Court Opinion

ID: 9375330
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-02-27 16:00:47.808984+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:58.343485
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-40547         Document: 00516656132             Page: 1      Date Filed: 02/24/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit
                                      ____________                          United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                     Fifth Circuit

                                       No. 22-40547
                                                                                   FILED
                                                                            February 24, 2023
                                     Summary Calendar
                                     ____________                             Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                   Clerk
   United States of America,

                                                                      Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                             versus

   Edwin Noe Lopez-Chavez,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Southern District of Texas
                               USDC No. 2:21-CR-813-1
                      ______________________________

   Before Jones, Haynes, and Oldham, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          Following a jury trial, Edwin Noe Lopez-Chavez was convicted of one
   count of possessing with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, in
   violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B). Lopez-Chavez appeals his
   conviction. For the reasons below, we AFFIRM.

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-40547        Document: 00516656132         Page: 2     Date Filed: 02/24/2023

                                     No. 22-40547

          On appeal, Lopez-Chavez maintains that his conviction should be
   reversed because the district court’s instructions to the jury constructively
   amended his indictment, thereby violating his Fifth Amendment rights. He
   contends that because the indictment alleges that he “knowingly and
   intentionally” committed the offense, yet the district court’s instructions to
   the jury only provided the word “knowingly,” a constructive amendment
   occurred. Because Lopez-Chavez raises his claim for the first time on appeal,
   plain error review applies. See United States v. Stanford, 805 F.3d 557, 566
   (5th Cir. 2015).
          Although the offense was charged in the conjunctive, the statute itself
   is disjunctive. See 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). “It is well-established in this Circuit
   that a disjunctive statute may be pleaded conjunctively and proved
   disjunctively.”    United States v. Haymes, 610 F.2d 309, 310 (5th Cir.
   1980); see also United States v. Bennett, 874 F.3d 236, 257 (5th Cir. 2017);
   United States v. Holley, 831 F.3d 322, 328 & n.14 (5th Cir. 2016). Thus, a
   determination that Lopez-Chavez committed the offense knowingly does not
   violate the Fifth Amendment and does not constitute a constructive
   amendment of the indictment. See Bennett, 874 F.3d at 257. Accordingly,
   Lopez-Chavez has not shown that the district court committed a clear or
   obvious error for purposes of plain error review. See Stanford, 805 F.3d at
   566.
          AFFIRMED.

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