Cocaine Isomer Defense

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CASE LAW

Federal case list is long – See items after that list

MICHIGAN

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. IDRIS QUINTELL WILKES (2023) – Link

Michigan law covered more cocaine-related substances than federal law. More specifically, he argued that Michigan law swept more broadly than federal law because (1) federal law excluded [123I] ioflupane at the time of his sentencing while Michigan did not; and (2) Michigan’s schedule of controlled substances at the time of his sentencing included all of cocaine’s stereoisomers, while the federal schedule only included cocaine’s optical and geometric isomers, which he asserts do not include all of cocaine’s stereoisomers. He also objected to the inclusion of proffer-protected information in the PSR and argued that it could not be used to affect his sentence.

People v. Hartuniewicz

816 NW 2d 442, 294 Mich. App. 237 – Mich: Court of Appeals, 2011 – Google Scholar

… of ketamine, or a salt of an isomer of ketamine … have the burden of establishing statutory exceptions as an affirmative defense) … when officers seize a quantity of crack cocaine, the officers …

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People v. Sinclair

194 NW 2d 878, 387 Mich. 91, 387 Michigan … – Mich: Supreme …, 1972 – Google Scholar

… sativa has been isolated as two isomers of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC … drugs, heroin, morphine, opium, and cocaine, marihuana has … the Constitution, have been asserted in his defense …

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People v. Jones

Mich: Court of Appeals, 2011 – Google Scholar

… backup position, in the face of a defense that another … salts of isomers, when the existence of these isomers, esters, ethers … act” involving trace amounts of heroin and cocaine as violating …

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FEDERAL

United States v. Ross

719 F. 2d 615 – Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit, 1983 – Google Scholar

… we consider arises out of the so-called “cocaine isomer strategy”, United … which, L-cocaine, is
a derivative of the coca leaf … investigation of offenses unrelated to his possession of cocaine …

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United States v. Orzechowski

547 F. 2d 978 – Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit, 1976 – Google Scholar

… only evidenced a Government awareness and concern with the same cocaine isomer issue which …
is the defendant’s theory of this case that l-cocaine is a derivative of coca leaves and …

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United States v. Francesco

725 F. 2d 817 – Court of Appeals, 1st Circuit, 1984 – Google Scholar

… the substance recovered from defendant was a cocaine isomer, the court … the evidence shows
that all forms of cocaine compound 821 … the present case is derived from coca leaves and …

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United States v. Bockius

564 F. 2d 1193 – Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit, 1977 – Google Scholar

… Circuits have considered appeals based on the cocaine isomer theory used … courts to instruct
specifically that D-cocaine is not chemically identical or equivalent to coca leaves and …

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Chappee v. Vose

843 F. 2d 25 – Court of Appeals, 1st Circuit, 1988 – Google Scholar

… for the first time to introduce an “isomer defense” aimed at … is a controlled substance derived from
the coca plant, other … that Gagnon’s tests were inadequate to distinguish cocaine L from …

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United States v. Hall

552 F. 2d 273 – Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, 1977 – Google Scholar

… The United States statute only prohibits cocaine or its chemical equivalent, which is derived from
the coca leaf … Cocaine has many isomers … One isomer is known as l-cocaine or (-)-cocaine …

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United States v. Luschen

614 F. 2d 1164 – Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, 1980 – Google Scholar

… tests which are used to distinguish the 1 and d isomers … the Government has proved is that the
substance is cocaine without proving that it is either a derivative of coca leaves or …

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United States v. Ortiz

610 F. 2d 280 – Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit, 1980 – Google Scholar

… failed to perform a “comparative analysis” for each synthetic isomer of cocaine … assume, without
deciding, that only the natural derivative of coca leaves, known as L-cocaine, is a …

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United States v. Umentum

547 F. 2d 987 – Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit, 1976 – Google Scholar

… It is not disputed that the only isomer which is naturally derived from the coca plant is l-cocaine.
L-cocaine can be synthetically constructed from non-coca leaf origins …

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United States v. Fince

670 F. 2d 1356 – Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit, 1982 – Google Scholar

… that had actually been derived from the coca plant, although … theory that there are certain species
of cocaine which 1358 … 1974), and in our opinion, the “isomer defense” proposed by the …

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United States v. Puglisi

790 F. 2d 240 – Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit, 1986 – Google Scholar

… or was chemically equivalent or identical to, L-cocaine, the cocaine isomer derived from the coca
leaf and … Because no issue was raised as to which isomer of cocaine was involved …

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US v. Fields

113 F. 3d 313 – Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit, 1997 – Google Scholar

… informant’s testimony would in fact be useful to the defense … optical and geometric isomers, and
salts of isomers.” The crux of … the substance seized in the instant case was crack cocaine …

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United States v. Posey

647 F. 2d 1048 – Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit, 1981 – Google Scholar

… not prohibited by statute, and not L-cocaine, an isomer of cocaine … and instructing the jury that
the form of cocaine proscribed by … entitled to an instruction on his theory of defense if such …

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Shepard v. United States

544 US 13, 125 S. Ct. 1254, 161 L. Ed. 2d 205 – Supreme Court, 2005 – Google Scholar

… At sentencing the Government claimed that Shepard’s prior convictions raised … But there is no
claim of such circumstances here: All … the judge, to the prosecutor, to the defense lawyer, to …

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United States v. Scott

725 F. 2d 43 – Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit, 1984 – Google Scholar

… has come to be known as the “cocaine isomer strategy” or … classifications, one of which derived
from the coca leaves themselves is … of L-cocaine, as distinguished from D-cocaine, can be …

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United States v. Rosado-Fernandez

614 F. 2d 50 – Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit, 1980 – Google Scholar

… because of the molecular structure of these two particular cocaine isomers … not shown that the
powder was the “L” isomer of cocaine … test [3] which identified the substance as “L” cocaine …

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United States v. Haro-Espinosa

619 F. 2d 789 – Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, 1979 – Google Scholar

… tests performed by the expert were insufficient to distinguish between legal and illegal isomers
of the … that it must find that he had conspired to sell an illegal isomer of cocaine in order …

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US v. Johnson

437 F. 3d 665 – Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit, 2006 – Google Scholar

… of the investigation, agents gave the money to Witness A, who claimed that she … denied him the
right to present witnesses in his defense by threatening … We consider each claim in turn …

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McFadden v. US

135 S. Ct. 2298, 576 US 186, 192 L. Ed. 2d 260 – Supreme Court, 2015 – Google Scholar

… to those that controlled substances (such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and … of the law is typically
no defense to criminal … that has an actual, intended, or claimed stimulant, depressant …

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United States v. Kolenda

697 F. 2d 149 – Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit, 1983 – Google Scholar

… first DEA expert to testify defined an “isomer” of a … the same empirical formula.” The record
demonstrates that cocaine compound may … in the present case is derived from coca leaves and …

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Alleyne v. US

570 US 99, 133 S. Ct. 2151, 186 L. Ed. 2d 314 – Supreme Court, 2013 – Google Scholar

… right as a defense from judges, not a defense of judges … 298-299 (2006) (arguing, in the context
of defending a broader … of the jury right, that “Apprendi’s historical claim that sentencing …

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US v. Pierce

893 F. 2d 669 – Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit, 1990 – Google Scholar

… Cocaine base is merely an isomer of cocaine … informing him of the charges against him such that
he is taken by surprise and prevented from presenting a proper defense, or (2) by …

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US v. Wiley

29 F. 3d 345 – Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, 1994 – Google Scholar

… base was relevant to the knowledge and intent issues raised by his defense; the August … variance
in this case because “[c]ocaine base is merely an isomer of cocaine.” United States v …

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[CITATION] United States v. Orzechowski

431 US 906, 97 S. Ct. 1701, 52 L. Ed. 2d 391 – Supreme Court, 1977

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US v. Turner

928 F. 2d 956 – Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit, 1991 – Google Scholar

… Defendant does not claim that the stop was pretextual, and the district court’s finding of a … distinction
in the sentencing levels for cocaine base and for cocaine in its salt or isomer forms …

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Burgess v. US

553 US 124, 128 S. Ct. 1572, 170 L. Ed. 2d 478 – Supreme Court, 2008 – Google Scholar

… Petitioner Burgess pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute
50 grams or more of cocaine base, an offense that ordinarily carries a ten-year …

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US v. Jackson

968 F. 2d 158 – Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit, 1992 – Google Scholar

… In an affidavit in support of the motion, defense expert Dr. Morris … mixture or substance containing
a detectable amount of “cocaine, its salts, optical and geometric isomers, and salts …

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Chevron USA Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.

467 US 837, 104 S. Ct. 2778, 81 L. Ed. 2d 694 – Supreme Court, 1984 – Google Scholar

467 US 837 (1984). CHEVRON USA INC. v. NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL,
INC., ET AL. No … National Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Gorsuch, 222 US App …

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US v. Brown

859 F. 2d 974 – Court of Appeals, Dist. of Columbia Circuit, 1988 – Google Scholar

… its salts, optical and geometric isomers, and salts of isomers” for the … of possession with intent
to distribute the requisite amount of cocaine base has … THE EIGHTH AMENDMENT CLAIMS …

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US v. Candelario

240 F. 3d 1300 – Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, 2001 – Google Scholar

… (I) coca leaves …; (II) cocaine, its salts, optical and geometric isomers, and salts of isomers;
(III) ecgonine, its derivatives, their salts, isomers, and salts of isomers; or …

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