United States v. Haji Bagcho
Opinion of the Court
Rogers, Circuit Judge:
In 2012, Haji Bagcho was convicted by a jury of one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin, one count of distributing heroin, and one count of trafficking in narcotics while funding terrorism, and sentenced to life imprisonment. As a result of newly discovered evidence of a Brady violation, the district court vacated Bagcho's narcoterrorism conviction and resentenced him to concurrent terms of 300 months on the two remaining convictions. Of Bagcho's three contentions on appeal, only one requires further consideration by the district court.
First, Bagcho contends that by denying his motion for a continuance the district court prevented him from searching the jury selection records in hopes of finding evidence that his jury was not drawn from a fair cross-section of District of Columbia residents in violation of his rights under the Jury Selection and Service Act,
Second, Bagcho contends there was insufficient evidence, even under a preponderance standard, to support a two-point sentencing enhancement for possession of a firearm during a drug offense. On the current record, we agree that there was insufficient evidence Bagcho constructively *1134possessed the AK-47 found in his absence in his compound where others lived and worked during an April 2006 raid by law enforcement.
Third, Bagcho contends that his sentence was unconstitutional because the district court considered uncharged and acquitted conduct in calculating his base offense level. He acknowledges he cannot prevail under circuit precedent.
Accordingly, we remand the case for resentencing but otherwise affirm the judgment of conviction.
I.
Viewing the evidence most favorably to the government as we must, Jackson v. Virginia ,
As part of the investigation, the DEA enlisted Afghan officials to pose as corrupt police officials, who engaged Bagcho in discussions about his drug trafficking activities and to whom Bagcho offered bribes in exchange for early warning of raids planned against his operation. Other undercover informants, including Afghan law enforcement and civilians, were engaged to conduct controlled drug buys from Bagcho and to record conversations with Bagcho discussing heroin purchases.
In November 2006, Bagcho was indicted for drug trafficking by a United States federal grand jury. Upon his arrest in May 2009, he was extradited to the United States. A grand jury returned a four-count superseding indictment in January 2010, charging him with (1) conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin for import into the United States; (2) distribution of one kilogram or more of heroin on September 25, 2006 for import into the United States; (3) distribution of one kilogram or more of heroin on May 21, 2008 for import into the United States; and (4) distribution of one kilogram or more of heroin while funding terrorism. At trial, the jury deadlocked on all counts, and the district court declared a mistrial.
In February 2012, during voir dire for Bagcho's second trial, his counsel, upon seeing the members of the venire, informed the district court of his concern there were a disproportionately low number of African Americans. Only twelve of the prospective jurors were African American, compared to twenty-six whites and two people of unknown ethnicity. Also twenty-nine of the prospective jurors resided in Northwest D.C., while only three resided in Southeast D.C. Since African Americans represented roughly half of D.C. residents at the time, Bagcho's counsel suggested that African Americans may have been systematically excluded from the jury pool in violation of Bagcho's right to be tried by a jury drawn from a fair cross-section of the community in which the court is located. The district court agreed to delay the start of the jury selection to allow Bagcho's counsel to question the head of the jury office, Regina Larry, about the process by which members of *1135the venire had been selected from the broader jury pool of D.C. residents.
Ms. Larry explained that the jury pool is drawn from a master pool of more than 700,000 D.C. residents based on voter, tax, and Department of Motor Vehicles records. She testified that she created the jury pool for Bagcho's trial by mailing a prescreening form to 1,200 prospective jurors whose names were randomly selected from the master pool. The jury office then reviewed the responses, disqualifying some residents and granting requests of others to be deferred or excused. Her testimony revealed no evidence that African Americans or any other group had been systematically excluded from the jury pool. Bagcho's counsel nonetheless requested "a continuance to go to the jury office to go through the statistics," Tr. 38 (Feb. 22, 2012), explaining he wanted to "take a look at statistics" in order to determine whether there was a "fundamental flaw" in D.C.'s process of summoning potential jurors, id. at 40. The district court denied his request, ruling Bagcho had not met his "burden, as the moving party, [to] demonstrate there was a substantial failure to comply with" the Jury Selection and Service Act. Id. at 49.
The jury found Bagcho guilty on all counts except Count III, and the district court sentenced him to concurrent terms of life imprisonment on each of the three remaining counts. Upon learning in 2015 by letter from the Justice Department that prior to Bagcho's trial the government had known that one of the government informants who had testified against Bagcho was likely a fabricator, Bagcho moved for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence that a principal witness against him was not credible. The district court found the government's failure to disclose the exculpatory evidence constituted a violation under Brady v. Maryland ,
On September 6, 2017, the district court resentenced Bagcho. Although Counts I and II only involved two kilograms of heroin, the district court calculated a base offense level of 34 for distribution of at least ten but fewer than thirty kilograms of heroin, U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(c)(3), finding, by a preponderance of the evidence, three transactions: 1.998 kilograms in September 2006, 3.71 kilograms in May 2008, and ten kilograms in July 2008. In addition, the district court imposed a four-point leadership enhancement and a two-point enhancement for firearm possession based on the AK-47 found during the April 2006 raid at Bagcho's compound. With a total offense level of 40, the sentencing range was 292 to 365 months. The district court sentenced Bagcho to 300 months concurrently on each of the two remaining counts.
II.
The Jury Selection and Service Act of 1968 ("the Act"),
The Act provides that in preparing the motion, the defendant has a right to access "[t]he contents of records or papers used by the jury commission or clerk in connection with the jury selection process."
It is undisputed that Bagcho had an unqualified right to examine the records related to the jury pool for his trial. The parties disagree, however, on the proper interpretation of the district court's denial of Bagcho's request for a continuance after hearing the testimony of the head of the jury office. Bagcho maintains that his "request to access records regarding jury selection was unlawfully denied," Appellant's Br. 33, and repeatedly frames the district court's denial as a denial of "access to jury records," id . at 34, and of his "discovery request," id . at 35, thereby ruling he could not inspect the jury selection records at all. He seeks a remand of his case to the district court so he may access the jury records in an "attempt to support his challenge to the jury-selection procedures." Reply Br. 7 (quoting Test ,
The issue before the district court was not whether to let Bagcho (or his counsel) have access to the jury records, but whether to further delay the trial proceedings while he examined the jury office records. Although Bagcho repeatedly states that he asked the district court for access to the jury selection records that it denied, see Appellant's Br. 26, 33-35, the record is clear that Bagcho's counsel requested a continuance so that he would have time to inspect the records. After hearing testimony from the head of the jury office, counsel requested "a continuance to go to the jury office to go through the statistics" and attempt to show that African-Americans had been systematically excluded from the jury pool. Tr. 38 (Feb. 22, 2012); see
The district court explained that Bagcho was entitled under the Act to a stay of the trial proceedings only if he could "demonstrate there was a substantial failure to comply" with the Act,
To the extent Bagcho assumes he needed the district court's permission to examine the jury records, his premise is flawed. The Act provides that "[t]he parties in a case shall be allowed to inspect, reproduce, and copy [jury] records or papers at all reasonable times during the preparation and pendency of such motion,"
Nor was the district court's denial of defense counsel's request for a continuance an abuse of discretion. See United States v. Celis ,
*1138III.
The Sentencing Guidelines provide that a district court may add two points to the base offense level "[i]f a dangerous weapon (including a firearm) was possessed" during a drug offense. U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(1). The preponderance-of-the-evidence standard applies at sentencing. See United States v. Fahnbulleh ,
To prove constructive possession, the government must show that "the defendant knew of, and was in a position to exercise dominion and control over" the item in question. United States v. Dorman ,
The district court found that a preponderance of the evidence showed Bagcho constructively possessed the AK-47 found at his compound during the April 2006 raid. Although Bagcho was absent from the compound at the time of the raid, the district court was satisfied the government had met its burden because Bagcho "was the owner" of the Marco Village compound and "was in control of the[ ] premises" when the raid occurred. Tr. 4:5-7 (Sept. 6, 2017). This district court did not elaborate on what it meant by "control" beyond ownership. The district court relied on Application Note 11 in concluding "[t]he enhancement should apply if the weapon is present, unless it is clearly improbable that the weapon was connected to the offense." Id. at 4:18-21.
Bagcho's challenge to the two-point enhancement for the AK-47 does not dispute that the AK-47 was found during the drug-trafficking conspiracy of which he has been convicted. Nor does it turn on suggesting that the AK-47 was not connected to his drug-trafficking activities. Bagcho instead takes issue with the district court's finding that he constructively possessed the gun because he owned and controlled the compound. Neither Bagcho nor the government disputes that Dorman correctly describes the elements of constructive possession. Bagcho contends that the government failed to show his constructive possession of the AK-47 by a preponderance because it "proved no more than that a firearm was found somewhere within a jointly occupied residence when [Bagcho] was absent," and this court has required more to find constructive possession. Appellant's Br. 45. The government responds that Dorman addressed a substantive count where the government's burden of proof was greater. Appellee's Br. 38.
Notwithstanding the lowered evidentiary burden at sentencing, the government does not suggest that the same elements for constructive possession need not be proved. See United States v. Cazares ,
*1139In re Sealed Case (Sentencing Guidelines' Safety Valve) ,
This court has upheld convictions of constructive possession where "contraband is found in a home or bedroom where the defendant was the sole occupant." Dorman ,
The court has also upheld constructive possession where "law enforcement encountered the defendant in close proximity to the contraband" and there is " 'evidence of some other factor-including connection with [contraband], proof of motive, a gesture implying control, evasive conduct, or a statement indicating involvement in an enterprise.' " Dorman ,
Where a defendant "shares a home or bedroom with other persons," this court has held there was sufficient evidence of constructive possession of contraband found in the shared residence only when there is "additional evidence linking the defendant to the contraband." Dorman ,
The district court's application of the enhancement also rested on finding that Bagcho was "in control of the[ ] premises." Tr. 4:6-7 (Sept. 6, 2017). By "control" the district court apparently meant Bagcho's ownership of the compound in light of his ongoing drug operation there, but the district court did not elaborate. The government maintains that Bagcho's leadership position and the fact that the compound was a site of his heroin trafficking business supports a finding that he knew about the gun and exercised dominion and control over it. This court, like others, has acknowledged that "drugs and guns go together." United States v. Johnson ,
To the extent the district court relied on Application Note 11 to justify the enhancement, Tr. 4:14-21 (Sept. 6, 2017), that commentary is inapposite to the constructive possession inquiry because it concerns the connection between the firearm and the drug offense, not the link between the firearm and the defendant. This court has interpreted Application Note 11's instruction that the enhancement "should be applied if the weapon was present, unless it is clearly improbable that the weapon was connected with the offense," U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1, cmt. n.11, to stand for the proposition that "[t]he weapon need not be used, but merely present" in order to be considered connected to the offense, United States v. Mathis ,
With Bagcho's absence at the time of the raid and no evidence of where the AK-47 was found in the compound, there is insufficient evidence to show he had knowledge of and exercised dominion and control over the particular AK-47 that was recovered, and it was clear error to find Bagcho constructively possessed it. Absent a record to indicate that the district court made findings regarding the other theories based on co-conspirator liability that the government urges in its brief to this court, see Appellee's Br. 40-41, a remand for resentencing is appropriate. United States v. Childress ,
IV.
Upon resentencing Bagcho, the district court imposed a base offense level of 34, finding Bagcho engaged in three separate transactions in which he attempted to distribute a total of approximately 15.7 kilograms of heroin: the sale of approximately two kilograms of heroin on September 25, 2006, an offense of which Bagcho was convicted (Count II); the sale of a little under four kilograms of heroin on May 21, 2008, an offense for which Bagcho was acquitted (Count III); and a July 2008 agreement to sell ten kilograms of heroin, an offense with which Bagcho was never charged.
Bagcho contends that the district court violated his Fifth and Sixth Amendments rights under the Constitution by calculating his sentence based on uncharged and acquitted conduct. But he acknowledges that in United States v. Bell ,
Accordingly, we vacate the sentences inasmuch as they rest on the two-point sentencing enhancement for constructive possession of the AK-47, and remand the case to the district court for resentencing; otherwise we affirm the judgment of conviction on Counts I and II.
Concurring Opinion
I write separately to express my continued opposition to the use of conduct for which a defendant was acquitted to increase the length of that person's sentence. It stands our criminal justice system on its head to hold that even a single extra day of imprisonment can be imposed for a crime that the jury says the defendant did not commit. See United States v. Brown ,
I nonetheless concur because circuit precedent forecloses this panel from righting this grave constitutional wrong. See United States v. Bell ,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES of America, Appellee v. Haji BAGCHO, Also Known as Haji Bagh Chagul, Also Known as Haji Bagchagul, Appellant
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published