Court Opinion

ID: 9484285
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:47:01.994007+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:50:08.564189
License: Public Domain

WALLACE, Chief Judge,
concurring:
In light of our holding that the indictment in this case was sufficient despite failing to allege an overt act, our conclusion that the district court erred in failing to instruct the jury that the government was required to prove the commission of an overt act may seem rather odd. Indeed, I am aware of no other circumstance in which the government may refrain from alleging in the indictment an element it must yet prove at trial. Surely, logic as well as jurisprudential consistency would dictate that the indictment must contain all the requisite elements of the offense upon which the district court is required to instruct the jury.
This inconsistency comes about only because our circuit, contrary to every other circuit, clings to a problematic gloss on 21 U.S.C. § 846, insisting, despite a complete lack of textual support in the statute, that in order to convict under this section the government must prove the commission of an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy. As a three-judge panel, we are bound by our previous holdings which unfortunately lead us to the present strange situation.
While I concur in the majority opinion, I write separately to stress that it makes no sense to continue to demand that the jury be instructed regarding an overt act when it is *1423clear that the indictment need not allege one. Until the court sees fit to take this issue en banc and to align itself with every other court of appeals, we will continue this tiresome, judicially created inconsistency.