United States First Circuit

In this case, defendant was convicted of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and was sentenced to 144 months' imprisonment. Defendant contends that the district court's responses to two jury questions, as well as its determinations during sentencing, were erroneous. The judgment is affirmed, where: 1) the district court instructed the jury that its verdict must be unanimous; 2) there is no indication that the jurors failed to understand that drug weight was an element of the offense that the Government had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt; 3) because defendant participated in a two-person conspiracy, the jury necessarily made an individualized drug-weight determination; and 4) the district court's decision to deny defendant a two-level sentence reduction for acceptance of responsibility is not erroneous, as defendant chose to contest the drug weight, which was the core of the case.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/22/2014
• Published 12/22/2014

Judges

• Ripple

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel