Court Opinion

ID: 9481651
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:27:23.308875+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:48:29.354007
License: Public Domain

BOWMAN, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur in the result reached in Parts II., III., and IV.B. of the Court’s opinion. I cannot agree, however, with the conclusion reached in Part IV.A., in which the Court holds that the district court’s finding on any quantity of controlled substances exceeding six ounces was not supported by the evidence.
Having carefully reviewed the evidence that was before the district court, I do not believe it can be said that its finding that Burks was responsible for seven pounds of amphetamine is clearly erroneous. In addition to the testimony of Investigator Clem-mons regarding Burks’ offer to sell him a laboratory, with chemicals, capable of producing seven or eight pounds of amphetamine, there is also the testimony of Terry Day that he had been dealing drugs with Burks for approximately two years and that Burks was the source of those drugs. Further, there is the evidence concerning Burks’ involvement in the transportation of a 110-pound barrel of phenylacetic acid from New Jersey to the place of Burks’ residence in Arkansas. Gene Bangs, a chemist from the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory, testified that 100 pounds of phenylacetic acid would produce anywhere from 25 to 70 pounds of amphetamine. On this record, it appears to me that the district court’s finding that Burks should be sentenced on the basis of seven pounds of amphetamine represents a conservative estimate of the quantity of the controlled substance and is well supported by the evidence. I therefore would affirm the judgment of the district court in all respects and respectfully dissent from Part IV.A. of the Court’s opinion.