Opinion ID: 201767
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Instructions Regarding Conspiracy with Government Agent

Text: 66 Both before and after the jury charge, all three defendants requested an instruction that a jury can only convict a defendant of conspiracy if it finds that he conspired with at least one person who was not a government agent. In other words, there must be at least two true conspirators, and government agents do not count. United States v. Giry, 818 F.2d 120, 126 (1st Cir. 1987). The district court denied the request on the ground that the instruction is only applicable when the facts support the inference that the defendant and one or more government agents were the only participants in the agreement, and that scenario was not even the defense's theory of this case, let alone a reasonable inference from the facts. On appeal, Rodriguez maintains that the refusal to grant this instruction requires a new trial. 67 The parties spar over the standard of review, but we need not resolve that controversy. Instead, we will assume, in the appellant's favor, that the de novo standard applies. In order to conclude that Rodriguez had formed an agreement to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, but that he had reached this agreement solely with government agents, the jury would have had to accept an unlikely hybrid of Rodriguez's testimony and the government's theory of the case. Nevertheless, as unlikely as this version of events may be, we will also assume for argument's sake that the district court erred in denying the instruction. 68 In all events, the error was harmless in this case. See United States v. Duff, 76 F.3d 122, 127-28 (7th Cir. 1996) (where testimony showed that defendant participated in many of the [drug] organization's activities as one of its supervisors whereas government agent entered at the bottom[,] . . . . [n]o reasonable jury would have thought that [defendant] agreed only with [the government agent] and therefore the failure to give the instruction was harmless). In order for the instruction to have made a difference, the jury would have had to believe the following version of events. Rodriguez, who lives in Miami, flew to Puerto Rico. The next day, he visited Campusano — who also lived in Miami and whom he had known for about a year and a half — at his hotel. Campusano introduced Rodriguez to Pinillos, with whom he was staying. At no point did Rodriguez agree with either Campusano or Pinillos to obtain cocaine for distribution. The next day, Rodriguez accompanied Campusano and Pinillos to the España Bakery. So far, Rodriguez had not agreed with anyone to obtain cocaine. At the bakery, all three defendants met with all three government agents, but Rodriguez still had not, by either words or conduct, agreed with either Campusano or Pinillos to obtain cocaine. Later, all three defendants stepped outside and talked with Rafa. At this point, and not before, Rodriguez reached an agreement to obtain cocaine — with Rafa alone, because Campusano and Pinillos were merely bystanders. Finally, Rodriguez either never relayed instructions to Campusano at the Plaza Carolina mall via mobile phone, or did it in such a way that he did not bring Campusano (let alone Pinillos) into the agreement. 69 As noted, this is an unlikely scenario, to put it mildly. At the same time, the evidence for the government's version of events was considerably stronger. Indeed, the theory of the case under which the instruction could have made a difference was never advanced by Rodriguez or any other witness, and was less plausible than the theory of innocence that Rodriguez actually professed. To accept the hybrid version of events under which the instruction might have mattered, the jury would have had to disbelieve both the government witnesses (who testified that Rodriguez participated with Campusano and Pinillos in reaching an agreement) and Rodriguez himself (who testified that he was not involved in any discussions relating to the purchase of anything). Because the evidence for the government's version of events was so much stronger than the evidence for the version of events under which an error could have affected the verdict, we are easily satisfied that any such error does not affect substantial rights [and therefore] must be disregarded. Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(a). Cf. Gillespie v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 386 F.3d 21, 30 (1st Cir. 2004) (in civil cases, [r]ecognizing that a jury is likely to prefer a better supported theory to one less supported, we have generously applied the harmless error concept to rescue verdicts where we could be reasonably sure that the jury in fact relied upon a theory with adequate evidentiary support). 70