Opinion ID: 546906
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Reading of the entire indictment.

Text: 28 Prior to trial the district court ruled that only evidence of transactions involving the United Bank loan and the Fondren-Fuqua land-flip would be admitted during the government's case-in-chief. In its charge to the jury, however, the court read the entirety of Count One which included a litany of overt acts about which no evidence had been presented. Luffred contends that the reading of these numerous overt acts had the same prejudicial effect as if they had been introduced into evidence. While it is settled law in this circuit that a court may read an indictment in its entirety provided the jury is instructed that the indictment is not evidence, United States v. Jones, 587 F.2d 802 (5th Cir.1979), in the setting of this particular case, fair trial requirements mandate that the court parse the indictment and read to the jury only those overt acts covered by the evidence. 29