United States v. Johnson

292 F. App'x 178
Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit·Decided September 10, 2008·No. 07-1423·Unpublished·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

TASHIMA, Circuit Judge.

Jackie Johnson was convicted following a jury trial on one count of possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of a mixture containing a detectable amount of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(l)(A)(iii). Johnson contends that the district court erred in declining to give the jury instruction he requested, which stated that possession with intent to deliver more than 50 grams of cocaine was a lesser included offense of possession with intent to deliver more than 50 grams of cocaine base. We disagree with Johnson’s contention and will affirm. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

A confidential informant of the Delaware State Police made several phone calls to Johnson and arranged to meet Johnson at a mall parking lot. Johnson was arrested in the parking lot after a ziploc bag that contained what officers recognized as crack cocaine was found in his vehicle. A field test of the substance at the scene showed a positive result for cocaine. Subsequently, a Drag Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) chemist performed further tests on the substance and concluded that it was crack cocaine base.

Johnson was indicted on one count of possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of a mixture containing a detectable amount of cocaine base. The indictment alleged that the substance was “in the crack form of cocaine base and weighed more than 150 grams.”

At trial, defense counsel argued that there was evidence in the record that the drugs were cocaine, not crack, relying on the preliminary field test conducted at the scene of the arrest. He requested a jury instruction on what he called either the alternative offense or the lesser included offense of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, rather than cocaine base. The government initially did not object, and the court stated that it would probably give the instruction. Subsequently, however, the government raised the concern that Johnson had not been charged with possession of cocaine. Further, it pointed out that the field test indicating that the substance was cocaine was a preliminary test, which the government argued was not a sufficient basis for conviction. After further discussion, the District Court declined to give the instruction.

The jury found Johnson guilty of possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine base. Johnson filed a motion for judgment of acquittal and for new trial, in which he raised the issue of the court’s failure to give the requested lesser included offense instruction. The District Court denied the motion, explaining that the field test was a preliminary tool to determine the presence of narcotics, rather than conclusive evidence that the drugs were in fact cocaine, rather than cocaine base. It then sentenced Johnson to 240 months’ imprisonment. Johnson timely appealed.

We review the refusal to give a particular jury instruction for abuse of discretion, although we exercise plenary review over the question of whether the jury instructions state the proper legal standard. United States v. Leahy, 445 F.3d 634, 642 *180 (3d Cir.2006). We will “reverse ‘a district court’s denial to charge a specific jury-instruction only when the requested instruction was correct, not substantially covered by the instructions given, and was so consequential that the refusal to give the instruction was prejudicial to the defendant.’ ” Id. at 651 (quoting United States v. Phillips, 959 F.2d 1187, 1191 (3d Cir.1992)).

Johnson relies on United States v. Lacy, 446 F.3d 448 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 549 U.S. 1013, 127 S.Ct. 542, 166 L.Ed.2d 401 (2006), and United States v. Jackson, 443 F.3d 293 (3d Cir.2006), to argue that possession of cocaine is a lesser included offense of possession of cocaine base. In Lacy, the defendant was charged with possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of a substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b). The jury acquitted him of that offense, but convicted him of simple possession of more than five grams of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 844, and possession with intent to distribute an unspecified amount of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1).

On appeal, the defendant argued that simple possession of five or more grams of cocaine base was not a lesser included offense of possession with intent to distribute five or more grams of cocaine base. We disagreed, reasoning that, after Ap-prendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), “drug identity and quantity should be considered the functional equivalents of elements of a simple possession offense when they increase a defendant’s maximum statutory sentence exposure.” Lacy, 446 F.3d at 453. Thus, the elements of the charged offense were “(1) knowing or intentional (2) possession (3) with intent to distribute (4) five grams or more (5) of a mixture or substance containing cocaine base.” Id. at 454. The elements of the simple possession offense of which he was convicted were “(1) knowing or intentional (2) possession (3) of more than five grams (4) of a mixture or substance containing cocaine base.” Id. It was clear that “the simple possession offense of which Lacy was convicted is a lesser included offense of the charged possession with intent to distribute offense. The only difference between the two offenses is that the section 841 offense requires proof of intent to distribute the drugs.” Id.

The defendant in Jackson was charged, as pertinent here, with possession with intent to distribute more than five grams of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and possession with intent to distribute more than five grams of cocaine base within 1,000 feet of a school, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 860(a). He was convicted of both counts. On appeal, he contended that the first charge was a lesser included offense of the second, and the government conceded that he was correct.

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United States v. Johnson, 292 F. App'x 178 (3d Cir. 2008).

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