Court Opinion

ID: 9494216
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:32:19.139134+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:56:16.962821
License: Public Domain

ROBERT M. PARKER, Circuit Judge,
specially concurring:
I concur specially to note some troubling aspects of our developing Apprendi jurisprudence.
*362Gonzalez entered a plea of guilty and stipulated to over 500 pounds (over 100 kilograms) of marijuana, which is an amount sufficient to trigger the enhanced penalties of § 841(b)(1)(B). There was never any dispute about this drug quantity. Gonzalez makes no argument, and I perceive none, that the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings is impugned by the sentence imposed in this case. For these reasons, it is my position that we should decline to correct the plain error in Gonzalez’s indictment. However, I recognize that United States v. Vasquez-Zamora, 253 F.3d 211 (5th Cir.2001) controls and requires remand for resentencing. Vasquez-Zamora offers no analysis concerning why pre-Apprendi guilty pleas involving undisputed drug amounts should be remanded under our classic plain error analysis. I remain unconvinced that such a path is constitutionally necessary or wise.
In a related but separate analysis set out in footnote 3, the panel majority determined that the Apprendi error in Gonzalez’s indictment deprived the court of jurisdiction to sentence him above the maximum sentence allowed under the default provision of the drug statute. See also United States v. Longoria, 259 F.3d 363 (5th Cir.2001)(reaching the same conclusion as to Longoria, Gonzalez’s code-fendant prosecuted under the same indictment).
An indictment, the right to which is guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment, serves three purposes: (1) to ensure that the grand jury finds probable cause to believe that Gonzalez committed each element of the offense; (2) to protect against double jeopardy; and (3) to give notice of the offense charged. United States v. Cabrera-Teran, 168 F.3d 141, 143 & n. 5 (5th Cir.1999). “To be sufficient, an indictment must allege each material element of the offense; if it does not, it fails to charge that offense.” Id. at 143. “An indictment’s failure to charge an offense constitutes a jurisdictional defect.” Id. However, if an objection is raised for the first time on appeal1 and the appellant does not assert prejudice, the indictment is to be read with maximum liberality finding it sufficient unless it is so defective that by any reasonable construction, it fails to charge the offense for which the defendant is convicted. Id. (citing United States v. Fitzgerald, 89 F.3d 218, 221 (5th Cir.1996)).
In addition to the “maximum liberality” review dictated by the procedural posture of the present case, I am mindful of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 7(c)(3), which states that error in the citation of the statutory provision allegedly violated “shall not be grounds for dismissal of the indictment ... or for reversal of a conviction if the error or omission did not mislead the defendant to the defendant’s prejudice.” I would therefore view any error in statutory citation through Rule 7’s harmless error lens.
The body of Gonzalez’s indictment charges possession of “a quantity of marijuana,” omitting the allegation of the amount of marijuana. We have previously considered whether an indictment that fails to allege in the body a drug amount necessary to make a felony out of a misdemeanor drug charge is nonetheless sufficient if the caption and heading make the necessary allegations. Fitzgerald, 89 F.3d at 222. In Fitzgerald, the body of the indictment was silent concerning the amount of drugs the defendant allegedly *363possessed, but the caption stated, “Violation: 21 U.S.C. § 844 Possession of over 5 grams of cocaine base.” Id. at 221. We held that the caption cured the defect in the body of the indictment, when the indictment was read with maximum liberality. Id. at 222.
The indictment in this case is less clear than the one we examined in Fitzgerald. Here, the heading reads [VIO: COUNT ONE: 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) & (b)(1)(B) & 846, CONSPIRACY TO POSSESS W/INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE MARIJUANA]. However, the caption reads: “[21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) & (b)(1)(D) & 846]”[sic]. The caption’s reference to the “default” provision, 841(b)(1)(D) that requires proof of any amount of marijuana conflicts with the allegation in the heading that Gonzalez is charged with violating 841(b)(l)(B)(100 kilograms or more of marijuana) and the silence in the body of the indictment. Reading the indictment with maximum liberality, I would hold that the indictment was sufficient to advise Gonzalez that he was subject to punishment for possession of 100 kilograms or more of marijuana. There is nothing in the record before us that indicates that Gonzalez was mislead by the Apprendi eiror. See United States v. Johnson, 476 F.2d 1251, 1255 (5th Cir.1973)(holding that the purpose of an indictment is to inform the accused of the nature of the charges against him with such specificity and particularity that the accused may prepare an adequate defense). He was aware when he was indicted and when he entered his guilty plea that he was facing the penalty range set out in § 841(b)(1)(B). In fact, the correct statutory provision was referenced on the face of his indictment. Therefore, I would hold that the indictment was sufficient to bestow the district court with jurisdiction to impose Gonzalez’s sentence within the statutory range set forth in § 841(b)(1)(B).
Neither the panel opinion nor Longoria, the companion case, considers whether, under the maximum liberality rule and the analysis dictated by Fitzgerald, the inconsistencies in this indictment deprived Gonzalez of the notice to which he is constitutionally entitled. I write separately to note my disagreement with the panel’s failure to consider the question of the district court’s jurisdiction under clearly applicable precedent as well as my disagreement with its conclusion regarding jurisdiction.
In sum, I concur specially, agreeing with the panel majority that our circuit’s precedent dictates remand in this case.

. Although this issue was not preserved in tire trial court, the plain error standard of review is inapplicable because jurisdictional errors may be raised at any lime and are not forfeited by the parties' failure to assert a timely objection. Fitzgerald, 89 F.3d at 221 n. 1.