United States v. Wilde

• Decision Date: 18 November 2014
• Docket Number: No. CR–12–0144 EMC,CR–12–0144 EMC
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of California
• Parties: United States of America, Plaintiff, v. Mikal Xylon Wilde, Defendant.

74 F.Supp.3d 1092

United States of America, Plaintiff

v.Mikal Xylon Wilde, Defendant.

No. CR–12–0144 EMC

United States District Court, N.D. California.

Signed November 18, 2014

Randall Scott Luskey, William Frentzen, U.S. Attorney's Office, San Francisco, CA, for Plaintiff.

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS INDICTMENT

(Docket No. 87)

EDWARD M. CHEN, United States District Judge

On September 9, 2014, Defendant Mikal Xylon Wilde filed a motion to dismiss the Government's indictment. Docket No. 87. In his motion, Wilde argues that the indictment must be dismissed because the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)¹ violates his Fifth Amendment rights. In his reply brief, Wilde also argues (for the first time) that the indictment must be dismissed because the “Government's current enforcement policy” with respect to the marijuana laws “violates the doctrine of Equal Sovereignty of the States.” See Docket No. 97 at 4. As explained in more detail below, because Congress's classification of marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance satisfies traditional rational basis review, and because Wilde waived his equal sovereignty argument, the Court DENIES Wilde's motion to dismiss the indictment.

I. BACKGROUND

On August 25, 2010, Mario Roberto Juarez–Madrid was shot and killed near a marijuana grow in Kneeland, California. See Docket No. 20. Fernando Lopez–Paz was also shot during this incident, but survived. Id. Messrs. Juarez–Madrid and Lopez–Paz were allegedly Wilde's employees at the marijuana grow. Docket No. 43 at 5. The marijuana grow was quite large—involving more than 1,000 marijuana plants—and was allegedly protected by workers who had been armed by Wilde. See Docket No. 96 at 6.

Wilde was arrested by state authorities the day after the homicide, and was later held to answer in state court for the murder of Mr. Juarez–Madrid and the attempted murder of Mr. Lopez–Paz. Docket No. 20. On March 1, 2012, the federal government filed a six count indictment against Wilde addressing this same incident. Docket No. 1. Specifically, Wilde was charged with: 1) conspiring to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute 1,000 or more marijuana plants in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 ; 2) manufacturing, distributing, and possessing with the intent to distribute more than 1,000 marijuana plants in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(A) ; 3) murder during a narcotics offense in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 848(e)(1)(A) ; 4) using or possessing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence or a drug trafficking crime in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A) ; 5) using or possessing a firearm in a murder in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(j) ; and 6) being a felon in possession of ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). Id. at 3. The Government later agreed to dismiss Count Six of the indictment. See Docket No. 33. The Government filed a superseding indictment on October 2, 2014. Docket No. 96.

Wilde now moves to dismiss the Government's indictment. Docket No. 87. In his motion, Wilde argues that the classification of marijuana in Schedule I of the CSA violates his Fifth Amendment rights because such classification is irrational and arbitrary. Id. Wilde further argues that the designation of marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance is not rationally related to any legitimate federal interest. Id. In his reply brief, Wilde also claims that the Government's enforcement of the federal marijuana laws differs in those states, like California, where marijuana may be legally used under state law as opposed to those states where marijuana use remains completely prohibited, and that such allegedly disparate enforcement of the federal marijuana laws violates the doctrine of equal sovereignty of the states. Docket No. 97.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Fifth Amendment Challenge

Before reaching the merits of Wilde's Fifth Amendment challenge to the classification of marijuana under the CSA, the Court must determine the appropriate level of scrutiny to apply to Congress's determination to include marijuana in Schedule I. Wilde argues that the Court should apply strict scrutiny because “fundamental rights are at issue,” namely the right to “use medical marijuana on the advice of a doctor.” Docket No. 87 at 9–10. The Government, however, argues that the Court should engage in traditional rational basis review. Docket No. 95 at 4. For the reasons explained below, the Government is correct that rational basis review applies under the factual circumstances of this particular case.

1. Strict Scrutiny Does Not Apply In This Murder Case

The Supreme Court has held that some liberties are so important that they should be considered “fundamental rights.” See, e.g., Shapiro v. Thompson, 394 U.S. 618, 638, 89 S.Ct. 1322, 22 L.Ed.2d 600 (1969) (holding that the right of interstate movement is fundamental); Zablocki v. Redhail, 434 U.S. 374, 383, 98 S.Ct. 673, 54 L.Ed.2d 618 (1978) (holding that the right to marry is fundamental). The Constitution provides “heightened protection against government interference with certain fundamental rights.” Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702, 720, 117 S.Ct. 2258, 138 L.Ed.2d 772 (1997). Thus, the government cannot generally infringe upon fundamental rights unless strict scrutiny is met. See generally Shapiro, 394 U.S. at 638, 89 S.Ct. 1322 ; Zablocki, 434 U.S. at 383, 98 S.Ct. 673.

Wilde argues that this Court should apply strict scrutiny to Congress's decision to classify marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance because individuals have a fundamental right to “use medical marijuana on the advice of a doctor.” Docket No. 87 at 9–10. Wilde admits that no court to date has held that citizens have a constitutionally fundamental right to use medical marijuana. Id. at 11. Indeed, he acknowledges that the Ninth Circuit recently disclaimed such a right. See Raich v. Gonzalez, 500 F.3d 850, 866 (9th Cir.2007) (“[F]ederal law does not recognize a fundamental right to use medical marijuana prescribed by a licensed physician....”). Nevertheless, Wilde argues that this Court should deem the use of medical marijuana fundamental given that a number of states have legalized medical marijuana use since the Ninth Circuit's decision in Raich, and further given that the “trend” arguably shows increasing societal acceptance of medical cannabis. Id. at 10–11.

This Court is not necessarily unsympathetic to the argument that the use of medical marijuana might one day be considered fundamental. As the Ninth Circuit noted in Raich, “medical and conventional wisdom that recognizes the use of marijuana for medical purposes is gaining traction in the law.” Raich, 500 F.3d at 866. The Raich court further noted that the “day when the right to use medical marijuana to alleviate excruciating pain may be deemed fundamental ... may be upon us sooner than expected.” Id. But even if there were a fundamental right to medical marijuana sufficient to involve more rigorous scrutiny than rational basis, it would be of no assistance to Wilde here. There are no allegations charged in this case that Wilde's large-scale marijuana grow was intended for medicinal purposes or was otherwise compliant with California's Compassionate Use Act of 1996.² Nor has Wilde so contended or substantiated in his moving papers. Rather, the indictment alleges that Wilde employed armed workers to protect a large illegal marijuana operation, and that Wilde murdered one such worker and attempted to murder another. See Docket No. 43 at 5; Docket No. 96 at 6. The alleged facts in this case stand in stark contrast to Raich and similar cases where individuals with serious medical needs have sought to establish a constitutionally protected right to use marijuana for medical treatment: Ms. Raich needed marijuana to treat “ten serious medical conditions, including an inoperable brain tumor.” Raich, 500 F.3d at 855. Nor does this case involve a party central to a medical marijuana supply chain authorized under state law. Consequently, Wilde's argument that heightened or strict scrutiny should apply to the possession, use, or distribution of medical marijuana has no application here.

2. Traditional Rational Basis Review Applies

Wilde concedes that this Court should employ rational basis review if it determines that strict scrutiny does not apply to his Fifth Amendment claims. Docket No. 87 at 9–10; see also Romero–Ochoa v. Holder, 712 F.3d 1328, 1331 (9th Cir.2013) (noting that rational basis review applies when a given enactment “does not implicate a fundamental right or target a suspect class”). There are, however, two versions of the rational basis test—traditional rational basis review and a more rigorous rational basis standard “sometimes referred to as ‘rational basis with a bite.’ ” Dairy v. Bonham, No. C–13–1518 EMC, 2013 WL 3829268, at *5 n. 4 (N.D.Cal. July 23, 2013) (citations omitted); see also Erwin Chemerinsky, Constitutional Law: Principles and Policies, 680 (3d ed.2006). Traditional rational basis review is a very deferential standard whereby a challenged law will be upheld “if any state of facts reasonably can be conceived that would sustain it ...” Lindsley v. Natural Carbonic Gas Co., 220 U.S. 61, 78, 31 S.Ct. 337, 55 L.Ed. 369 (1911) ; see also Dallas v. Stanglin, 490 U.S. 19, 26, 109 S.Ct. 1591, 104 L.Ed.2d 18 (1989) (describing traditional rational basis review as “the most relaxed and tolerant form of judicial scrutiny”). Thus, “[o]ne who assails the classification in such a law must carry the burden of showing that it does not rest upon any reasonable basis, but is essentially arbitrary.” Lindsley, 220 U.S. at 78–79, 31 S.Ct. 337 (citations omitted); see also FCC v. Beach Communications, Inc., 508 U.S. 307, 315, 113 S.Ct. 2096, 124 L.Ed.2d 211 (1993) (explaining that “those attacking the rationality of [a] legislative classification have the burden to negate every...