Court Opinion

ID: 9494810
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:47:39.158814+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:56:38.554961
License: Public Domain

HUG, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I concur in the opinion because I believe it is compelled by our en banc decision in United States v. Buckland, 277 F.3d 1173 (9th Cir.2002) (en banc). However, were it not for the majority opinion in Buckland, I would see the case differently. Sanehez-Cervantes was indicted only for violating 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) with no quantity of drugs specified. Thus, the sentence under § 841(b)(1)(C) was applicable. The quantity of drugs found by the judge exceeded the amount the jury could have found under the indictment and instructions to the jury for a violation of § 841(a)(1). In order for the jury to find these quantities the indictment would have to charge violations of § 841(b)(1)(A) or (B) with an appropriate instruction to the jury. As I contended in my concurring and dissenting opinion in Buckland,1 this would constitute charging and proving to the jury elements of separate crimes. In that circumstance, the Teague analysis would be quite different.

. See United States v. Buckland, No. 99-30285, 2002 WL 63718, at *11 (9th Cir. Jan. 18, 2002) (en banc) (Hug, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part).