Chapman v. United States

500 U.S. 453 (1991) Supreme Court of the United States 1991-05-30

criminal; sentencing after conviction for LSD distribution, affirmed by CA7 en banc; certiorari by defendants on whether carrier weight counts toward the mandatory-minimum threshold (result: claimant-won)

Facts

  1. 7 Partial penalty-tier drug type and quantity table (selected § 841(b)(1)(A)-(D) hook) satisfied law
    Petitioners Richard L. Chapman, John M. Schoenecker, and Patrick Brumm were convicted of selling 10 sheets (1,000 doses) of blotter paper containing LSD, in violation of § 841(a).
  2. 7 Partial penalty-tier drug type and quantity table (selected § 841(b)(1)(A)-(D) hook) satisfied law
    The ten sheets of blotter paper carrying the 1,000 doses sold by petitioners weighed 5.7 grams; the LSD by itself weighed only about 50 milligrams, not even close to the one gram necessary to trigger the 5-year mandatory minimum of §841(b)(1)(B)(v).
  3. 7 Partial penalty-tier drug type and quantity table (selected § 841(b)(1)(A)-(D) hook) satisfied law
    So long as it contains a detectable amount, the entire mixture or substance is to be weighed when calculating the sentence.
  4. 7 Partial penalty-tier drug type and quantity table (selected § 841(b)(1)(A)-(D) hook) satisfied law
    We think that the blotter paper used in this case, and blotter paper customarily used to distribute LSD, is a “mixture or substance containing a detectable amount” of LSD.
  5. 7 Partial penalty-tier drug type and quantity table (selected § 841(b)(1)(A)-(D) hook) satisfied law
    The LSD crystals are inside of the paper, so that they are commingled with it, but the LSD does not chemically combine with the paper.
  6. 7 Partial penalty-tier drug type and quantity table (selected § 841(b)(1)(A)-(D) hook) satisfied law
    The term does not include LSD in a bot-tie, or LSD in a car, because the drug is easily distinguished from, and separated from, such a “container.”
  7. 7 Partial penalty-tier drug type and quantity table (selected § 841(b)(1)(A)-(D) hook) satisfied law
    We hold that the statute requires the weight of the carrier medium to be included when determining the appropriate sentence for trafficking in LSD, and that this construction is neither a violation of due process nor unconstitutionally vague.