United States v. Ford

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

______________________ FILED

December 11, 2007

No. 06-20142

______________________ Charles R. Fulbruge III

Clerk

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

JASON JERMAINE FORD,

Defendant-Appellant.

________________________________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court

For the Southern District of Texas

________________________________________________

ON PETITION FOR REHEARING

Before DAVIS, DENNIS, and PRADO, Circuit Judges.

W. EUGENE DAVIS, Circuit Judge:

In response to the Petition for Rehearing filed by the government, we

withdraw the prior panel opinion in its entirety and substitute the following:

The question before this court is whether a charge and conviction for

“possession with an intent to deliver” a controlled substance under section

1

481.112(a) of the Texas Health and Safety Code can be used as a basis for a

sentence enhancement as a “controlled substance offense” under U.S.

Sentencing Guidelines Manual (“USSG”) § 2K2.1(a)(4)(A) (2005). “Controlled

substance offense” is defined in USSG § 4B1.2(b). USSG § 2K2.1 cmt. n. 1.

USSG § 4B1.2(b) states:

The term “controlled substance offense” means an offense under federal

or state law, punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year,

that prohibits the manufacture, import, export, distribution, or

dispensing of a controlled substance (or a counterfeit substance) or the

possession of a controlled substance (or a counterfeit substance) with

intent to manufacture, import, export, distribute, or dispense.

We hold that the conviction in this case for “possession with intent to

deliver” under this Texas statute qualifies as a “controlled substance offense.”

“Possession with intent to deliver” is indistinguishable from the offense of

“possession with intent to distribute,” one of the offenses listed in USSG’s

definition of a “controlled substance offense.” We therefore AFFIRM Ford’s

sentence.

FACTS

On July 14, 2005, Houston police officers Tran and Ponder responded to

a call from an individual stating that he had just seen the person who shot

him a few days earlier. The officers went to the stated address and saw the

alleged shooter inside the apartment who matched the description provided.

Returning to the apartment with a Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, and Tobacco

2

(ATF) Special Agent, the agents confronted the suspect, later identified as

defendant Jason Jermaine Ford, and the apartment lessee, Crystal

McConnell, at the door. McConnell denied having a firearm in the apartment

and consented to a search. While searching, the defendant informed the

officers that there was a .32 caliber firearm on a chair, which Officer Tran

immediately recovered. Ford was then arrested and advised of his rights. The

ATF agent determined that the firearm was manufactured outside of the state

of Texas.

On September 8, 2005, a federal grand jury indicted the defendant on

one count of possession of a firearm after being convicted of a felony offense, in

violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). Ford entered a guilty plea on

November 18, 2005.

The presentence report calculated Ford’s total offense level to be

seventeen, starting with a base offense level of twenty, pursuant to USSG §

2K2.1(a)(4)(A) for a prior “controlled substance offense” and then subtracting

three levels for the acceptance of responsibility pursuant to USSG § 3E1.1(a)

and (b). A total offense level of seventeen combined with a criminal history

category of IV resulted in an imprisonment range of thirty-seven to forty-six

months. Ford objected to the presentence report, arguing that his conviction

was under a Texas statute that penalized acts and intents outside the USSG’s

3

“controlled substance offense” definition. As a result, Ford argued that his

conviction should not qualify as a “controlled substance offense.” Ford’s

charging documents, the indictment, and the judgment were available to the

district court judge. No underlying facts about the conviction were provided in

these documents.

Based on a comparison between the language of the conviction offense

and underlying statute as found in these documents with the definition of

“controlled substance offense” in the USSG, the court below overruled Ford’s

objection. Ford was therefore sentenced on February 10, 2006, to serve thirty-

seven months followed by three years of supervised release.

Analysis

This court reviews the district court’s interpretation and application of

the USSG de novo. United States v. Zuniga-Peralta, 442 F.3d 345, 347 (5th

Cir. 2006). Because Ford's objection was preserved at trial, we review the

record de novo to determine whether the district court's error was harmless.

United States v. Lopez-Urbina, 434 F.3d 750, 765 (5th Cir. 2004).

The issue presented before this court is whether a conviction for

“possession with intent to deliver” criminalizes conduct beyond that which is

subject to sentencing enhancement as a “controlled substance offense.” Ford

relies on two cases which he contends demonstrate that his prior

4

offense–possession of intent to deliver–criminalizes conduct not subject to this

enhancement. In two closely analogous decisions, this court held similar

convictions to be broader than a nearly identical USSG definition of another

offense subject to sentencing enhancement.

In United States v. Garza-Lopez, 410 F.3d 268, 271 (5th Cir. 2005), the

defendant was previously convicted for “transporting/selling a controlled

substance” under section 11379(a) of the California Health & Safety Code and

for that previous conviction, the district court added a sentence enhancement

for a “drug trafficking offense” under USSG § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(i). See USSG §

2L1.2 cmt. n. 1(B)(iv) (defining “drug trafficking offense”).1 This court held

that the “transporting/selling a controlled substance” offense under the

California statute was broader than the USSG’s definition of “drug trafficking

offense.” Id. at 274-75. See also United States v. Kovac, 367 F.3d 1116, 1119

(9th Cir. 2004); United States v. Navidad-Marcos, 367 F.3d 903 at 907-908

(9th Cir. 2004). The California statute, for instance, “criminalizes the

transportation of a controlled substance for personal use and offers to

transport, sell, furnish, administer, or give away a controlled substance.”

1

“‘Drug trafficking offense’ means an offense under federal, state, or local law that

prohibits the manufacture, import, export, distribution, or dispensing of a controlled

substance (or a counterfeit substance) or the possession of a controlled substance (or a

counterfeit substance) with intent to manufacture, import, export, distribute, or dispense.”

USSG § 2L1.2 cmt. n. 1(B)(iv).

5

Garza-Lopez, 410 F.3d at 274. None of the listed activities is covered by the

“drug trafficking offense” definition, which “covers only the manufacture,

import, export, distribution, or dispensing of a controlled substance (or

possession with the intent to do any of these things).” Id. Therefore this court

concluded the district court had committed plain error in adding a sentencing

enhancement, because the basis for defendant’s underlying conviction could be

conduct that lies outside the narrow definition of a “drug trafficking offense.”

Id. at 275.

In United States v. Gonzales, 484 F.3d 712, 714-15 (5th Cir. 2007) (per

curiam), this court held that a conviction for unlawful delivery of a controlled

substance under a different subsection of section 481.112 of the Texas Health

and Safety Code, was broader than the limited set of offenses subject to a

sentencing enhancement under the USSG’s definition of “drug trafficking

offense.” In Gonzales, the court noted that “delivery” encompasses an “offer to

sell” under the Texas statutory definition, and an “offer to sell” is not one of

the acts included within the “drug trafficking offense” definition. Id. See also

Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 481.002(8) (defining “deliver”); Donley v.

State, 140 S.W.3d 428, 429 (Tex. App. 2004) (interpreting “delivery” as any

actual transfer, constructive transfer, or offer to sell); Garza-Lopez, 410 F.3d

at 273 (listing “offers to . . . sell” as conduct outside USSG’s definition of “drug

6

trafficking offense”).

Neither of the above cases controls the outcome of this appeal.

The significant distinction in this case is that unlike the two cases

discussed above, the conviction here was for possession with the intent to

deliver rather than just delivery or transportation.2 In the instant case, Ford’s

indictment charged him with possession with intent to deliver. According to

the USSG, the term “controlled substance offense” includes offenses that

prohibit the “possession of a controlled substance . . . with intent to . . .

distribute.” USSG § 4B1.2(b). We agree with the government that it is pure

sophistry to distinguish between the conduct of one who possesses drugs with

intent to deliver those drugs and one who possesses drugs with intent to

distribute them. United States v. Palacios-Quinonez, 431 F.3d 471 (5th Cir.

2005), demonstrates this point.

In Palacios-Quinonez, the defendant had previously been convicted

under a California statute that prohibited both possession of drugs for sale

2

“Drug trafficking offense,” and not “controlled substance offense,” is the

operative USSG offense in the two analogous cases described above.

However, the definitions of “drug trafficking offense” and “controlled

substance offense” are almost identical. Compare USSG § 2L1.2 cmt. n.

1(B)(iv)(“drug trafficking offense”), with USSG § 4B1.2(b) (“controlled

substance offense”). Any minor textual differences do not control in this case.

Therefore, the definitions of “controlled substance offense” and “drug

trafficking offense” are identical for our purposes here. Cf. United States v.

Gonzalez-Borjas, 125 F.App’x. 556, 559 & n. 9 (5th Cir. 2005) (unpublished).

7

(which was conceded to be a drug trafficking offense) and purchase of drugs for

purpose of sale. Because it was impossible to determine under which prong

Palacios-Quinonez was convicted, the court had to determine whether a

“purchase for purpose of sale” also fell within the definition of a drug

trafficking offense. In Palacios-Quinonez, this court noted one major

difference between a conviction for an “offer to sell” controlled substances and

a conviction for a “purchase for sale” of a controlled substance. One may “offer

to sell” drugs without possessing those drugs. One who “purchases for sale”

however has either actual or constructive possession of the controlled

substance. We concluded that the offense of “purchase for sale” was

equivalent to the controlled substance “possession with intent to distribute.”

For purposes of qualifying as a controlled substance offense, Ford’s

conduct is indistinguishable from Palacios’ conduct. Ford possessed drugs

with intent to deliver or pass them on to another. Palacios purchased drugs

(and thereby actually or constructively possessed them) and intended to sell

them to another. The conduct in both instances is equivalent to the drug

trafficking offense, possession of a controlled substance with intent to

distribute.

Accordingly, the district court did not err in enhancing Ford’s sentence

8

pursuant to USSG § 2K2.1(a)(4)(A).3 For the reasons stated above, we

therefore AFFIRM the sentence.

AFFIRMED.

3

In order to preserve the argument for further review, Ford also contends that his

indictment under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) is unconstitutional both facially and as applied. An

indictment under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) requires an effect on interstate commerce. Ford

argues that where the only interstate commerce nexus is the fact that the firearm at some

point in the past traveled across state lines contravenes the limits of the commerce power

as defined in United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549, 551 (1995). But he concedes his

argument is foreclosed by several opinions by this court. See e.g., United States v.

Daughtery, 264 F.3d 513, 518 (5th Cir. 2001).

9

DENNIS, Circuit Judge, dissenting from grant of panel rehearing.

Our original unanimous panel decision was based solidly on our

prior panels’ precedents. Nevertheless, despite our basic rule of stare

decisis, the new panel majority now refuses to follow those circuit

precedents because it deems them to be founded on “sophistry.” As the

Supreme Court has stated:

Very weighty considerations underlie the principle that courts

should not lightly overrule past decisions. Among these are

the desirability that the law furnish a clear guide for the

conduct of individuals, to enable them to plan their affairs

with assurance against untoward surprise; the importance of

furthering fair and expeditious adjudication by eliminating

the need to relitigate every relevant proposition in every case;

and the necessity of maintaining public faith in the judiciary

as a source of impersonal and reasoned judgments. The

reasons for rejecting any established rule must always be

weighed against these factors.

Moragne v. States Marine Lines, Inc., 398 U.S. 375, 403 (1970).

These weighty considerations are acutely important on a

seventeen- member court sitting in panels of three. Because the majority

disregards these considerations and the additional needs underlying our

own circuit rules requiring adherence to precedent, I must respectfully

dissent.

I. Logic not sophistry supports Ford’s position and the original

panel opinion

Our original opinion correctly concludes that the Texas offense of

10

“possession with an intent to deliver” is “broader”1 than the federal

sentencing guideline’s “possession with an intent to distribute” offense, a

controlled substance offense that triggers a federal sentence

enhancement. This conclusion is a direct logical consequence of our prior

panel’s comparison of the same state statute and a substantively

identical sentencing guideline in United States v. Gonzales, 484 F.3d 712

(5th Cir. 2007).2 As in Gonzales, our task is to engage in a Taylor

categorical analysis to determine whether the elements of the state

statutory offense is a type of offense that triggers federal sentence

enhancement. Id. at 714-15. A quick review of the straightforward logic

that applies here should avoid any hint of “sophistry.”

A. Texas Offense of “Delivery” Is Not A Controlled Substance Offense of

“Distribution”

The Texas offense of “delivery of a controlled substance” provides

three ways that this offense may be committed: the actual transfer, the

1

That is, the state statute contains one or more crime definitions, or ways that the statute

may be violated, that do not constitute a “controlled substance offense” under USSG § 4B1.2(b).

The state statutory offense therefore “encompasses activity that does not fall within the definition

of” “controlled substance offense” under USSG § 4B1.2(b). See United States v. Garza-Lopez,

410 F.3d 268, 274 (5th Cir. 2005).

2

Gonzales held that the Texas offense of “delivery” is not a “drug trafficking offense”

subject to federal sentence enhancement. 484 F.3d at 714-15. The federal sentencing guideline

offense in Gonzales (“drug trafficking offense”) has an identical definition as the guideline offense

in this case (“controlled substance offense”). Compare USSG §§ 4B1.2(b), 2K2.1 cmt. n. 1

(defining “controlled substance offense”) with USSG § 2L1.2 cmt. n. 1(B)(iv) (defining “drug

trafficking offense.”).

11

constructive transfer, and the offer to sell a controlled substance.3

Gonzales establishes that because the mere offer to sell controlled

substances can form part of a crime under the Texas statute but not

under the federal guidelines, there is a discrepancy between the state

and federal offense definitions in this respect.4 Thus, when a Texas

offender enters an undifferentiated guilty plea to delivery of controlled

substances he may be convicting himself only of delivery by offer to sell, a

type of Texas crime that is not defined as the “distribution of controlled

substances,” a controlled substance offense under the federal guidelines.5

Therefore, under Gonzales, a Texas “delivery” offense is broader

than the controlled substance offense of “distribution” that triggers a

federal sentence enhancement.

B. Taylor Analysis Requires Us to Compare the Elements of the Offenses

In Garza-Lopez, we said “a district court looks to the elements of a

prior offense, rather than to the facts underlying the conviction, when

classifying a prior offense for sentence enhancement purposes.” 410 F.3d

at 273 (citing Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 602 (1990)).

Texas case-law holds “possession with an intent to deliver”

comprises two separate elements: “possession” and an “intent to

3

Texas Health & Safety Code § 481.002(8): “‘Deliver’ means to transfer, actually or

constructively, to another a controlled substance...[or to] offer[] to sell a controlled substance. . .

.”

4

Gonzales, 484 F.3d at 714-15.

5

Id.

12

deliver.”6 Federal case-law holds “possession with an intent to distribute”

comprises two separate elements: “possession” and an “intent to

distribute.”7

Therefore, under Taylor, we should compare the offense elements:

“possession” with “possession” and “intent to distribute” with “intent to

deliver.”

C. There Is No Dispute About the Equivalence of “Possession”

The parties do not question whether “possession” in Ford’s

conviction means “possession” for federal sentencing purposes.

D. “Intent to Deliver” Encompasses Intent Not Defined as an “Intent to

Distribute”

Texas case-law holds that an “intent to deliver a controlled

substance” is the intent to complete a “delivery of a controlled substance”

6

See, e.g., Taylor v. Texas, 106 S.W.3d 827, 830-31 (Tex. App. 2003).

7

USSG § 4B1.2(b) states:

The term “controlled substance offense” means an offense under federal or state law,

punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, that prohibits the manufacture,

import, export, distribution, or dispensing of a controlled substance (or a counterfeit

substance) or the possession of a controlled substance (or a counterfeit substance) with

intent to manufacture, import, export, distribute, or dispense.

Under a straightforward reading of the statute, possession with intent to distribute includes at

least two elements: “simple possession” and “an intent to distribute.” See, e.g., United States v.

Lacy, 446 F.3d 448, 454 (3d Cir. 2006) (“Thus, the elements of the base offense are (1) knowing

or intentional (2) possession (3) with intent to distribute (4) a controlled substance.”) (describing

a possession with intent to distribute controlled substance offense under federal law); United

States v. Montanez, 442 F.3d 485, 492 (6th Cir. 2006) (“It is abundantly clear from the plain

language of the statutes of conviction that each contains only the element of ‘possession’ and

does not contain the element of ‘intent to distribute.’”)

13

offense.8 Federal case-law holds that an “intent to distribute a controlled

substance” is the intent to complete a “distribution of controlled

substance” offense.9

A Texas “delivery of a controlled substance” offense is broader than

a “distribution of a controlled substance” offense that triggers a federal

sentence enhancement.

Therefore, Taylor’s comparison of elements concludes that

“possession with intent to deliver” is “broader” and not equivalent to

“possession with intent to distribute,” because the “intent to deliver”

element includes a different kind of intent, i.e., intent to “offer to sell,”

which is a type of intent that is not an “intent to distribute” under the

federal sentencing guidelines.

E. Gonzales and Taylor Require The Conclusion Reached by the Original

Opinion

Based on previous sections, because the mere intent to offer to

deliver drugs can form part of a crime under the Texas statute but not

under the federal guidelines, there is a discrepancy between the state

and federal crime definitions in this respect. When a Texas offender

enters an undifferentiated guilty plea of possession with intent to deliver

8

See, e.g., Pitts v. Texas, 731 S.W.2d 687, 691 (Tex. App. 1987) (citing Gonzales v. Texas, 638

S.W.2d 41,44 (Tex. App. 1982)). Whether possession is involved does not change the truth of this

statement, because an offense of “delivery,” including an “offer to sell” offense, does not differentiate

between delivery or “offer to sell” convictions with possession and those without. See Lopez v. Texas, 108

S.W.3d 293, 300 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003) (holding that offer to sell and possession of drugs to complete

that specific sale is one single offense); Pena v. Texas, 776 S.W.2d 746, 748-49 (Tex. App. 1989) (finding

defendant’s actual possession and attempted delivery of marihuana as sufficient evidence for a conviction

under an “offer to sell” theory.).

9

See, e.g., United States v. Contreras, 895 F.2d 1241, 1244 (9th Cir. 1990).

14

he may be pleading guilty to only possession with intent to deliver by

offer to sell, a type of Texas crime that is not defined as a controlled

substance offense by the federal guidelines.10

II. Other Panels Agree With the Original Opinion’s Logic

The previous section demonstrates that the reasoning in the

original opinion was not sophism, but straightforward syllogistic logic

and required by previous case-law. The mere feeling by even a number of

federal judges that a statutory offense of “possession with intent to offer

to sell” should either be included in the guidelines definition or deleted

from the Texas statute is, of course, not grounds for us to alter the plain

words of the statute and the guidelines. See United States v. Herrera-

Roldan, 414 F.3d 1238, 1244 (10th Cir. 2005) (“We cannot rewrite the

Sentencing Guidelines simply because they might, in future cases,

produce an anomalous result.”).11 As concluded above, our original panel

decision in Ford is the logical consequence of Gonzales and Taylor. By

concluding otherwise, the majority ignores the clear logical implications

of precedent.

Subsequent unpublished decisions by other panels have reached the

same result as our original panel opinion. For example, one panel

applied the same reasoning to the same Texas statute of conviction, i.e.,

10

Gonzales, 484 F.3d at 714-15.

11

Moreover, as we stated in Gonzales, we look at the “common, ordinary and contemporary

understanding” of an offense only if the offense is not statutorily defined. Since the definition of

“possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance” is statutorily defined, the common, ordinary, and

contemporary understanding of the offense is irrelevant. Gonzalez, 484 F.3d at 716.

15

possession with intent to deliver, even though our original opinion did

not bind their decision as our opinion was pending panel rehearing. See

United States v. Barrera-Castro, 232 F. App’x. 429 (5th Cir. May 24,

2007) (Smith, Wiener, Owen, JJ.) (citing United States v. Gonzales, 484

F.3d 712, 715-17 (5th Cir. 2007) (King, Wiener, Owen, JJ.)); United

States v. Lozoya, 232 F. App’x 431 (5th Cir. May 30, 2007) (Smith,

Wiener, Owen, JJ.). A different panel adopted and applied the reasoning

of our original panel decision to a Colorado conviction for possession of

drugs with intent to either sell or distribute in which “sell” was

statutorily defined to include an “offer to sell.” See United States v.

Flores-Meras, 234 F. App’x 307 (5th Cir. July 16, 2007) (Jolly, Clement,

Owen, JJ.). In other words, the panel concluded that “possession with

intent to offer to sell” under Colorado law is not “possession with intent

to distribute” for federal sentence enhancement purposes. Id. The

panels in Garza-Lopez (King, Garza, Benavides, JJ.) and Gonzales (King,

Wiener, Owen, JJ.) considered and agreed with defendants who

successfully raised arguments very similar to the arguments in this case.

In sum, by pejoratively calling the reasoning of our original panel opinion

“sophistry,” the new majority here is hurling the epithet of “sophist” at

no less than a majority of this court, including all members of this

panel.12

III. Adopting the New Rule Creates An Inconsistency in

12

In total, Judges King, Jolly, Davis, Smith, Wiener, Garza, Benavides, Dennis, Clement, Owen,

and Prado all agreed at one point with these arguments.

16

Sentencing

Not only does the majority’s opinion fail to follow the logical

implications of precedent, the majority’s new opinion will also create an

inconsistency in our sentencing practice. Under Texas law, “possession

with intent to deliver a controlled substance” is a lesser-included offense

of “delivery of a controlled substance.” See Pena-Mota v. Texas, 986

S.W.2d 341, 346 (Tex. App. 1999) (“Possession with intent to deliver a

controlled substance is a lesser-included offense of delivery of that same

controlled substance in the same transaction.”). Under Gonzales, a

federal sentencing court cannot impose guidelines enhancement because

of a prior Texas conviction for “delivery.” Now the new majority opinion

concludes that a court can enhance a sentence for “delivery’s” lesser

included offense, “possession with intent to deliver [by offer to sell].”13

Under the majority panel opinion, a defendant is now punished

more severely in the federal sentencing context for the lesser Texas crime

of possession with intent to deliver controlled substances than for the

greater Texas crime of delivery of controlled substances if he chooses to

plead, or if a Texas jury convicts, on a lesser-included offense instead of

the more serious general offense. Thus, a Texas culprit who possesses

drugs with intent to offer them for sale is exposed to USSG enhancement

13

While Ford’s conviction pertains to an enhancement under USSG § 2K2.1(a) as a

“controlled substance offense” and Gonzales pertains to enhancements under USSG § 2L1.2 as a

“drug trafficking offense,” the definitions of “controlled substance offense” and “drug trafficking

offense,” as I noted earlier, are identical. Compare USSG §§ 4B1.2(b), 2K2.1 cmt. n. 1 (defining

“controlled substance offense”) with USSG § 2L1.2 cmt. n. 1(B)(iv) (defining “drug trafficking

offense.”). As a result, our decisions discussing one enhancement would be applied to the other.

17

while a Texas criminal who is guilty of the greater and more serious

crime of delivery of drugs is not. See Stockton v. Texas, 756 S.W.2d 873,

876 (Tex. App. 1998) (“The word ‘lesser’ appears to refer not to the

punishment range, but to the factor that distinguishes the included

offense from the offense charged, i.e., less than all facts, less serious

injury or risk of harm, less culpable mental state.”). Further, the new

panel majority opinion conflicts, rather than conforms, with the purpose

of the USSG. Such a result arguably contravenes the purpose of the

Sentencing Guidelines. “‘The Guidelines were enacted to bring

uniformity and predictability to sentencing.’ The goal is ‘to reduce

unjustified disparities and so reach toward the evenhandedness and

neutrality that are the distinguishing marks of any principled system of

justice.’” United States v. Gonzalez-Ramirez, 477 F.3d 310, 313 & nn.15-

16 (5th Cir. 2007) (citing United States v. Asburn, 20 F.3d 1336, 1347 (5th

Cir. 1994); Koon v. United States, 518 U.S. 81, 113 (2000)).

IV. The Majority Mischaracterizes Ford’s conviction

The majority reaches its conclusion relying on three flawed

justifications. The majority unsuccessfully attempts to justify its

inference of an intent to distribute from Ford's guilty plea conviction in

three different ways: (1) by mis-characterizing Ford’s conviction; (2) by

inferring an “intent to distribute” from simple possession; and (3) by

comparing Ford’s conviction with United States v. Palacios-Quironez, 431

F.3d 471 (5th Cir. 2005). Each proffered justification is fundamentally

flawed.

18

First, the majority attempts to (mis)characterize Ford’s “intent to

deliver” as an “intent to distribute.” The majority concludes quite

summarily that “Ford possessed drugs with intent to deliver or pass

them on to another.” (emphasis added). The majority obviously believes

and desires to characterize Ford as intending to “pass” drugs onto

another, which is “distribution” for federal sentencing purposes.

However, no document informs this panel that Ford was convicted for

intending to “pass” controlled substances. He was only convicted for an

“intent to deliver controlled substances,” which includes an intent to

“offer to sell controlled substances.” Gonzales clearly forbids us today to

characterize the term “delivery” in this Texas statute as necessarily

including the “passing” of controlled substances to another, i.e., actually

or constructively transferring controlled substances to another. 484 F.3d

at 715 (“That is, even though the indictment charged [the defendant]

with actually transferring, constructively transferring, and offering to

sell a controlled substance, the jury could have convicted him based on an

offer to sell alone.”). Gonzales logically requires us today to consider

Ford’s conviction as possession with intent to offer to sell and not, as the

majority desires, a conviction that implicates an intent to actually or

constructively transfer controlled substances.

In essence, the majority opinion is asking us to disregard precedent

concluding that “a disjunctive statute may be pleaded conjunctively and

proven disjunctively.” Gonzales, 484 F.3d at 715 (quoting United States v.

Still, 102 F.3d 118, 124 (5th Cir. 1996)). The majority now re-

characterizes Ford’s guilty plea as necessarily convicting him of

19

possession with intent to transfer, rather than with intent to offer to sell,

although the latter is the only intent or offense imputable to him under

the Taylor categorical approach. Thus, the majority disregards Gonzales

and an established line of precedent under which we are required to

assume that the conviction was necessarily established under only the

least culpable of the disjunctive possibilities, i.e., possession with intent

to offer to sell.

V. Inferring Distribution from Possession Disregards the Taylor

Categorical Approach

The majority attempts to distinguish Gonzales by noting that the

conviction in this case involved possession in addition to an intent to

deliver. In other words, the majority infers from the “possession”

element in the offense that an “intent to deliver” is equivalent to an

“intent to distribute” for federal sentencing purposes. A majority of

Circuit courts explicitly forbids any inference from possession or other

aspects of the defendant’s underlying conduct with respect to the “intent

to distribute” element.14 See Herrera-Roldan, 414 F.3d at 1241 (“We

therefore decline the government's invitation to draw inferences about an

intent to distribute from [the defendant’s] underlying conduct.”);

Montanez, 442 F.3d at 491 (“[C]riminal intent to distribute must be

proven and not merely implied.”) (quoting United States v. Foster, 28

14

The Supreme Court has said that conviction for simple possession is not a “controlled

substance offense.” Salinas v. United States, 547 U.S. 188, 188 (2006) (per curiam). Therefore,

there must be some basis for an inference of intent to distribute, manufacture, etc. other than and

independent of possession in order for the state conviction for possession to arise to an offense

subject to federal sentence enhancement. See Montanez, 442 F.3d at 491 (6th Cir. 2006).

20

F.3d 109, 1994 WL 201201 (9th Cir. May 23, 1994) (unpublished)); United

States v. Villa-Lara, 451 F.3d 963, 965 (9th Cir. 2006) (“The Information

states that [defendant] was charged with possession of a “trafficking

quantity” of a controlled substance. This does not reveal that he had any

trafficking intent.”). One Circuit court allows such an inference only if

the statutory scheme clearly mandates such an inference. See United

States v. Madera-Madrea, 333 F.3d 1228, 1232 (11th Cir. 2003). As I

note below, other Circuits persuasively criticize even this limited

inference of an “intent to distribute” from mere possession as violating

Taylor. Therefore, Madera-Madera appears to have been incorrectly

decided, and furthermore, is readily distinguishable, because it relies on

explicit statutory intent, which does not exist here.

In Madera-Madera, 333 F.3d at 1232, based on a close reading of a

Georgia statute, the Eleventh Circuit determined that Georgia’s

legislature intended a conviction for the possession of a certain elevated

amount of drugs to be an offense so serious that federal sentencing courts

should infer that the statute intends such possession to “represent an

intent to distribute and thereby traffic.” In Villa-Lara, the Ninth Circuit

rejected the Eleventh Circuit’s approach, because it failed to “undertake

a proper Taylor categorical analysis of only the statutory definition of the

prior offense.” Id. at 965 n.2. Moreover, the Tenth Circuit in United

States v. Herrera-Roldan, 414 F.3d 1238, 1241-243 (10th Cir. 2005)

addressed the same Texas statute at issue in this case and concluded

that the approach in Madera-Madera does not apply to this Texas

statute, because of material differences between Georgia’s and Texas’

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statutory schemes. Id. (“The Texas statutory scheme therefore does not

imply an intent to distribute from the fact of possession. . .”). Madera-

Madera is either incorrectly decided or readily distinguishable as it relies

on a specific reading of legislative intent of a unique Georgia statute.

Therefore, there is no justification or case that permits the majority to

avoid the elements approach under Taylor and create an unwarranted

inference of an “intent to distribute” from the “possession” element if the

Texas offense’s “intent to deliver” element, by itself, is broader than the

federal definition of an “intent to distribute.” Cf. Gonzales, 484 F.3d at

715-17; Villa-Lara, 451 F.3d at 965; Montanez, 442 F.3d at 492.

VI. Palacios-Quironez is irrelevant

The majority’s heavy reliance on United States v. Palacios-

Quironez, 431 F.3d 471 (5th Cir. 2005) as an analogous precedent is

misplaced. In that case we concluded that a California conviction for a

“purchase for sale” of controlled substances is a “drug trafficking offense”

for federal sentencing purposes. In Palacios, the statutory terms and the

issues on appeal were markedly dissimilar.

First, Palacios was convicted of a “purchase for sale” of controlled

substances under a California statute. Ford was convicted for “possession

with an intent to deliver” under a Texas statute. The elements

“purchase” and “intent to sell”15 in Palacios’ statutory offense are entirely

unlike Ford’s statutory offense elements of “possession” and “intent to

15

An intent to “offer to sell” is not equivalent to an intent to actually sell controlled

substances. See Flores-Meras, 234 F. App’x 307. Palacios was a case about an intent to actually

sell controlled substances, and thus is also distinguishable from this case in this regard.

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deliver.” The majority provides no reason why dissimilar elements in

these statutory offenses are comparable under a Taylor approach.

Second, the only issue on appeal in Palacios was whether the

“purchase” element in the California offense is broader than the

“possession” element in the “possession with intent to distribute” offense

in the federal sentencing guideline. Palacios, 431 F.3d at 474 (“[We] do

not agree [with Palacios] that ‘purchase for purposes of sale does not

involve ‘possession’ with intent to distribute as required by the

guidelines.”). Palacios held that the “purchase” element under the

California statutory offense is not broader, but narrower, than the

“possession” element. Id. at 474, 476 n.6 (“By contrast, to accomplish a

purchase of a drug for sale, one must have at least constructive

possession.”). Palacios’ holding regarding the relationship between the

“purchase” element in a California statutory offense and “possession”

element in the federal sentencing guidelines is completely irrelevant to

the issue before us now.

The majority’s decision finds no basis in law, ignores the fact that

our original panel opinion was a logical consequence of Gonzales16 under

the Taylor categorical approach, and creates irrational disparities in

sentencing. For these reasons, I respectfully dissent.

16

To the extent that a new majority opinion is in conflict with Gonzales the earlier

precedent still controls future cases. See Billot v. Puckett, 135 F.3d 311, 316 (5th Cir. 1998).

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