Court Opinion

ID: 9496238
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 16:21:20.4208+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:57:26.809238
License: Public Domain

MELLOY, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I agree that the defendant’s Apprendi claim fails under the plain error analysis utilized by the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Cotton, 535 U.S. 625, 122 S.Ct. 1781, 152 L.Ed.2d 860 (2002), because the error did not seriously affect the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the judicial proceedings. There was never any doubt in this case that the government was alleging that the drug quantity was in excess of fifty grams for purposes of Count 1, and that the defendant had two prior drug felony convictions, subjecting him to a mandatory life sentence. Likewise, the quantity issue was submitted without objection to the jury, which found, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the quantity of drugs under Count 1 was in excess of fifty grams. Under these circumstances, I agree that the failure to allege the drug quantity in the indictment does not warrant relief under plain error review.
Where I part company with the majority is its use of the imposition of life sentences on Counts 2-5 to support its conclusion on the Apprendi issue, as well as to demonstrate that the magistrate judge’s refusal to issue a subpoena for the chemist did not prejudice the defendant. As the majority notes, the evidence is undisputed with respect to Counts 2-5 that the quantity in each count was in excess of five grams. The same cannot be said with regard to Count 1, however, given the conflicting laboratory report at issue in this appeal. If the jury had found, as a factual matter, that the drug quantity in Count 1 was less than fifty grams, the defendant would not have been subject to a mandatory life sentence. My review of the presentence report in this case shows that the defendant would then have been sentenced on Count 1 as a career offender with a sentencing guideline range of 360 months to life. Although the life sentences imposed on Counts 2-5 are clearly within that sentencing guideline range, the record is silent as to what sentence the district judge would have actually imposed on each count had he not been obligated to impose a mandatory life sentence on Count 1. Although Mr. Blade has an extremely serious criminal history, it is very possible that the district court would have determined that a thirty year sentence was adequate for a forty-six year old individual. Consequently, I am reluctant to rely upon the sentences imposed on Counts 2-5 to support the affirmance in this case.
I do believe, however, that the majority is correct that the magistrate judge did not err when he refused to issue the sub*760poena for the chemist in this case. Not only was the request for the chemist subpoena buried within the request for thirty-two other, largely irrelevant, subpoenas, but the motion was itself part of a larger group of pro se motions, most of which have little or no merit. The magistrate judge is not required under these circumstances to parse each section of each motion to find the kernel of merit that may exist. Under Rule 17 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the defendant has the burden of showing the necessity of the presence of the witness for an adequate defense before a subpoena is issued at government expense. In this case, the defendant could simply have attached a copy of the chemist’s report to the motion to alert the magistrate judge to the necessity for the chemist’s presence. His failure to do so, or to in some other way alert the magistrate judge to the reason for the chemist’s testimony, is the sole responsibility of the defendant. Given that the district court did not err in refusing the subpoena request, there is no need to conduct a harmless error analysis on this issue.
The result in this case is very unfortunate and demonstrates all too well the perils of a defendant electing to proceed pro se. The defendant’s prior public defender sent the drugs to be analyzed by an independent laboratory, which found the total weight of the drugs to be just under forty-seven grams.4 The defendant not only was unable to make an adequate motion to secure the attendance of the chemist, but it is clear the defendant did not even consider drug quantity to be a critical issue at trial. He failed to cross-examine the government chemist about the independent lab results, or even mention to the trial judge that there had been an independent analysis. If a defense counsel or trial judge ever needs a concrete example of the dangers of pro se representation, this case certainly provides one.
In sum, I concur with the majority that the failure to subpoena the chemist was not the fault of the magistrate judge who refused to issue the subpoena, but rather the defendant who failed to adequately explain to the magistrate judge the necessity for the chemist’s attendance at trial. As to the Apprendi claim, I concur with the majority that the defendant is not entitled to relief because he has not shown that the error seriously affected the fairness, integrity or public reputation of the judicial proceedings.

. It is interesting to note that the lab report was not even made part of the appellate record in this case. When the issue was discussed extensively at oral argument, appellant's counsel was granted leave to supplement the record with the lab report. The lab report was then received from appellant’s counsel showing the results of the independent laboratory analysis.