US v. Johnson, No. 09-50292

Crack Sentence Vacated in Part

In US v. Johnson, No. 09-50292, the court affirmed in part defendant's sentence for knowingly and intentionally distributing at least 50 grams of a mixture containing cocaine base, holding that, although defendant may have been initially a) confused by the terms of his plea agreement, or b) confused by a specific question directed to him by the court, neither constituted plain error.  However, the court vacated in part where due process prohibited setting a condition of supervised release that "either forbids or requires the doing of an act in terms so vague that men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application.

As the court wrote:  "Dennis Tyrone Johnson ("Johnson") pled guilty under a plea agreement to one count of knowingly and intentionally distributing at least 50 grams of a mixture containing cocaine base (i.e., crack cocaine), in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A)(iii). His plea agreement included a waiver of his right to appeal any sentence imposed."

Related Resources

• Read the Ninth Circuit's Decision in US v. Johnson, No. 09-50292