6th Cir. Pattern Crim. Jury Instr. 14.03A

(1) The defendant is charged with the crime of manufacturing [name controlled substance]. [Name controlled substance] is a controlled substance. For you to find the defendant guilty of this crime, you must find that the government has proved each and every one of the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

(A) First, the defendant manufactured [name controlled substance].

(B) Second, the defendant did so knowingly [or intentionally].

(2) Now I will give you more detailed instructions on some of these terms.

(A) The term “manufacture” means the [production] [preparation] [propagation] [compounding] [processing] of a [drug] [other substance] either directly or indirectly [by extraction from substances of natural origin] [independently by means of chemical synthesis] [by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis]. [The term “manufacture” includes any packaging or repackaging of a substance or labeling or relabeling of its container.] [The term “manufacture” does not include the preparation, compounding, packaging, or labeling of a drug or other substance in conformity with applicable law by a practitioner as an incident to the administration or dispensing of such drug or substance in the course of a professional practice.] [The term “production” includes the planting, cultivating, growing, or harvesting of a controlled substance.]

(B) To prove that the defendant knowingly manufactured the [name controlled substance], the defendant did not have to know that the substance was [name controlled substance]. It is enough that the defendant knew that it was some kind of controlled substance. Further, the defendant did not have to know how much [name controlled substance] he manufactured. It is enough that the defendant knew that he manufactured some quantity of controlled substance.

(3) If you are convinced that the government has proved all of these elements, say so by returning a guilty verdict on this charge. If you have a reasonable doubt about any one of these elements, then you must find the defendant not guilty of this charge

Use Note

This instruction covers simple manufacturing of a controlled substance. If the charges include increased penalties based on the amount of the controlled substance, see also Inst. 14.07A Unanimity Required: Determining Amount of Controlled Substance (§ 841). If the conduct charged includes manufacturing with death or serious bodily injury resulting, see also Instruction 14.07C Unanimity required: Determining Whether Death or Serious Bodily Injury Resulted and Special Verdict Form.

If the conduct charged is possession with intent to manufacture, Instruction 14.01 Possession with Intent to Distribute may be modified.

Bracketed language indicates options for the court.

Bracketed italics are notes to the court.

Committee Commentary Instruction 14.03A

(current through May 29, 2026)

Title 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) provides that except as authorized by that subchapter, “[I]t shall be unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally-- (1) to manufacture . . . a controlled substance . . . .”

In paragraph (1), the second sentence recognizes that the court determines whether the substance the defendant is charged with manufacturing falls within the definition of a controlled substance under 21 U.S.C. § 812.

The list of elements in paragraph (1) is based on the statute.

In paragraph (1)(B), the requirement that the defendant knowingly manufactured a controlled substance is based on Sixth Circuit case law. The instruction requires a mens rea of knowingly and then offers in brackets the option of adding an alternative mens rea of intentionally. As noted above, the statute states that the defendant must “knowingly or intentionally” manufacture a controlled substance. However, as noted in the commentary to Instruction 14.01 on possession with intent to distribute, the Sixth Circuit often omits the optional term “intentionally” from the list of elements for that crime. Based on these cases construing the same statute, the instruction for manufacturing uses the term knowingly, and then provides the term “or intentionally” in brackets as an option based on the language in § 841(a) and for cases where the government used that term in the indictment.

In paragraph (2)(A), the definition of manufacture is based on § 802(15). Some options in that definition have been bracketed to minimize unnecessary words. The bracketed statement on production including planting, cultivating, etc. is based on § 802(22) with the redundant term manufacturing deleted.

Paragraph (2)(B), which states that to act “knowingly,” the defendant need not know the type or quantity of controlled substance involved, is based on United States v. Villarce, 323 F.3d 435, 439 (6th Cir. 2003) (quoting United States v. Garcia, 252 F.3d 838, 844 (6th Cir. 2001)). Knowledge that the defendant manufactured “some type of controlled substance” is sufficient. United States v. Stapleton, 297 F. App’x 413, 426 (6th Cir. 2008) (unpublished) (citing Villarce, supra). Also, knowledge that the defendant manufactured “some quantity” of the controlled substance is sufficient. Villarce, supra at 438 (italics omitted). This authority was not overruled by Alleyne v. United States, 133 S. Ct. 2151 (2013). United States v. Dado, 759 F.3d 550, 571 (6th Cir. 2014).

Knowledge need not be proved directly. Pattern Instruction 2.08 Inferring Required Mental State states this principle and should be given in appropriate cases. In addition, Pattern Instruction 2.09 Deliberate Ignorance explains one approach to proving knowledge under § 841(a). See, e.g., Stapleton, supra at 428.

The offense of simple manufacturing covered in instruction 14.03A is a lesser included offense of manufacturing when death or serious bodily injury results covered in Inst. 14.07C. Cf. Burrage v. United States, 134 S. Ct. 881, 887 & note 3 (2014) (stating that simple distribution is a lesser included offense of distribution when death or serious bodily injury results).