USA v. DURHAM

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today released an opinion in USA v. DURHAM, No. 05-30403, a criminal appeal. The panel consisted of A. Wallace Tashima and William A. Fletcher, Circuit Judges, and Louis H. Pollak, District Judge.

POLLAK, District Judge:
On January 11, 2005, following a bench trial, the District Court found that defendant-appellant Jessica Durham (”Ms. Durham”) knowingly distributed a small quantity of marijuana to her eighteen-month-old daughter, Michala Durham (”Michala”). Accordingly, Ms. Durham was convicted of knowingly and unlawfully distributing marijuana to a person under the age of twenty-one, in violation of 21 U.S.C. ยงยง 841(a)(1), 859(a). She was sentenced to a five-year term of imprisonment. On appeal, Ms. Durham argues that testimony against her was improperly admitted and that the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient to support her conviction. We find these arguments lacking in merit and affirm Ms. Durham’s conviction. She also argues that her five-year sentence should be vacated because the applicable statutory maximum is two. . .

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