OR · 21usc841:death-results
Under Burrage v. United States (571 U.S. 204 (2014)), "results from" requires actual ("but-for") causation (at least where the distributed drug was not an independently sufficient cause of death), rejecting "contributing cause" instructions.
Exact element source
if death or serious bodily injury results from the use of such substanceSource:
docroot/ir/usc/title21.jsonl#title21_sec841; Unicode character offsets [2494:2566] (end exclusive); SHA-256 ebaba73bf6e21a591f44bf851f24a052a5687813c505030cd9483e17753e9420.Routes and case patterns
| Route | Definition | Merits instance blocks | Distinct merits cases | Examples (up to 3 cases per count group) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| but-for-causation provisional; 2 observed cases | Whether the drug distributed was a but-for cause of death rather than a contributing factor (Burrage). | 2 Satisfied 1; not satisfied 1; excluded context 0 | 2 | United States v. Seals — 915 F.3d 1203 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · 2019 — satisfied · proved (21usc841: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) · applied/merits · counted Burrage v. United States — 571 U.S. 204 (2014) · Supreme Court of the United States · 2014 — not · no-evidence (21usc841: author: Fable · QA: PASS (QA1, neov2/qa/cases-v1-QA1.md)) · applied/merits · counted |
| foreseeability provisional; provisional (1 case) | Whether the death must have been reasonably foreseeable to the distributor. | 1 Satisfied 1; not satisfied 0; excluded context 0 | 1 | United States v. Soler — 275 F.3d 146 (2002) · United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit · 2002 — satisfied · law (21usc841: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) · applied/merits · counted |
How courts decided this element
| Case | Element | Holding and scope | Pattern | Exact source quotations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States v. Soler — 275 F.3d 146 (2002) · United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit · 2002 — satisfied · law (21usc841: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | Death or serious bodily injury results from the use of such substance (§ 841(b)(1)(A)-(C) 20-year mandatory minimum) | satisfied Counted merits instance applied / merits basis: law; claim: (a)(1) & (b)(1)(C) Pure question of law: § 841(b)(1)(C) imposes strict liability for death resulting from the use of drugs the defendant himself distributed and contains no reasonable-foreseeability requirement. The defendant argued the death was unforeseeable because the victim snorted the heroin believing it was cocaine. The jury was instructed on but-for causation; causation itself was not contested on appeal. | buyer-snorted-heroin-believing-it-cocaine | The men drove to Thompson’s apartment in Chicopee, where all three proceeded to snort heroin until they collapsed.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_275.jsonl#/f3d/275/0146-01; Unicode character offsets [2318:2432] (end exclusive); SHA-256 5ab68c28f5b4b624f668f41f8373fac72a69928b0a54ce5ed72262af98a77b09.The paramedics rushed all three men to the hospital and, soon thereafter, Thompson was pronounced dead.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_275.jsonl#/f3d/275/0146-01; Unicode character offsets [2641:2744] (end exclusive); SHA-256 5ab68c28f5b4b624f668f41f8373fac72a69928b0a54ce5ed72262af98a77b09.Despite having consumed between ten and twenty beers apiece, the other three drove to Holyoke in search of cocaine.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_275.jsonl#/f3d/275/0146-01; Unicode character offsets [1336:1451] (end exclusive); SHA-256 5ab68c28f5b4b624f668f41f8373fac72a69928b0a54ce5ed72262af98a77b09.By its terms, the statute of conviction applies whenever “death ... results” from the use of drugs supplied by the defendant. 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C). The fact that the statute does not speak to the defendant’s state of mind undercuts the appellant’s argument that we should impose some kind of foreseeability test.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_275.jsonl#/f3d/275/0146-01; Unicode character offsets [11605:11921] (end exclusive); SHA-256 5ab68c28f5b4b624f668f41f8373fac72a69928b0a54ce5ed72262af98a77b09.Thus, when a defendant deals drugs and a user of those drugs dies as a result, section 841(b)(1)(C) apples without any independent proof that the death was a reasonably foreseeable event. Because the lower court correctly apprehended this point, we affirm the appellant’s conviction on count 1.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_275.jsonl#/f3d/275/0146-01; Unicode character offsets [13754:14048] (end exclusive); SHA-256 5ab68c28f5b4b624f668f41f8373fac72a69928b0a54ce5ed72262af98a77b09. |
| United States v. Seals — 915 F.3d 1203 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · 2019 — satisfied · proved (21usc841: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | Death or serious bodily injury results from the use of such substance (§ 841(b)(1)(A)-(C) 20-year mandatory minimum) | satisfied Counted merits instance applied / merits basis: proved; claim: (a)(1) & (b)(1)(C) The 8th Cir. affirms the § 841(b)(1)(C) serious-bodily-injury enhancement: Burrage does not require the government to exclude the possibility that another drug (acetyl-fentanyl, not sold by Seals) was independently sufficient; the tight timing (injection, collapse within about seven minutes, Narcan revival) and expert testimony let the jury find the heroin/fentanyl mixture a but-for cause. | immediate-collapse-after-injecting-sold-mixture | J.V. then returned to his truck to fill his tank with gasoline, where he lost consciousness and collapsed.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_915.jsonl#/f3d/915/1203-01; Unicode character offsets [1337:1443] (end exclusive); SHA-256 0c0f3dbba850770c03e9c113be73b3bfeebc1cb7411c0dd6cf11ae4545181b38.The first responders observed several symptoms of an opiate overdose : unconsciousness, shallow breathing, poor skin coloration, and pinpoint pupils. The paramedics administered Narcan to revive J.V. and, within 20 to 30 seconds, he regained consciousness.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_915.jsonl#/f3d/915/1203-01; Unicode character offsets [1968:2224] (end exclusive); SHA-256 0c0f3dbba850770c03e9c113be73b3bfeebc1cb7411c0dd6cf11ae4545181b38.Finally, Dr. Pruitt confirmed Karas's testimony that it was medically impossible to determine the concentration of the various opiates in J.V.'s blood sample but, based on a total of roughly seven minutes from injection to collapse, the heroin-fentanyl mixture was the most likely cause of the overdose.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_915.jsonl#/f3d/915/1203-01; Unicode character offsets [4491:4794] (end exclusive); SHA-256 0c0f3dbba850770c03e9c113be73b3bfeebc1cb7411c0dd6cf11ae4545181b38.The initial screening detected two opiates (morphine and codeine ) and a subsequent screening detected two more opiates (fentanyl and acetyl-fentanyl).Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_915.jsonl#/f3d/915/1203-01; Unicode character offsets [2681:2832] (end exclusive); SHA-256 0c0f3dbba850770c03e9c113be73b3bfeebc1cb7411c0dd6cf11ae4545181b38.Karas further testified that, due to the low volume of blood sampled and his inability to perform additional testing, he was unable to determine precisely which drug caused J.V.'s overdose.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_915.jsonl#/f3d/915/1203-01; Unicode character offsets [3346:3535] (end exclusive); SHA-256 0c0f3dbba850770c03e9c113be73b3bfeebc1cb7411c0dd6cf11ae4545181b38."at least where use of the drug distributed by the defendant is not an independently sufficient cause of the victim's death or serious bodily injury, a defendant cannot be liable under the penalty enhancement provision of 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C) unless [the drug distributed by the defendant] is a but-for cause of the death or injury."Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_915.jsonl#/f3d/915/1203-01; Unicode character offsets [6340:6677] (end exclusive); SHA-256 0c0f3dbba850770c03e9c113be73b3bfeebc1cb7411c0dd6cf11ae4545181b38.Given that J.V. undisputedly injected the heroin in the bathroom, it was well-within the jury's province to draw the conclusion that the heroin was a but-for cause of the overdose.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_915.jsonl#/f3d/915/1203-01; Unicode character offsets [9624:9804] (end exclusive); SHA-256 0c0f3dbba850770c03e9c113be73b3bfeebc1cb7411c0dd6cf11ae4545181b38.Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury verdict, there was overwhelming evidence presented to the jury to establish but-for causation.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_915.jsonl#/f3d/915/1203-01; Unicode character offsets [10494:10649] (end exclusive); SHA-256 0c0f3dbba850770c03e9c113be73b3bfeebc1cb7411c0dd6cf11ae4545181b38. |
| Burrage v. United States — 571 U.S. 204 (2014) · Supreme Court of the United States · 2014 — not · no-evidence (21usc841: author: Fable · QA: PASS (QA1, neov2/qa/cases-v1-QA1.md)) | Death or serious bodily injury results from the use of such substance (§ 841(b)(1)(A)-(C) 20-year mandatory minimum) | not Counted merits instance applied / merits basis: no-evidence; claim: (a)(1),(b)(1)(C); count: count 2 (heroin sold to Banka; (b)(1)(C) death-results 20-year mandatory minimum); subject: count=count 2 (heroin sold to Banka; (b)(1)(C) death-results 20-year mandatory minimum) Drug was one of several contributing to a mixed-drug overdose; no expert could say the victim would have lived without it, nor that it alone was sufficient. Contributing/substantial-factor causation rejected; independently-sufficient-cause rule left open; proximate cause (foreseeability) question not reached. | contributing-cause-in-mixed-drug-overdose | Banka and his wife, Tammy Noragon Banka (Noragon), then met with petitioner Marcus Burrage and purchased one gram of heroin from him.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/us_571.jsonl#/us/571/0204-01; Unicode character offsets [828:961] (end exclusive); SHA-256 79b67b6f900bb4e1d188103a922f7b491948af8153ad62495453588c50be54b3.Dr. Eugene Schwilke, a forensic toxicologist, determined that multiple drugs were present in Banka's system at the time of his death, including heroin metabolites, codeine, alprazolam, clonazepam metabolites, and oxycodone.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/us_571.jsonl#/us/571/0204-01; Unicode character offsets [2054:2277] (end exclusive); SHA-256 79b67b6f900bb4e1d188103a922f7b491948af8153ad62495453588c50be54b3.Dr. Schwilke could not say whether Banka would have lived had he not taken the heroin.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/us_571.jsonl#/us/571/0204-01; Unicode character offsets [2689:2775] (end exclusive); SHA-256 79b67b6f900bb4e1d188103a922f7b491948af8153ad62495453588c50be54b3.She described the cause of death as "mixed drug intoxication" with heroin, oxycodone, alprazolam, and clonazepam all playing a "contributing" role.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/us_571.jsonl#/us/571/0204-01; Unicode character offsets [3164:3311] (end exclusive); SHA-256 79b67b6f900bb4e1d188103a922f7b491948af8153ad62495453588c50be54b3.The court instead gave an instruction requiring the Government to prove "that the heroin distributed by the Defendant was a contributing cause of Joshua Banka's death."Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/us_571.jsonl#/us/571/0204-01; Unicode character offsets [4268:4436] (end exclusive); SHA-256 79b67b6f900bb4e1d188103a922f7b491948af8153ad62495453588c50be54b3."Results from" imposes, in other words, a requirement of actual causality.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/us_571.jsonl#/us/571/0204-01; Unicode character offsets [8866:8940] (end exclusive); SHA-256 79b67b6f900bb4e1d188103a922f7b491948af8153ad62495453588c50be54b3.We hold that, at least where use of the drug distributed by the defendant is not an independently sufficient cause of the victim's death or serious bodily injury, a defendant cannot be liable under the penalty enhancement provision of 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C) unless such use is a but-for cause of the death or injury.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/us_571.jsonl#/us/571/0204-01; Unicode character offsets [24546:24864] (end exclusive); SHA-256 79b67b6f900bb4e1d188103a922f7b491948af8153ad62495453588c50be54b3.the Government concedes that there is no "evidence that Banka would have lived but for his heroin use,"Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/us_571.jsonl#/us/571/0204-01; Unicode character offsets [25006:25109] (end exclusive); SHA-256 79b67b6f900bb4e1d188103a922f7b491948af8153ad62495453588c50be54b3.Burrage's conviction with respect to count 2 of the superseding indictment is therefore reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/us_571.jsonl#/us/571/0204-01; Unicode character offsets [25138:25314] (end exclusive); SHA-256 79b67b6f900bb4e1d188103a922f7b491948af8153ad62495453588c50be54b3. |
Court interpretations
interpretation
"Results from" imposes, in other words, a requirement of actual causality.
Burrage v. United States — 571 U.S. 204 (2014) · Supreme Court of the United States · 2014 (21usc841: author: Fable · QA: PASS (QA1, neov2/qa/cases-v1-QA1.md))
"Results from" imposes, in other words, a requirement of actual causality.Source:
docroot/ir/caselaw/us_571.jsonl#/us/571/0204-01; Unicode character offsets [8866:8940] (end exclusive); SHA-256 79b67b6f900bb4e1d188103a922f7b491948af8153ad62495453588c50be54b3.Under Burrage v. United States (571 U.S. 204 (2014)), "results from" requires actual ("but-for") causation (at least where the distributed drug was not an independently sufficient cause of death), rejecting "contributing cause" instructions.
interpretation
We hold that, at least where use of the drug distributed by the defendant is not an independently sufficient cause of the victim's death or serious bodily injury, a defendant cannot be liable under the penalty enhancement provision of 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C) unless such use is a but-for cause of the death or injury.
Burrage v. United States — 571 U.S. 204 (2014) · Supreme Court of the United States · 2014 (21usc841: author: Fable · QA: PASS (QA1, neov2/qa/cases-v1-QA1.md))
We hold that, at least where use of the drug distributed by the defendant is not an independently sufficient cause of the victim's death or serious bodily injury, a defendant cannot be liable under the penalty enhancement provision of 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C) unless such use is a but-for cause of the death or injury.Source:
docroot/ir/caselaw/us_571.jsonl#/us/571/0204-01; Unicode character offsets [24546:24864] (end exclusive); SHA-256 79b67b6f900bb4e1d188103a922f7b491948af8153ad62495453588c50be54b3.Under Burrage v. United States (571 U.S. 204 (2014)), "results from" requires actual ("but-for") causation (at least where the distributed drug was not an independently sufficient cause of death), rejecting "contributing cause" instructions.