US v. Brewer, No. 09-3909

Crack Cocaine Conviction Affirmed

In US v. Brewer, No. 09-3909, the court affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, distribution of crack cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, holding that 1) the officers had probable cause to arrest defendant, and the search of his person was a valid search incident to arrest; 2) it was beyond serious question that the evidence in this case was sufficient to sustain defendant's convictions; 3) there was no abuse of discretion in the district court's refusal to instruct the jury about the punishment defendant faced if convicted; and 4) the district court considered and rejected defendant's request for a variance based on the crack/powder disparity, and thus was within its discretion to depart downward.

As the court wrote:  "Edward Brewer was convicted after a jury trial of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, distribution of crack cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine. See 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. The district court1 sentenced Brewer to 370 months' imprisonment and 10 years of supervised release. Brewer appeals his convictions and sentence. For the following reasons, we affirm."

Related Resources

• Read the Eighth Circuit's Decision in US v. Brewer, No. 09-3909