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''Burrage v. United States'', , was a United States Supreme Court case in which a unanimous Court held that a defendant cannot be liable for penalty enhancement under the penalty enhancement provision of the Controlled Substances Act unless such use is a but-for cause of the death or injury, at least when the use of a drug distributed by the defendant is not an independently sufficient cause of the victim's death or serious bodily injury.〔(''Burrage v. United States'' ), 〕〔(The Oyez Project: ''Burrage v. United States'' )〕 ==Background== After an extended drug binge which began on April 14, 2010 involving marijuana, oxycodone (which he stole from a roommate), and heroin, Joshua Banka died on April 15. His wife found his body late that morning; they had purchased heroin together from Marcus Burrage. When police searched their home and vehicle, they found syringes, 0.59 grams of heroin, alprazolam and clonazepam tablets, oxycodone pills, a bottle of hydrocodone, and other drugs. Burrage pleaded not guilty to a superseding indictment alleging two counts of distributing heroin in violation of . Only one of those offenses, count 2, which alleged that Burrage unlawfully distributed heroin on April 14, 2010, and that "death...resulted from the use of th() substance"—thus subjecting Burrage to the 20 year mandatory minimum of , was at issue in the case. Two medical experts testified at trial regarding the cause of Banka’s death. One, a forensic toxicologist, determined that multiple drugs were present but could not say whether Banka would have lived if he had not taken the heroin, though he concluded that the drug was a factor in Banka's death. Another, an Iowa state medical examiner, similarly could not determine whether Banka would have lived had he not taken the heroin, but said that his death would have been much less likely. Burrage moved for acquittal because Banka's death was not "because of" the heroin (there was no evidence that heroin was a but-for cause of death), but the motion was denied. The district court also declined giving Burrage's proposed jury instructions, including requiring the government to prove that heroin use "was the proximate cause of () death." Instead, the court instructed the jury to determine if "the heroin distributed by () was a contributing cause of Joshua Banka's death." The jury convicted him and the court sentenced him to 20 years' imprisonment, consistent with the minimum sentence in the law. The Eighth Circuit affirmed Burrage’s convictions.〔(United States v. Burrage, 687 F. 3d 1015 )〕 The Court heard oral argument on November 12, 2013. Angela L. Campbell was appointed by the Court to argue for the petitioner, and Benjamin Horwich, assistant to the Solicitor General, argued for the United States. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Burrage v. United States」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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