Opinion ID: 530736
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Indictment on Count One

Text: 11 Count 1 of the indictment charged Escruceria with a conspiracy in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 846. The indictment stated that between May, 1983, and March, 1987, Escruceria conspired with a number of individuals to import cocaine into the United States, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 952, and to possess with the intent to distribute, and to distribute, that cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a). Escruceria challenges the validity of this indictment on two grounds.
12 Escruceria first argues that the indictment attempts to charge two separate offenses in a single count, in violation of Fed.R.Crim.Pro. 8(a). 5 Escruceria bases his duplicity argument on Alberraz v. United States, 450 U.S. 333 (1981), which holds that Congress created two separate conspiracy offenses in Title 21, conspiracy to import and conspiracy to distribute. See also United States v. Tedder, 801 F.2d 1437, 1445-47 (4th Cir.1986) (upholding convictions on three separate conspiracy counts arising out of a single transaction, including conspiracy to distribute and conspiracy to import). 13 Assuming, arguendo, that Count 1 was duplicitous, Escruceria's conspiracy conviction can be reversed only if that duplicity constituted prejudicial error. The error asserted by Escruceria is a possible lack of jury unanimity. In this particular case the trial court instructed the jury on Count 1 only with respect to the conspiracy to import, and appellant did not object to this instruction. The jury never saw the indictment, and therefore it was never aware that Escruceria had been charged with conspiracy to distribute. Thus, the prejudicial error claimed by Escruceria simply could not have occurred. The only question before the jury was whether Escruceria had conspired to import cocaine, and the jury unanimously found that he did. 14 Furthermore, because the indictment itself contained the disjunctive phrase and/or, the jury instructions did not constitute a constructive amendment of the indictment. That occurs only where the evidence offered at trial was such that it proved a factual basis which effectively modified one of the essential elements of the crime charged. See United States v. Chandler, 858 F.2d 254 (5th Cir.1988). 15
16 The indictment charged Escruceria with violating 21 U.S.C. Sec. 846 by conspiring to violate both 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1) and 21 U.S.C. Sec. 952. Section 846 provides for the punishment of [a]ny person who ... conspires to commit any offense defined in this subchapter. Section 846 is located in subchapter I of Title 21, while Sec. 952 is found in subchapter II. A Sec. 952 violation is punishable under 21 U.S.C. Sec. 963, which contains language identical to that found in Sec. 846. 17 Escruceria claims that because a Sec. 952 violation is not punishable under Sec. 846, and because the jury found him guilty only of a conspiracy to import, his sentence on Count 1 must be vacated. Fed.R.Crim.Pro. 7(c)(3), however, provides that [e]rror in the citation [of the statute which the defendant allegedly violated] or its omission shall not be ground for dismissal of the indictment or information or for reversal of a conviction if the error or omission did not mislead the defendant to the defendant's prejudice. Because the language of Sec. 846 and Sec. 963 is identical, we find that Escruceria was not prejudiced by a misleading indictment. Precedent supports this finding. In United States v. Massuet, 851 F.2d 111 (4th Cir.1988), this court applied Rule 7(c)(3) to sustain the conviction of two defendants under Sec. 841(a)(1), even though the indictment charged them with violating Sec. 959(b)(2). The language of the two statutes was identical, and the court held that the fortuity of an appropriate statute proscribing conduct charged in the indictment sustained the prosecution. 851 F.2d at 116. Such fortuity occurs again in this case. See also United States v. Rios, 611 F.2d 1335, 1338, n. 2 (10th Cir.1979) (holding that a conviction under Sec. 963 may be sustained, notwithstanding the indictment's citation to Sec. 846; United States v. Martinez, 496 F.2d 664, 669 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 1051 (1974) (affirming a conviction under Sec. 963, even though the indictment charged a conspiracy under Sec. 846).