United States v. Jessica Durham

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 (“Micha-la”). 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. §§ 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 years. With this contention, we agree. We, therefore, vacate Ms. Durham’s sentence and remand for resentencing.

I.

Events which occurred in early February 2004 form the factual predicate for Ms. Durham’s conviction. We recount them here in some detail, based upon the District Court’s findings of fact and our review of the record.

On February 3, 2004, Brandi Nichols…