United States v. Russell

30 F. App'x 348
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 4, 2002
DocketNo. 01-3102
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 30 F. App'x 348 (United States v. Russell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Russell, 30 F. App'x 348 (6th Cir. 2002).

Opinion

Santarrow D. Russell, a federal prisoner, appeals the district court’s judgment, imposed following his conviction for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute powder cocaine and cocaine base (crack) in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a)(1). The parties have waived oral argument and this panel unanimously agrees that oral argument is not needed in this case. Fed. R.App. P. 34(a).

Russell was indicted, along with five co-defendants, on the conspiracy count described above and one count of criminal forfeiture. A jury found him guilty as charged on September 19, 2000. The district court sentenced Russell on January 5, 2001, to 360 months in prison and five years of supervised release. This sentence was based upon a total offense level of 42 and a criminal history category of I, resulting in a guidelines sentencing range of 360 months to life. The judgment was entered on January 26, 2001.

Russell’s court-appointed counsel has filed a brief on appeal and also a motion to withdraw, citing Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967). After a review of the record, counsel was of the opinion that there were no meritorious grounds for appeal, but did raise the following issues: (1) the trial court lacked jurisdiction over the offense where the indictment did not list all elements of the offense as required by Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000); (2) the defendant was convicted in violation of the Speedy Trial Act; and (3) trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to call witnesses as requested, by failing to move for acquittal or for dismissal due to lack of jurisdiction, and by failing to move for dismissal due to a violation of his right to speedy trial. Russell was notified of his [350]*350right to respond to his attorney’s Anders brief and he filed a pro se brief raising an additional issue: (4) the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because the alleged offense did not take place on federal territory. Because some of the issues raised by counsel were not clearly lacking in merit, the government was requested to file a brief in this case.

Upon review, we deny counsel’s motion to withdraw because she has raised at least one meritorious issue that requires a remand to the district court for resentencing. We affirm Russell’s conviction for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. However, we vacate his sentence and remand the case so that Russell may be resentenced within the statutory maximum of 20 years.

Russell, through counsel, first argues that the district court lacked jurisdiction to impose any penalty upon his conviction because he was charged with violating only §§ 841(a)(1) and 846, not with violating § 841(b). The district court’s determination of subject matter jurisdiction is reviewed de novo. Mullis v. United States, 230 F.3d 215, 217 (6th Cir.2000). Russell’s argument is clearly without merit. Subsection 841(b) does not state a substantive offense which may be violated, but expressly provides that “any person who violates subsection (a) of this section shall be sentenced as follows.... ” (emphasis added). Thus, once the court properly exercised its jurisdiction to convict Russell of offenses under §§ 841(a)(1) and 846, it properly sentenced him according to statute. See United States v. Walker, 160 F.3d 1078, 1092 (6th Cir.1998).

The government concedes, however, that Russell’s Apprendi challenge to his 360-month sentence is meritorious. The Supreme Court held, in Apprendi, that, “[ojther than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” Apprendi 530 U.S. at 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348. This issue was raised at sentencing, where the district court also noted that the statutory maximum that could be imposed, absent the jury’s finding of a specific drug quantity, was 20 years. • However, the court then proceeded to sentence Russell to 360 months—ten years over the statutory maximum. Thus, we vacate Russell’s sentence and remand the case so that the district court may resentence Russell within the 20-year statutory maximum found in § 841(b)(1)(C). See United States v. Ramirez, 242 F.3d 348, 352 (6th Cir.2001).

Russell next claims that his conviction violated the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161, et seq. This court reviews for clear error any factual findings made in the course of ruling on a motion under the Speedy Trial Act, but reviews legal questions de novo. United States v. Thomas, 111 F.3d 426, 428 (6th Cir.1997).

The Speedy Trial Act “requires dismissal of a criminal case, with or without prejudice, if the defendant is not tried seventy days after his indictment or the date he first appears in court, whichever date last occurs.” United States v. Jenkins, 92 F.3d 430, 438 (6th Cir.1996). However, this time period is subject to excludable delays attributable to, inter alia, motions filed by the defendant or his codefendants. 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(l)-(8). A defendant must move for dismissal for a violation of the Speedy Trial Act prior to trial or entry of a plea of guilty or else the issue is waived. 18 U.S.C. § 3162(a)(2). The same subsection provides that the defendant bears the burden of proof of supporting the motion, but the government bears the burden of going forward with the evidence in connection with any exclusion of time under § 3161(h)(3).

[351]*351Because Russell failed to move for dismissal under the Speedy Trial Act prior to trial, this issue is waived. See United States v. White, 985 F.2d 271, 275 (6th Cir.1993). In any event, there was no violation. The government has met its burden to show that only 47 non-exeludable days passed between the arraignment of Russell’s last codefendant and the commencement of the trial.

Russell also argues that trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to call witnesses as requested and in failing to move for dismissal or acquittal due to lack of jurisdiction or violation of the Speedy Trial Act.

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Bluebook (online)
30 F. App'x 348, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-russell-ca6-2002.