Opinion ID: 613517
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: United States v. Robinson, 167 F.3d 824 (3d Cir. 1999)

Text: The Third Circuit concluded that § 841(b)(1)(C) does not require proof that a defendant's actions are the proximate cause of a victim's death. Robinson, 167 F.3d at 826. Defendant Robinson delivered heroin to Bungar, who delivered it to Allison, who died of a heroin overdose. Id. at 826-27. The jury convicted Robinson of conspiring to distribute heroin. The sentencing court concluded that Robinson distributed heroin that resulted in Allison's... death, and imposed the mandatory minimum 20-year sentence in § 841(b)(1)(C). Id. at 827. On appeal, defendant Robinson contended that § 841(b)(1)(C) requires a 20-year mandatory minimum only if a court finds that the distribution of the substance was in the common law sense the proximate cause of death or serious bodily injury. Id. at 826. In other words, even though Robinson acknowledges that a user of the heroin he supplied died from its use, he challenges the sentence because the district court did not make a finding that his conduct was a proximate cause of the user's death. Id. Looking to Patterson for guidance, the Third Circuit stated the [Fourth Circuit] explained that the `statute puts drug dealers and users on clear notice that their sentences will be enhanced if people die from using the drugs they distribute.' Id. at 830 (quoting Patterson, 38 F.3d at 145). After quoting the Fourth Circuit's explanation that it would `not second-guess [Congress's] unequivocal choice,' Id. (quoting Patterson, 38 F.3d at 145), the Third Circuit said that [w]e will not either. Id. Instead, [w]here, as here, Congress' language is `plain and unambiguous,' we simply apply the language of the statute as written. Id. at 830-31. The Third Circuit added that [i]n the circumstances, it would be sophistry to say that Allison's death did not result from the use of the heroin delivered pursuant to the conspiracy. Id. at 831. The Third Circuit emphasized that we are applying a statute dealing with a discrete problem, the distribution of controlled substances, products which Congress recognized will in some cases cause death or serious bodily injury. Id. Congress recognized that the risk is inherent in the product and thus it provided that persons who distribute it do so at their peril. Id. In sum, [i]t is obvious Congress intended in such a case that the 20-year mandatory minimum would apply if death or serious bodily injury resulted from the use of the substance without regard for common law proximate cause concepts. Id. Although acknowledging that there might be some limiting principles on application of the enhancement, the Third Circuit stated that [i]f section 841(b)(1)(C) is not to be applied as presently written, Congress and not this court should narrow its application. Id. at 832.