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    Unpublished United States Court of Appeals For The Fourth Circuit

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    1) Troy West-Bey pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to 140 months in prison. He appealed his sentence, arguing that the district court improperly relied on testimony from his co-defendant's trial to determine the drug quantity attributable to him without allowing him to cross-examine those witnesses. 2) The district court, which had also presided over the co-defendant's trial, found the trial testimony sufficiently reliable for sentencing purposes and concluded it was unnecessary to have the witnesses testify again. 3) The appellate court affirmed, finding that the district court did not err in relying on evidence from the related trial and that West-Bey had opportunities to rebut the testimony.

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    Unpublished United States Court of Appeals For The Fourth Circuit

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    1) Troy West-Bey pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to 140 months in prison. He appealed his sentence, arguing that the district court improperly relied on testimony from his co-defendant's trial to determine the drug quantity attributable to him without allowing him to cross-examine those witnesses. 2) The district court, which had also presided over the co-defendant's trial, found the trial testimony sufficiently reliable for sentencing purposes and concluded it was unnecessary to have the witnesses testify again. 3) The appellate court affirmed, finding that the district court did not err in relying on evidence from the related trial and that West-Bey had opportunities to rebut the testimony.

    Original Description:

    Filed: 1999-10-29 Precedential Status: Non-Precedential Docket: 99-4181

    Original Title

    United States v. West-Bey, 4th Cir. (1999)

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    1) Troy West-Bey pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to 140 months in prison. He appealed his sentence, arguing that the district court improperly relied on testimony from his co-defendant's trial to determine the drug quantity attributable to him without allowing him to cross-examine those witnesses. 2) The district court, which had also presided over the co-defendant's trial, found the trial testimony sufficiently reliable for sentencing purposes and concluded it was unnecessary to have the witnesses testify again. 3) The appellate court affirmed, finding that the district court did not err in relying on evidence from the related trial and that West-Bey had opportunities to rebut the testimony.

    Copyright:

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    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    24 views3 pages

    Unpublished United States Court of Appeals For The Fourth Circuit

    Uploaded by

    Scribd Government Docs
    1) Troy West-Bey pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to 140 months in prison. He appealed his sentence, arguing that the district court improperly relied on testimony from his co-defendant's trial to determine the drug quantity attributable to him without allowing him to cross-examine those witnesses. 2) The district court, which had also presided over the co-defendant's trial, found the trial testimony sufficiently reliable for sentencing purposes and concluded it was unnecessary to have the witnesses testify again. 3) The appellate court affirmed, finding that the district court did not err in relying on evidence from the related trial and that West-Bey had opportunities to rebut the testimony.

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    of 3

    UNPUBLISHED

    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS


    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    v.

    No. 99-4181

    TROY WEST-BEY,
    Defendant-Appellant.
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore.
    Frederic N. Smalkin, District Judge.
    (CR-97-175)
    Submitted: October 21, 1999
    Decided: October 29, 1999
    Before WIDENER and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges,
    and BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge.
    _________________________________________________________________
    Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
    _________________________________________________________________
    COUNSEL
    Howard Margulies, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellant. Lynne A.
    Battaglia, United States Attorney, Robert R. Harding, Assistant
    United States Attorney, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.
    _________________________________________________________________
    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
    Local Rule 36(c).

    OPINION
    PER CURIAM:
    Troy West-Bey pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine, see
    21 U.S.C. 846 (1994), and was sentenced to a term of 140 months
    imprisonment. He appeals his sentence, contending that the district
    court erred in determining the amount of cocaine attributable to him
    on the basis of testimony produced at the trial of his brother and codefendant, Preston West, thereby denying him an evidentiary hearing
    and the opportunity to cross-examine the government's witnesses. We
    affirm.
    West-Bey's presentence report made no recommendation concerning the amount of drugs attributable to him, instead leaving the issue
    to be decided by the district court. Before sentencing, the government
    announced its intention to rely on the testimony of its witnesses at the
    Preston West trial. Transcripts were made available to the defense.
    West-Bey argued in his sentencing memorandum that fairness
    required that he have the opportunity to cross-examine the government's witnesses. However, the district court (the same judge who
    had conducted the Preston West trial) concluded that it was not necessary to have the witnesses testify again.
    West-Bey concedes that the district court may consider hearsay
    evidence at sentencing, provided that the evidence has sufficient indicia of reliability to support its probable accuracy. See U.S. Sentencing
    Guidelines Manual 6A1.3(a), p.s. (1998). The sentencing court's
    reliance on such evidence does not violate the defendant's Sixth
    Amendment right to confront witnesses. See United States v. Weekly,
    118 F.3d 576, 582 (8th Cir.), dissent modified , 128 F.3d 1198, cert.
    denied, ___ U.S. ___, 66 U.S.L.W. 3399 (U.S. Dec. 8, 1997) (No. 976575). See also United States v. Morales, 994 F.2d 386, 389 (7th Cir.
    1993); United States v. Notrangelo, 909 F.2d 363, 364-65 (9th Cir.
    1990).
    While the government bears the burden of proving the amount of
    drugs for which the defendant is responsible, it may offer its proof in
    a variety of ways. Here, the sentencing judge had also conducted the
    trial of the co-defendant and was able to assess the credibility of the
    2

    witnesses and the reliability of the evidence they provided. West-Bey


    had access to the transcripts in advance of sentencing and had the
    opportunity to rebut the testimony contained in them. Consequently,
    we find that the district court did not err either in deciding not to
    require the government to prove the amount of drugs through live witnesses or relying on evidence from the Preston West trial to determine
    the amount of cocaine attributable to West-Bey.
    We therefore affirm the sentence. We dispense with oral argument
    because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the
    materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional
    process.
    AFFIRMED
    3

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