Court Opinion

ID: 9483583
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:25:18.779274+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:42.707417
License: Public Domain

HEANEY, Senior Circuit Judge,
concurring.
Joseph Calva was charged and pleaded guilty to, inter alia, distribution of two ounces of cocaine. His sentence was based on allegations of so-called relevant uncharged conduct — specifically that he had sold an additional 32V8 ounces of cocaine on other occasions — as appears to be required by the sentencing guidelines. See U.S.S.G. § lB1.3(a)(2).
I believe that those guidelines not only exceed the statutory authority under which the Sentencing Commission operates, see United States v. Galloway, 976 F.2d 414, 428 (8th Cir.1992) (Beam, J., dissenting), but that they violate the notice provision and due process requirements of the Fifth *124Amendment to the United States Constitution and the right to a jury trial under the Sixth Amendment. See id. at 436 (Bright, J., dissenting). I also believe that the presentation of hearsay evidence at the sentencing phase violates the defendant’s rights under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. See United States v. Wise, 976 F.2d 393, 405 (8th Cir.1992) (Richard S. Arnold, C.J., concurring in part and dissenting in part).
Unfortunately, this circuit has held to the contrary in its recent en banc decisions in Galloway and Wise. I feel compelled to concur in this case under the weight of these en banc decisions, but had I participated in those cases, I would have joined the thoughtful and well-reasoned dissents.