Opinion ID: 176377
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Petersen.

Text: Following trial, Petersen moved for a judgment of acquittal, or in the alternative, for a new trial. [3] He argued that since he was charged with a single count of a violation of the schoolyard statute, 21 U.S.C. § 860, the jury's verdict constituted an acquittal because the government failed to prove an essential element of the crime charged. He further argued that conviction of possession with intent to distribute was inappropriate because the district court never instructed the jury that it could convict him of a lesser-included offense. The district court denied Petersen's motion and ruled that Petersen was properly convicted of the lesser-included offense of possession with intent to deliver even though the court did not give a lesser-included offense charge to the jury. Petersen now claims that was error. We disagree. Petersen's claim of error is as ironic as it is misguided. He not only failed to request a lesser-included offense charge in the district court and failed to object to the charge that was given; during the charge conference, Petersen specifically declined a lesser-included offense charge that the court offered to give. Thus, we review the instruction that was given for plain error. United States v. Gordon, 290 F.3d 539, 543-44 (3d Cir. 2002). [4] Under plain error review, relief is not warranted unless there has been an error that is clear and affects substantial rights. Jones v. United States, 527 U.S. 373, 389, 119 S.Ct. 2090, 144 L.Ed.2d 370 (1999). The error must be an egregious error or a manifest miscarriage of justice. United States v. Price, 76 F.3d 526, 530 (3d Cir.1996) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). As we have suggested above, even if all of these prerequisites are met, we will not exercise our discretion to reverse a case for plain error unless the error seriously affect[s] the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings. Jones, 527 U.S. at 389, 119 S.Ct. 2090. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted, alteration in original). We review jury instructions as a whole and in light of the evidence. When so viewed, jury instructions must fairly and adequately submit [] the issues in the case to the jury. United States v. Hart, 273 F.3d 363, 373 (3d Cir.2001) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Nevertheless, a district court has broad discretion in fashioning a jury charge as long as it communicates the substance of the law so the jury is not misled or confused. United States v. McGill, 964 F.2d 222, 235 (3d Cir.1992). The statute at issue here, 21 U.S.C. § 860(a), provides, in relevant part, as follows: Any person who violates section 841(a)(1) of this title ... by distributing, possessing with intent to distribute, or manufacturing a controlled substance in or on, or within one thousand feet of, the real property comprising a public or private elementary, vocational, or secondary school, or a public or private college, junior college ... [is] subject to (1) twice the maximum punishment authorized by section 841(b) of this title; and (2) at least twice any term of supervised release authorized by section 841 of this title for a first offense. Section 841(a)(1) provides, in relevant part: Except as authorized by this subchapter, it shall be unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally (1) to manufacture, distribute, or dispense, or possess with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense a controlled substance ... Section 860 is therefore a substantive offense that requires proof of an element that is not included in § 841proof that the distribution, possession or manufacturing occurred within 1000 feet of a schoolyard. United States v. McQuilkin, 78 F.3d 105, 108-09 (3d Cir.1996). Accordingly, § 841(a)(1) is a lesser-included offense of § 860(a). United States v. Jackson, 443 F.3d 293, 295 (3d Cir.2006); see also id. at 301 (Because a conviction under § 860(a) only requires a finding of one additional element, the 1,000-foot proximity to a school, we agree that the possession of cocaine base with the intent to distribute under 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) is a lesser-included offense of possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school under 21 U.S.C. § 860(a).). Accordingly, a jury cannot find a defendant guilty of § 860(a) without first concluding beyond a reasonable doubt that the government has established every element required under § 841(a)(1). Id.; see also United States v. Beltz, 385 F.3d 1158, 1162 (8th Cir.2004) (In fact one of the statutory elements of § 860 requires that § 841(a)(1) have been violated.). Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 31(c) provides, in relevant part, as follows: Lesser Offense or Attempt. A defendant may be found guilty of ... (1) an offense necessarily included in the offense charged. In Schmuck v. United States, 489 U.S. 705, 716, 109 S.Ct. 1443, 103 L.Ed.2d 734 (1989), the Supreme Court explained that: one offense is not `necessarily included' in another unless the elements of the lesser offense are a subset of the elements of the charged offense. Where the lesser offense requires an element not required for the greater offense, no instruction is to be given under Rule 31(c). The government contends that neither Rule 31(c) nor Supreme Court precedent explicitly requires a lesser-included offense charge if the instruction that is given includes the greater offense. However, Keeble v. United States, 412 U.S. 205, 93 S.Ct. 1993, 36 L.Ed.2d 844 (1973), seems, at first blush, to suggest otherwise. There, a Native American was charged with assault with intent to commit serious bodily injury under the Major Crimes Act of 1885. That Act authorized the federal prosecution of a Native American charged with committing certain specifically enumerated offenses on a Reservation. Assault with intent to commit serious bodily injury was one of the specifically enumerated offenses. Keeble was charged with assault with intent to commit serious bodily injury after getting into a fight with his brother-in-law. At the close of his trial, Keeble asked the district court to instruct the jury that it could convict him of simple assault. The district court refused because simple assault is not an offense specifically enumerated in the Act. Accordingly, Keeble could not have been tried for simple assault in federal court. The district court was affirmed on direct appeal, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari limited to the question of the validity of denying the requested instruction. 412 U.S. at 207, 93 S.Ct. 1993. The Supreme Court held that a lesser included offense charge should have been given, if supported by the evidence. Id. at 214, 93 S.Ct. 1993. The Court explained: Although the lesser included offense doctrine developed at common law to assist the prosecution in cases where the evidence failed to establish some element of the offense originally charged, it is now beyond dispute that the defendant is entitled to an instruction on a lesser included offense if the evidence would permit a jury rationally to find him guilty of the lesser offense and acquit him of the greater. Id. at 208, 93 S.Ct. 1993 (emphasis added; footnote omitted). The Court continued: [I]f the prosecution has not established beyond a reasonable doubt every element of the offense charged, and if no lesser offense instruction is offered, the jury must, as a theoretical matter, return a verdict of acquittal. Id. at 212, 93 S.Ct. 1993 (emphasis added). Although Keeble might appear to support Petersen's argument, the Court's statements must be understood in the proper context. In Keeble, the Court was concerned with the danger that the defendant may be found guilty of the charged offense when the government has proven only the elements of the lesser included offense. The Court explained: [A] defendant is entitled to a lesser offense instruction in this context or any otherprecisely because he should not be exposed to the substantial risk that the jury's practice will diverge from theory. Where one of the elements of the offense charged remains in doubt, but the defendant is plainly guilty of some offense, the jury is likely to resolve its doubts in favor of conviction. Keeble, 412 U.S. at 212-13, 93 S.Ct. 1993. That danger is absent here because the special verdict form enabled the jury to make a separate finding as to each element of the charges against Petersen, and they did. Thus, the mandate of Keeble does not apply. Although we have not previously decided if a defendant can be convicted of a lesser included offense where no such instruction was given to the jury, we have held that a trial court can enter a conviction on a lesser included offense under certain conditions without violating the Double Jeopardy Clause. Although Gov't of the Virgin Islands v. Josiah, 641 F.2d 1103 (3d Cir.1981), did not involve the specific issue raised here, we did explain: A jury's finding on all elements of the greater offense is necessarily a finding of guilt on all elements of the lesser offense, since a lesser included offense consists of some of the elements of the greater offense and does not require the proof of any element not present in the greater offense. A trial court therefore has authority to enter a judgment of conviction on a lesser included offense when it finds that an element exclusive to the greater offense is not supported by evidence sufficient to sustain the jury's finding of guilt on the greater offense. Id. at 1108 (citations omitted). Other circuit courts of appeal have addressed the question of whether an appellate court can remand for entry of judgment on a lesser included offense where no lesser included offense charge was given after determining that there is insufficient evidence to convict on the greater offense. Some of these courts of appeals have declined or hesitated to reduce a conviction to a lesser included offense when the district court did not give a lesser included offense instruction. See United States v. Dhinsa, 243 F.3d 635, 676-77 (2d Cir.2001) (refusing to affirm a conviction for coercion based upon the government's reasoning that the evidence established a lesser included offense, because the district court did not give a lesser included offense instruction); United States v. Dinkane, 17 F.3d 1192, 1198 (9th Cir.1994) (requiring a showing that the district court explicitly instructed the jury that it could convict a defendant of lesser included offense and an instruction setting forth the elements of the lesser included offense); United States v. Vasquez-Chan, 978 F.2d 546, 554 (9th Cir.1992) (same), overruled on other grounds by United States v. Nevils, 598 F.3d. 1158 (9th Cir.2010); United States v. Mitcheltree, 940 F.2d 1329, 1352 n. 17 (10th Cir.1991) (suggesting remand with an order to enter judgment on a lesser included offense is appropriate only where a lesser included offense instruction is given or where parties concede conviction of the lesser included offense was proper); United States v. Melton, 491 F.2d 45, 49 (D.C.Cir.1973) (refusing to order entry of judgment on a lesser included offense where the defendant specifically rejected a lesser included offense instruction and the government chose to seek conviction on only the greater offense). Other courts of appeals have held that a separate jury instruction on a lesser included offense is not required as a prerequisite for exercising their authority under 28 U.S.C. § 2106. [5] See, e.g., United States v. Smith, 13 F.3d 380, 383 (10th Cir.1993) (remanding for resentencing on the lesser included offense despite absence of a jury instruction); United States v. Hunt, 129 F.3d 739, 745-46 (5th Cir.1997) (same); United States v. Cobb, 558 F.2d 486, 489 (8th Cir.1977) (finding that a conviction for bank robbery by putting in jeopardy the life of any person by means of a dangerous weapon, which the court of appeals found was not supported by substantial evidence, did, nonetheless, establish each element for a conviction of the lesser included offense of bank robbery by force or violence, and remanding for resentencing on lesser included offense despite absence of a lesser included offense charge). In Allison v. United States, 409 F.2d 445 (D.C.Cir.1969), the court engaged in a different analysis. There, rather than focusing on whether a lesser included offense charge was given, the court focused on the nature of the offenses involved and the prejudice to the defendant. The court construed 28 U.S.C. § 2106 as authorizing federal appellate courts to modify a criminal judgment to that of a lesser included offense. Id. at 450-51. However, it emphasized that the circumstances in which such authority may be exercised are limited. Id. at 451. It must be clear (1) that the evidence adduced at trial fails to support one or more elements of the crime of which appellant was convicted, (2) that such evidence sufficiently sustains all the elements of the other offense, (3) that the latter is a lesser included offense of the former, and (4) that no undue prejudice will result to the accused. Id. Petersen argues that his conviction for knowingly and intentionally possessing with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine is improper because, given the language of the indictment, he had a reasonable expectation that he would face liability only for a violation of the schoolyard statute and not for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute it. He claims that since he was only on notice that he was required to defend the schoolyard charge, a conviction for possessing with intent to distribute denied him due process. Under the rather unique circumstances here, that argument is without merit. Count Two of the indictment clearly charges Petersen with intentionally possessing more than 500 grams of cocaine with intent to distribute, in violation of § 841(a)(1). Thus, Petersen clearly knew that he had to defend against that charge and that charge has absolutely nothing to do with proximity to a schoolyard or § 860(a). Petersen could not possibly have thought that he only had to defend against possessing cocaine within 1000 feet of a schoolyard and that he need not be concerned with defending against any charge that he possessed cocaine with the intent to distribute. The very definition of the schoolyard offense (§ 860(a)), references and incorporates the latter offense, § 841(a)(1). The jury had to determine if Petersen was guilty of violating § 841(a)(1), in deciding guilt under § 860(a). Moreover, the use of the special jury interrogatory further removes the kind of risk that concerned the Supreme Court in Keeble. His related argument that he suffered a due process deprivation because he prepared a defense against § 860(a) only and not § 841(a)(1) is similarly flawed; it also appears to be disingenuous. See United States v. Brozyna, 571 F.2d 742, 746 (2d Cir.1978) (an indictment required [defendant] to prepare to defend not only against the charge but also against whatever necessarily included offenses and attempts she could have been convicted of under Fed.R.Crim.P. 31(c).). His overarching contention that the district court erred when it sustained his § 841(a)(1) conviction because the jury was never given a lesser included offense charge is therefore meritless under a somewhat modified Allison test. [6] The first prong of the Allison test involves the sufficiency of the evidence pertaining to the crime of conviction. That inquiry is inapplicable here because Petersen was not convicted of the § 860 schoolyard charge. However, the remainder of the Allison inquiry is relevant to assessing what, if any, impact the failure to give a lesser included offense charge had on the outcome of Petersen's trial. From the special verdict forms, it is clear that the jury found that there was insufficient evidence to support a conviction for violating § 860(a). Petersen does not argue that there was insufficient evidence to support a conviction for a violation of § 841(a)(1). As we explained earlier, § 841(a)(1) is a lesser included offense of § 860(a); in fact, § 860(a) specifically incorporates § 841(a)(1). Not only can Petersen not establish any undue prejudice, it is clear from this record (especially given the court's use of jury interrogatories) that he can not establish any prejudice. Indeed, he does not claim that he suffered any prejudice. Rather, he is claiming that he had a reasonable expectation that he would face liability only under § 860, and not under § 841(a)(1). However, as we have explained, that argument is without merit. For all of the above reasons, we will affirm Petersen's judgment of conviction.