious liability is inapplicable to the facts of this case. 14 While holding one vicariously liable for the criminal acts of another may raise obvious due process objections, see Park v. Huff, 506 F.2d 849, 864 (5th Cir. 1975), (Thornberry, J. dissenting)), it has received considerable support in this Circuit in the conspiracy context. In United States v. Apollo, 476 F.2d 156 (5th Cir. 1973), this court affirmed convictions on both the conspiracy and substantive counts in a marijuana smuggling case. In reaching this result, Judge Clark commented:It cannot be gainsaid that the viable evidence in this case was skimpy. . . . (N)evertheless the evidence . . . was sufficient to support a guilty verdict in regard to Apollo's participation in the conspiracy. Since it was, and since a party to a conspiracy is liable as a principal for all offenses committed in furtherance of the conspiracy while he is a member (citations omitted) the jury was entitled to hold Apollo responsible for the substantive offenses charged in Count Two. 476 F.2d at 162. 15 In accord are: Park v. Huff, 506 F.2d 849 (5th Cir. 1975); United States v. Falco, 496 F.2d 1359 (5th Cir. 1974); United States v. Martinez, 466 F.2d 679 (5th Cir. 1972), cert. denied 414 U.S. 1065, 94 S.Ct. 571, 38 L.Ed.2d 469; Roberts v. United States, 416 F.2d 1216 (5th Cir. 1969). The rule is followed in other circuits as well. See, e. g., United States v. Wilner, 523 F.2d 68 (2d Cir. 1975); Poliafico v. United States, 237 F.2d 97 (6th Cir. 1956); and United States v. Montgomery, 440 F.2d 694 (9th Cir. 1971), cert. denied 404 U.S. 884, 92 S.Ct. 221, 30 L.Ed.2d 166. 16 Given the validity and acceptance by this Circuit of vicarious liability in criminal conspiracies, we are faced with the question of whether it should be applicable to a narcotics distribution conspiracy, in effect making a conspirator liable for any remote sale of the drug passing through the conspiracy. While this result may at first seem harsh, liability is not unlimited. The Court in Pinkerton was careful to point out that a conspirator is accountable only for the acts of others in furtherance of the conspiracy, i. e., those acts which were within the scope of or were a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the unlawful agreement. 328 U.S. at 647, 66 S.Ct. 1180. In this respect it is helpful to consider the inherent nature of most narcotics conspiracies, as did the Second Circuit in United States v. Agueci, 310 F.2d 817 (2d Cir. 1962): 17 The chain conspiracy has as its ultimate purpose the placing of the forbidden commodity into the hands of the ultimate purchaser. . . . That form of conspiracy is dictated by a division of labor at the various functional levels exportation of the drug from Europe and importation into the United States, adulteration and packaging, distribution to reliable sellers, and ultimately the sale to the narcotics user. 310 F.2d at 826. 18 It appears then that the theory of vicarious liability is particularly applicable in narcotics distribution conspiracies and we find no reason for not so holding in the instant case. 19