The recent Supreme Court case of Burrage v. United States held that the use of a Federal Drug Trafficking sentencing enhancement in cases where the drug user dies is limited.  Burrage was prosecuted for distributing a controlled substance which resulted in the death of the buyer. Under the the enhanced penalty statute, Burrage could be sentenced to a statutory minimum of 20 years.

Government prosecutors argued that the Supreme Court should adopt a concurrent causation rule wherein a conviction would be allowed even without proof that the defendant’s drug was sufficient to kill the buyer.  Under this rule “death results from the use of such substance” if the defendant’s drug, together with other causes, created intoxication that lead to death.

The court rejected the government’s argument, ruling that “especially in the interpretation of a criminal statute subject to the rule of lenity….. we cannot give the text a meaning that is different from its ordinary, accepted meaning, and that disfavors the defendant.”

The Court held instead that a “but for” causation test must be applied stating “that, at least where use of the drug distributed by the defendant is not an independently sufficient cause of the victim’s death or serious bodily injury, a defendant cannot be liable under penalty enhancement provision of 21 U.S.C. §841(b)(1)(C) unless such use is a but-for cause of death or injury”