United States v. Morris, No. 13-1369 (1st Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseDefendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine and more than 280 grams of crack. Defendant did not admit that he was responsible for a particular quantity of either form of drug. During the sentencing hearing, the district court found, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Defendant was personally responsible for 765.5 grams of crack. The court imposed a ten-year mandatory minimum sentence. While Defendant’s appeal was pending, the Supreme Court handed down Alleyne v. United States, which held that the Sixth Amendment guarantees that such qualifying fact issues are subject to jury findings beyond a reasonable doubt. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) the court’s judicial fact-finding of drug quantities in this case was impermissible; but (2) the error was harmless in light of concessions made by Defendant’s counsel and overwhelming evidence that Defendant was responsible for at least 280 grams of crack.
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