Opinion ID: 445460
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: 1000 Pounds of Marijuana.

Text: 96 Counts two and three of the indictment allege conspiracy to possess and possession with intent to distribute approximately 1500 pounds of marijuana. Section 841 of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841, makes it unlawful to possess certain controlled substances, including marijuana, with the intent to distribute them. Subsection (a) defines the substantive offense; subsection (b) sets forth the maximum penalties available to the sentencing judge for a violation of subsection (a), which vary with the nature of the controlled substance involved. In 1980, subsection (b) was amended to increase the maximum penalty for possession of large amounts of marijuana: possession of one thousand pounds or less triggers a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment and a $15,000 fine, 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(b)(1)(B); possession of more than one thousand pounds subjects the offender to an enhanced penalty of fifteen years' imprisonment and a $125,000 fine, 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(b)(6). 97 Based on the indictment in this case, appellants were all subject to the enhanced penalties of section 841(b)(6). At the close of the Government's case, Murphy moved for judgment of acquittal with respect to the enhanced penalties on the ground that the Government had not proved that there were more than one thousand pounds of marijuana in the King Air. Royalston and Weinrich made similar motions, but took them one step further: They argued that the Government forfeited the right to section 841(b)(6) enhancement by destroying the marijuana before appellants had a chance to weigh and test it for themselves. 98 The trial court denied the motions on the ground that the Government's evidence, if believed, would support a finding that the King Air contained more than one thousand pounds of marijuana. The court accommodated appellants' claims that the Government failed to prove more than one thousand pounds by submitting counts two and three to the jury with a lesser included offense instruction of possession and conspiracy to possess less than one thousand pounds of marijuana. The court, however, rejected the claim that the Government forfeited the right to seek enhanced penalties by destroying the marijuana, finding that agents did not act in bad faith when they destroyed the evidence. The jury obviously found that the King Air contained more than one thousand pounds of marijuana: each of the convictions on counts two and three is for the greater of the offenses charged. 99 The Government's evidence with respect to disposition of the marijuana seized at Greenville can be summarized as follows: On the morning of February 12, agents unloaded fifty-six bales of marijuana from the King Air and stacked them in a hangar at the Greenville airport. Agents photographed the marijuana and observed that the bales appeared to be approximately the same size. DEA agent D.L. Boyles weighed twelve bales which, except for the three smallest, were between thirty-three and thirty-eight pounds each. The three smallest bales weighed approximately twenty-five pounds each. Boyles retained the three smallest bales and, with the permission of an assistant United States attorney, destroyed the remaining marijuana in an incinerator at a local hospital. Boyles filled twelve small storage bags with samples from some of the bales before they were placed in the incinerator. DEA chemist Margaret Stevenson examined the material collected by Boyles and determined that it was in fact marijuana. The three complete bales that Boyles retained and the twelve smaller samples were received in evidence. 100 Murphy claims on appeal that, because the Government deliberately destroyed the marijuana, section 841(b)(6) enhancement is unavailable and evidence of the marijuana's weight should have been excluded. The Government responds that the issue is moot because Murphy did not receive an enhanced penalty: he was sentenced to four years' imprisonment on both counts two and three. Webster, however, who did receive an enhanced penalty, has adopted Murphy's treatment of the issue. See Fed.R.App. p. 28(i). Therefore, without considering the validity of the Government's claim that the issue is moot as to Murphy, we will consider the effect of the Government's destruction of the evidence. 101 We reject the argument that the Government cannot seek section 841(b)(6) enhancement unless it retains all of the marijuana seized until defendants can weigh it for themselves. Since Murphy supports his argument to the contrary with vague allusions to a prosecutor's constitutional duties under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), we consider first the constitutional implications of subjecting appellants to enhanced penalties notwithstanding destruction of the marijuana. The Supreme Court has recently grappled with a state's constitutional duty to preserve evidence. In California v. Trombetta, --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 2528, 81 L.Ed.2d 413 (1984), the Court held that a state may constitutionally introduce breath-analysis tests in drunk driving prosecutions even though the state has failed to preserve defendant's breath samples for his inspection. Without defining the precise parameters of the constitutional rule, the Court noted that [w]hatever duty the Constitution imposes ... to preserve evidence, that duty must be limited to evidence that might be expected to play a significant role in the suspect's defense. Id. 104 S.Ct. at 2534. Evidence meets this standard of constitutional materiality, if (1) it possess[es] an exculpatory value that was apparent before the evidence was destroyed and (2) is of such a nature that the defendant would be unable to obtain comparable evidence by other reasonably available means. Id. The Court held that breath samples did not meet this test because the chances are extremely low that preserved samples would have been exculpatory and the defendant has other means available to attack the breath-test results. Id. 104 S.Ct. at 2534-35. See also Killian v. United States, 368 U.S. 231, 82 S.Ct. 302, 7 L.Ed.2d 256 (1961) (destruction of notes later incorporated into FBI report is not impermissible destruction of evidence). 102 Applying the Trombetta standard, we are not convinced on the facts of this case that subjecting appellants to enhanced penalties is fundamentally unfair. We note at the outset that the record reveals not the slightest hint that agents destroyed the marijuana in bad faith to circumvent disclosure requirements. In fact, the district court specifically found that the agents destroyed the marijuana in good faith, according to accepted DEA procedures. 103 Moreover, we do not think that the marijuana possessed an apparent exculpatory value 12 with respect to application of section 841(b)(6) enhancement. Trombetta makes clear that the mere possibility that evidence might aid the defense does not satisfy the constitutional materiality standard; rather, if the record reveals that the chances are extremely low that preserved [evidence] would have been exculpatory, destruction of that evidence does not render a conviction or sentence fundamentally unfair. Id. 104 S.Ct. at 2534. The record here reveals a sufficiently low probability that, had the marijuana been preserved, appellants would have been able to establish that it weighed less than one thousand pounds. The Court in Trombetta was impressed by the accuracy of the breath analyzers used by California law enforcement agencies: In all but a tiny fraction of cases, preserved breath samples would simply confirm the Intoxilyzer's determination that the defendant had a high level of blood-alcohol concentration.... Surely, if DEA agents weighed each bale before destruction on carefully calibrated scales, a similar deference to accuracy would be appropriate. While we would feel more comfortable if they had, we are convinced that the method used here to calculate the marijuana's weight was sufficiently accurate to render nugatory the exculpatory value of preservation. 13 104 In addition, we are convinced that appellants had alternative means, beyond weighing the marijuana itself, to challenge the Government's claim that it weighed more than one thousand pounds. The agent who weighed the marijuana and the chemist who tested it were both available for cross-examination. See Trombetta, 104 S.Ct. at 2535. Moreover, agents retained sample bales which presumably were available for inspection. Appellants therefore had a means available to them to test any claim that the agents' method of estimating weight included the weight of extraneous material, such as packaging or stalks, see 21 U.S.C. Sec. 802(15) (excluding stalks from definition of marijuana). Finally, the Government produced at trial photographs of the scales used to weigh the marijuana; we note that none of the appellants sought production of the scales themselves or a continuance to test them. We do not think, therefore, that appellants were prejudiced by the destruction of the marijuana. We find no impediment, constitutional or otherwise, on these facts to subjecting appellants to enhancement. 105 We note that some courts have, while refusing to overturn convictions, expressed concern with Government destruction of drugs and other evidence. See, e.g., United States v. Young, 535 F.2d 484, 488 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 999, 97 S.Ct. 525, 50 L.Ed.2d 609 (1976); United States v. Heiden, 508 F.2d 898, 903 (9th Cir.1974) (Merrill, J., concurring). Our research reveals, however, only one case disallowing section 841(b)(6) enhancement because of a destruction of evidence. The court in United States v. Zimmerli, (36 Crim.L.Rep. (BNA) 2012, Sept. 12, 1984), held that the Government forfeited the right to seek enhancement when it destroyed an estimated 4300 pounds of marijuana pursuant to a court order. In light of our analysis above, we think this case adopts an overly mechanistic approach, and we refuse to follow its reasoning. 106