Opinion ID: 776340
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Apprendi Error Was Harmless

Text: 50 Wheat next claims that his sentence of 110 months is unconstitutional in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). In Apprendi, the Supreme Court held that [o]ther than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348. We have consistently extended this holding to federal drug cases applying 21 U.S.C. § 841 (1994), the statute criminalizing possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. See, e.g., United States v. Aguayo-Delgado, 220 F.3d 926, 932-33 (8th Cir.2000), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1026, 121 S.Ct. 600, 148 L.Ed.2d 513 (2000); United States v. Sheppard, 219 F.3d 766, 767 (8th Cir.2000), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1200, 121 S.Ct. 1208, 149 L.Ed.2d 121 (2001). 51 Wheat's indictment charged him with possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of cocaine base under §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A), but the jury acquitted him of that charge and convicted him of the lesser included offense of simple possession of cocaine base under 21 U.S.C. § 844(a) (1994) instead. Although this is the first time we have had to consider the application of Apprendi to § 844, the task is functionally no different than with respect to § 841. A conviction of simple possession of a controlled substance under § 844 may be punished by a term of imprisonment not to exceed one year, or two years if the individual, like Wheat, has previously been convicted of any drug offense under any state law or under Chapter 13 of Title 21 of the United States Code. 21 U.S.C. § 844(a). However, § 844 also provides special enhanced penalties where the controlled substance in question is cocaine base and certain specified quantities are possessed, depending on the existence and number of prior convictions under § 844(a). See id. For individuals such as Wheat who have no prior convictions under § 844(a), the statute provides that possession of cocaine base in an amount exceeding five grams is punishable by a term of imprisonment not less than five years and not more than twenty years. See id. Wheat argues that because the jury was not instructed to make a finding with respect to drug quantity, his sentence of 110 months considerably exceeds the two year maximum permitted under § 844(a) where no quantity of cocaine base is determined. 52 Although Apprendi was handed down after Wheat's conviction and sentencing, because his case is on direct appeal, we must apply it retroactively. United States v. Anderson, 236 F.3d 427, 429 (8th Cir.2001) (citing Griffith v. Kentucky, 479 U.S. 314, 328, 107 S.Ct. 708, 93 L.Ed.2d 649 (1987)), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 122 S.Ct. 356, 151 L.Ed.2d 270 (2001). However, because Wheat agreed that the quantity of [cocaine base] that he was alleged to possess was [63.03 grams], and did not object to the admission of such evidence at trial or to the court's imposing a sentence based upon its own finding of quantity, our review is for plain error. United States v. Poulack, 236 F.3d 932, 937 (8th Cir.2001), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 122 S.Ct. 148, 151 L.Ed.2d 99 (2001). Under that standard, 53 before an appellate court can correct an error not raised at trial, there must be (1) error, (2) that is plain, and (3) that affects substantial rights. If all three conditions are met, an appellate court may then exercise its discretion to notice a forfeited error, but only if (4) the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings. 54 Johnson v. United States, 520 U.S. 461, 466-67, 117 S.Ct. 1544, 137 L.Ed.2d 718 (1997) (citations, brackets, and internal quotation marks omitted); see also Fed. R.Crim. Pro. 52(b). 55 We begin our analysis by assuming, as the government concedes, that plain error has occurred. 14 Wheat was properly charged with a specific quantity of drugs in the indictment. However, the jury was apparently not instructed to consider the quantity charged as an element of the offense, 15 and the relevant quantity was therefore determined only at sentencing. Because failure to submit the element of quantity to the jury would be error today, it was error then, and the first prong of plain error review is satisfied. See Johnson, 520 U.S. at 467, 117 S.Ct. 1544. The second element of the test is likewise met. [I]n a case such as this — where the law at the time of trial was settled and clearly contrary to the law at the time of appeal — it is enough that an error be `plain' at the time of appellate consideration. Id. at 468, 117 S.Ct. 1544. 56 The government argues that Wheat cannot pass the third and fourth prongs of the clear error test. It relies on decisions of other circuits, e.g., United States v. Swatzie, 228 F.3d 1278 (11th Cir.2000), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 121 S.Ct. 2600, 150 L.Ed.2d 757 (2001), as well as our own decision in Anderson, 236 F.3d 427, decided under the closely related harmless error standard, wherein Apprendi errors have been held harmless where overwhelming evidence of the quantity was adduced at trial, such that no rational jury could have reached a verdict of conviction and yet not found that quantity of drugs had it been charged to do so. Because the only drugs at issue in this case were the 63.03 grams of cocaine base found in the McDonald's bag, and because Wheat did not contest that quantity of drugs at trial, see Trial Tr., at 64-69, and repeatedly conceded its accuracy at the sentencing hearing, 16 no rational jury could have convicted him of possession of cocaine base except by reference to the 63.03 grams of cocaine base. See Anderson, 236 F.3d at 430. 57 At oral argument, Wheat pursued a novel line of argument. Returning to a theme he had adopted at the sentencing hearing, he argued that the Apprendi error cannot be held harmless precisely because the jury that tried him was not rational. Specifically, Wheat argues that 63.03 grams can only be considered to be a distribution-level quantity of cocaine base, yet the jury expressly declined to convict him of possession with intent. It therefore acted irrationally, and the verdict arrived at could only be a compromise or a form of nullification. In these circumstances, Wheat argues, the court simply cannot presume to state what the jury would have done had it been instructed to consider quantity as an element of the offense. 58 We cannot accept this admittedly creative argument for two reasons. First, we do not think that the jury verdict was irrational. In order to prove a violation of § 841(a), the government had to prove that Wheat had the specific intent to distribute the cocaine base. United States v. Franklin, 728 F.2d 994, 998 (1984). Although intent to distribute may be inferred solely from possession of a large quantity of a controlled substance, id.; United States v. Gonzalez-Rodriguez, 239 F.3d 948, 951 (8th Cir.2001), the government always bears the burden of proof on this issue. Gonzalez-Rodriguez, 239 F.3d at 951. In Franklin, we reversed a conviction for possession with intent to distribute where the defendant did not dispute that he knowingly and intentionally possessed 35 grams of 42 percent pure cocaine at the time of his arrest. 728 F.2d at 998. We held that as a matter of law, because the cocaine was not packaged in a manner consistent with distribution, and the government offered no evidence of distribution paraphernalia, amounts of cash, weapons, or other indicia of distribution, the evidence of mere possession of 35 grams was insufficient to support an inference of possession with intent to distribute. Id. at 1000. We therefore remanded with instructions to enter a judgment for simple possession under § 844(a). Id. at 1000-01. 59 We have scrutinized the trial transcript in the instant case and have found the government's evidence on the issue of intent to distribute to be underwhelming. The only extrinsic evidence the government produced was that Wheat was in possession of $250 in cash at the time of his arrest. See Trial Tr., at 29. On cross-examination of the government's witnesses, Wheat's counsel emphasized the point that no drug notes or drug paraphernalia were seized. See id., at 38-39, 51. Nor, as Wheat's counsel observed out of the hearing of the jury, did the government's witnesses testify that the amount of cocaine seized was a quantity typically associated with distribution. See id., at 81. The evidence presented showed only that Wheat possessed four large chunks of cocaine base, not packaged in distribution-level quantities. Although the jury could have inferred that 63.03 grams is a quantity sufficiently large that Wheat intended to distribute it, we can hardly aver that it was irrational not to have done so. Indeed, Wheat's jury is not unique in acquitting under § 841(a) but convicting under § 844(a) where the quantity would have supported a determination either way. See, e.g., Brooks, 7 Fed.Appx. at 249-52 (13.11 grams of crack). 60 Moreover, even if we suspected that the jury had reached a compromise verdict, the Supreme Court does not direct us to try to go into the mind of the jury to glean evidence of irrational jury behavior. In Neder, the Court framed the question for the reviewing court thus: Is it clear beyond a reasonable doubt that a rational jury would have found the defendant guilty absent the error? 527 U.S. at 18, 119 S.Ct. 1827 (emphasis added). Indeed, guessing about the jury's rationale is precisely what courts must not do. We must accept the verdict that the jury handed down, which was a conviction on the count of simple possession of cocaine base, and the only evidence of cocaine base in this case was the 63.03 grams in the McDonald's bag. Wheat never contested the accuracy of the quantity measurement at trial, and repeatedly conceded its accuracy at sentencing. As no rational jury could have convicted Wheat of possession of cocaine base yet found him responsible for less than five grams, any Apprendi error did not affect Wheat's substantial rights; nor did it seriously affect the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of his trial. See Poulack, 236 F.3d at 937-38 (holding that defendant's substantial rights were unaffected where quantity was charged in the indictment, the defendant stipulated to quantity at trial, and defendant's counsel conceded accuracy of court's determination of quantity at sentencing); United States v. Nelson, 9 Fed.Appx. 583, 584, 2001 WL 548577 (8th Cir.2001); but cf. United States v. Frazier, 274 F.3d 1185, 1204-05 (8th Cir.2001) (holding that although defendants' substantial rights were affected, [b]ecause the evidence overwhelmingly establishes a quantity of drug sufficient to authorize the sentences imposed, we conclude the jury's failure to find the amount of heroin did not seriously affect the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the proceedings); United States v. Soltero-Corona, 258 F.3d 858, 860 (8th Cir.2001).