Opinion ID: 757025
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Elements of the Charged Conspiracy

Text: 272 Abouhalima next assails the district court's denial of his request to charge concerning the intent required to be convicted of the conspiracy. Specifically, in Abouhalima's request to charge, he averred that, based on the conspiracy as charged in the indictment, the government was required to prove specific knowledge and intent to bomb the World Trade Center. The district court disagreed and instead instructed the jury that for purposes of unlawful intent, the object of the conspiracy is not restricted to a particular building. Abouhalima argues that the district court's instruction was error because it invited the jury to convict him without finding the mental element of the crime charged. Moreover, Abouhalima asserts that the court's sweeping language concerning the object of the conspiracy resulted in his conviction for participation in a conspiracy beyond that which was charged, noticed, and alleged in the government's proof. In this regard, Abouhalima argues that through the jury charge, the court constructively amended the indictment to reflect an offense not passed on by the grand jury. Furthermore, Abouhalima asserts that the indictment's repeated references to the World Trade Center and the government's repeated references to that complex during opening statements and summation required the government to prove a specific conspiracy to bomb the World Trade Center. 9 273 We disagree. In order to succeed when challenging jury instructions appellant has the burden of showing that the requested charge accurately represented the law in every respect and that, viewing as a whole the charge actually given, he was prejudiced. Dove, 916 F.2d at 45 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). Because Abouhalima cannot show that his request to charge accurately represented the law, we do not reach the issue of prejudice. 274 It is well settled that the essential elements of the crime of conspiracy are: (1) that the defendant agreed with at least one other person to commit an offense; (2) the defendant knowingly participated in the conspiracy with the specific intent to commit the offenses that were the objects of the conspiracy; and (3) that during the existence of the conspiracy, at least one of the overt acts set forth in the indictment was committed by one or more of the members of the conspiracy in furtherance of the objectives of the conspiracy. See Maldonado-Rivera, 922 F.2d at 961; see also United States v. Wallace, 85 F.3d 1063, 1068 (2d Cir.1996) (for purposes of conspiracy, unlawful intent is the specific intent to achieve th[e] object [of the conspiracy]). 275 The indictment does not charge the defendants with conspiring to bomb the World Trade Center. The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to commit offenses against the United States. Four objectives of the conspiracy, each a separate bombing violation, are alleged as follows: (i) to bomb buildings used in or affecting interstate and foreign commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(i); (ii) to bomb property and vehicles owned by the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(f); (iii) to transport explosives interstate for the purpose of bombing buildings, vehicles, and other property, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(d); and (iv) to bomb automobiles used in interstate commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 33. The World Trade Center bombing is not listed as an object of the conspiracy, but merely as one of 31 overt acts alleged to have been committed in furtherance of the conspiracy. Consequently, because the World Trade Center bombing is not alleged as an objective of the conspiracy, the district court did not err in refusing to charge the jury that specific knowledge and intent was required with respect to that bombing. 276 There is also nothing in the record to support Abouhalima's contention that the court's instruction eliminated the specific knowledge and intent required for conviction of the charged conspiracy and thereby constructively amended the indictment. A constructive amendment occurs when 277 the terms of the indictment are in effect altered by the presentation of evidence and jury instructions which so modify essential elements of the offense charged that there is a substantial likelihood that the defendant may have been convicted of an offense other than that charged in the indictment. 278 United States v. Wallace, 59 F.3d 333, 337 (2d Cir.1995) (quoting United States v. Mollica, 849 F.2d 723, 729 (2d Cir.1988)); see also United States v. Delano, 55 F.3d 720, 729 (2d Cir.1995). Consistent with the indictment, the government argued to the jury that the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to bomb buildings, vehicles and property in the United States and the World Trade Center bombing was one act committed in furtherance of the overall conspiracy. Furthermore, the district court's jury charge closely tracked the indictment. 10 The jury also was given a copy of the indictment to take with it during its deliberations, which, as discussed above, clearly stated the objectives of the conspiracy. See United States v. Jones, 30 F.3d 276, 284 (2d Cir.1994) (perception of prejudice mitigated when jury is given a copy of the indictment). The evidence at trial established a conspiracy to bomb multiple targets and demonstrated that the conspirators successfully bombed the World Trade Center in furtherance of that conspiracy. Accordingly, there was no constructive amendment. 279 Finally, the government's multiple references to the World Trade Center in the indictment and during opening statements and summation did not require the court to charge conspiracy to bomb the World Trade Center. Aside from the unprecedented nature of Abouhalima's argument, those multiple references to the World Trade Center bombing were due to the fact that most of the substantive crimes charged in the indictment stemmed from that bombing. 11 In any event, the proof at trial demonstrated that the conspiracy encompassed considerably more than just the bombing of the World Trade Center, including: (1) the existence of additional chemicals recovered from the Shed after the bombing; (2) the modified timing device found in Ayyad's home; and (3) Ayyad's continuing attempts to procure additional explosive chemicals after the bombing. The most definitive proof of the broad scope of the conspiracy and the defendants' intent to commit additional bombings after the World Trade Center was the letter sent to the New York Times claiming responsibility for the bombing and the similar draft letter retrieved from an erased file on Ayyad's computer disk, both of which speak to future acts of terrorism.