## Facts

- Federal and state officers investigated suspected amphetamine (“crank”) manufacturing at a remote cabin in the Kiamichi Mountains in southeastern Oklahoma after hearing automatic gunfire and smelling chemical odors associated with production.
- An officer observed a man at the cabin wearing a laboratory coat; the next day, he heard a generator and smelled phenylacetic acid, a precursor chemical.
- Investigators used hidden video surveillance that showed several defendants near the cabin.
- On July 27, 1990, officers conducting surveillance encountered Jerry Duane Spears carrying an automatic Colt AR-15 rifle; officers seized the rifle and a 9mm pistol from Spears.
- Spears warned officers about others inside the cabin; officers observed men near the cabin taking positions behind trees, at least two with long guns, and ordered Clay Dalton Johnson to surrender.
- The occupants ultimately exited the cabin, and officers secured the scene.
- Searches recovered laboratory equipment, precursor chemicals, amphetamine-containing substances, and firearms; a chemist tested seized substances (including containers and a pill bottle associated with Johnson) and found amphetamine.
- At trial, a government witness gave inconsistent testimony about whether he personally delivered certain drug exhibits to the lab or routed them through another officer; defense counsel did not cross-examine on that inconsistency.
- All four defendants were jointly tried and convicted on multiple drug-related and firearms counts; each appealed convictions and sentencing determinations.

## Issues

1. Whether the district court erred in admitting physical drug evidence where the chain of custody contained inconsistencies.
2. Whether the evidence was sufficient to support the defendants’ drug-manufacturing and firearms-related convictions.
3. Whether the district court committed reversible error in suppression-related rulings and other trial procedures.
4. Whether sentencing errors required reversal and resentencing.

## Decision

- The court affirmed most convictions, concluding the record supported the jury’s findings of a coordinated amphetamine-manufacturing operation involving the defendants and firearms.
- The court rejected the chain-of-custody challenge, holding that minor gaps or inconsistencies generally affect weight, not admissibility, absent a concrete showing of tampering or substitution.
- The court upheld the district court’s handling of suppression-related matters, deferring to factual findings and credibility determinations.
- The court reversed in part and remanded for resentencing based on identified errors in certain sentencing determinations and/or count-specific dispositions.

## Legal Principles

- Physical evidence is generally admissible despite minor chain-of-custody inconsistencies; such matters typically go to the weight of the evidence unless there is a substantial basis to believe the item was altered or substituted.
- Appellate review of evidentiary rulings is deferential; credibility choices and fact findings made by the trial court receive substantial deference.
- Sufficiency of the evidence is assessed in the light most favorable to the government; convictions may rest on circumstantial evidence and reasonable inferences drawn from coordinated conduct, physical evidence, and corroborating testimony.
- Sentences must comply with correct guideline calculations and legally valid enhancements; identified sentencing errors warrant remand for resentencing even when core convictions remain intact.

## Conclusion

The Tenth Circuit largely upheld the defendants’ drug and firearms convictions arising from an armed amphetamine lab at a remote cabin, holding that minor chain-of-custody discrepancies did not bar admission of drug evidence and that the evidence was sufficient, but it reversed discrete sentencing components and remanded for resentencing.


United States v. Johnson, 977 F.2d 1360 (10th Cir. 1992)