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    The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed Delshon Thomas Hall's sentence of 120 months imprisonment for possession with intent to distribute at least 5 grams of cocaine base. Hall challenged the constitutionality of 21 U.S.C. § 851, which allows increased penalties based on prior convictions without requiring those convictions be proved to a jury. However, the Court found that § 851 is constitutional under the prior conviction exception established by the Supreme Court, which exempts prior convictions from the rule that any fact increasing a sentence beyond the statutory maximum must be proved to a jury.

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    Filed: 2006-06-13 Precedential Status: Non-Precedential Docket: 05-4729

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    The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed Delshon Thomas Hall's sentence of 120 months imprisonment for possession with intent to distribute at least 5 grams of cocaine base. Hall challenged the constitutionality of 21 U.S.C. § 851, which allows increased penalties based on prior convictions without requiring those convictions be proved to a jury. However, the Court found that § 851 is constitutional under the prior conviction exception established by the Supreme Court, which exempts prior convictions from the rule that any fact increasing a sentence beyond the statutory maximum must be proved to a jury.

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    7 views3 pages

    United States v. Hall, 4th Cir. (2006)

    Uploaded by

    Scribd Government Docs
    The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed Delshon Thomas Hall's sentence of 120 months imprisonment for possession with intent to distribute at least 5 grams of cocaine base. Hall challenged the constitutionality of 21 U.S.C. § 851, which allows increased penalties based on prior convictions without requiring those convictions be proved to a jury. However, the Court found that § 851 is constitutional under the prior conviction exception established by the Supreme Court, which exempts prior convictions from the rule that any fact increasing a sentence beyond the statutory maximum must be proved to a jury.

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    of 3

    UNPUBLISHED

    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS


    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

    No. 05-4729

    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,


    Plaintiff - Appellee,
    versus
    DELSHON THOMAS HALL,
    Defendant - Appellant.

    Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern
    District of West Virginia, at Huntington.
    Robert C. Chambers,
    District Judge. (CR-05-20)

    Submitted:

    May 17, 2006

    Decided:

    June 13, 2006

    Before WILLIAMS and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior


    Circuit Judge.

    Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

    Mary Lou Newberger, Federal Public Defender, Jonathan D. Byrne,


    Appellate Counsel, David R. Bungard, Assistant Federal Public
    Defender, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellant.
    Charles T.
    Miller, Acting United States Attorney, R. Gregory McVey, Assistant
    United States Attorney, Huntington, West Virginia, for Appellee.

    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.


    See Local Rule 36(c).

    PER CURIAM:
    Delshon Thomas Hall pled guilty to possession with intent
    to distribute at least 5 grams of cocaine base, in violation of 21
    U.S.C. 841 (a)(1)(2000). Because he had a prior drug conviction,
    to which he admitted, Hall was sentenced to the statutory mandatory
    minimum sentence under 21 U.S.C. 851 (2000) of 120 months of
    imprisonment.

    On appeal, Hall challenges the constitutionality of

    851 after United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), because
    851 allows the government to increase the maximum punishment
    without proving the facts supporting the increase to a jury beyond
    a reasonable doubt or alleging those facts in an indictment.
    We find Halls allegation that 851 is unconstitutional
    foreclosed

    by

    the

    prior

    conviction

    exception

    discussed

    in

    Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224 (1998), which was


    reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in Booker, 543 U.S. at 244 (Any
    fact (other than a prior conviction) which is necessary to support
    a

    sentence

    exceeding

    the

    maximum

    authorized

    by

    the

    facts

    established by a plea of guilty or a jury verdict must be admitted


    by the defendant or proved to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.).
    See also United States v. Cheek, 415 F.3d 349, 351-54 (4th Cir.),
    cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 126 S. Ct. 640 (2005) (recognizing
    continuing validity of prior conviction exception).
    Accordingly, we affirm the district courts judgment. We
    dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions

    - 2 -

    are adequately presented in the materials before the court and


    argument would not aid the decisional process.

    AFFIRMED

    - 3 -

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