Opinion ID: 765911
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Information Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. sec. 851

Text: 30 Before a court may exercise jurisdiction to impose an enhanced sentence based on prior convictions, the government must comply with the procedural requirements of Title 21 U.S.C. sec. 851. 8 Jackson argues that the district court committed error in allowing the government to file a new Information pursuant to 21 U.S.C. sec. 851 because the government's decision to file such an Information was motivated by a desire to punish Jackson for refusing to cooperate, thereby punishing him for remaining silent. The government responds that its decision was not motivated by any improper factors and, therefore, its exercise of discretion was proper and required the filing of a new Information. We review the sufficiency of a sec. 851 Information de novo. See United States v. King, 127 F.3d 483, 487-88 (6th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 118 S. Ct. 1082 (1998); United States v. Steen, 55 F.3d 1022, 1025 (5th Cir. 1995). 31 The Attorney General and United States Attorneys retain broad discretion to enforce the Nation's criminal laws. United States v. Armstrong, 517 U.S. 456, 464 (1996) (internal quotations omitted). They have this latitude because they are designated by statute as the President's delegates to help him discharge his constitutional responsibility to 'take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.' Id. (quoting U.S. Const. art. II, sec. 3 and citing 28 U.S.C. sec.sec. 516, 547). [S]o long as the prosecutor has probable cause to believe that the accused committed an offense defined by statute, the decision whether or not to prosecute, and what charge to file or bring before a grand jury, generally rests entirely in his [or her] discretion. Bordenkircher v. Hayes, 434 U.S. 357, 364 (1978). Furthermore, it has long been understood that when an act violates more than one criminal statute, the Government may prosecute under either so long as it does not discriminate against any class of defendants. United States v. Batchelder, 442 U.S. 114, 123-24 (1979) (citations omitted). Moreover, in selecting which charge to file, [a] prosecutor may be influenced by the penalties available upon conviction. Id. at 125. 32 Obviously, a prosecutor's decision to charge a defendant with a particular crime necessarily implicates the range of potential penalties available to the court. For example, if a defendant used or carried a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence or a drug trafficking crime, the prosecutor enjoys absolute discretion over whether or not to charge him with a violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 924(c)(1), see United States v. Mrazek, 998 F.2d 453, 454 (7th Cir. 1993), which automatically institutes a five-year mandatory sentence to be served consecutively to that for the underlying crime. 9 The discretion prosecutors are given to increase unilaterally the mandatory minimum sentence a defendant may receive by charging the defendant under sec. 924(c)(1) is analogous to the power of a prosecutor under sec. 851 to increase a defendant's mandatory minimum sentence by filing an information. 33 Insofar as prosecutors, as a practical matter, may be able to determine whether a particular defendant will be subject to the enhanced statutory maximum, any such discretion would be similar to the discretion a prosecutor exercises when he decides what, if any, charges to bring against a criminal suspect. Such discretion is an integral feature of the criminal justice system, and is appropriate, so long as it is not based upon improper factors. 34 United States v. LaBonte, 520 U.S. 751, 762 (1997) (rejecting argument that prosecutorial discretion under sec. 851 leads to unwanted disparity) (citing United States v. Armstrong, 517 U.S. 456, 463-64 (1996) and Wayte v. United States, 470 U.S. 598, 607 (1985)). Thus, sec. 851 grants the government no greater power than that traditionally exercised by prosecutors in determining what charge to bring. 35 Sections 841 and 851 provide an opportunity for the government to seek a sentence enhancement by specifying the type of defendant and limiting the nature of the previous crimes that can be used to enhance. In providing this formula, the legislature has ensured that the opportunity to enhance is accompanied by multiple procedural safeguards for the defendant. Indeed, the provision is designed to ensure that the defendant has the opportunity to review the allegations and consider the consequences of his decisions prior to trial, and the discretion conferred on the prosecutor does nothing to detract from the achievement of this purpose. Jackson's broad, unsubstantiated claims that the government was motivated by improper factors and a desire to punish him for remaining silent do not persuade this court that the government improperly filed a new Information with the district court.