Opinion ID: 537726
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Extortionate Loans

Text: 210 Defendants' next claim of error pertains to the jury instruction given with respect to count 12 of the indictment, which charged Gennaro, Donato and Francesco Angiulo with conspiring to make an extortionate extension of credit of $14,000 to Donald Smoot. Defendants contend that the court's instruction on count 12 failed adequately to differentiate this alleged $14,000 loan to Smoot from a distinct $14,000 loan to Smoot made by Ilario Zannino. To understand this contention, it is necessary to state the pertinent facts. 211 Count 11 of the initial indictment charged co-defendant Zannino with making an extortionate $14,000 loan to Donald Smoot. Count 12 of the indictment charged Gennaro, Donato and Francesco Angiulo with making a separate and distinct extortionate loan to Smoot, also in the amount of $14,000. The prosecution's opening statement to the jury referred to both loans. Shortly after opening statements, Zannino's trial was severed from that of his co-defendants due to his ill health. Consequently, count 11 was not submitted to the jury. 212 The defendants' defense to count 12 was premised on the argument that only one $14,000 loan to Smoot existed, and it had been made by Zannino, not by the Angiulos. The government contended that two separate and distinct loans existed and introduced evidence supporting the existence of two separate loans. Both the prosecution and the defense argued their respective positions to the jury. 213 Expressing a concern that the jury would confuse count 11 and 12, and mistakenly return a guilty verdict on count 12 that actually was premised on the Zannino loan, defendants requested an explicit instruction to the jury that count 12 did not charge the Zannino loan. The court declined to give this instruction, and defendants contend that this omission constituted reversible error. 214 We disagree. Reviewing the instructions as a whole, as we must, see United States v. Serino, 835 F.2d 924, 930 (1st Cir.1987), we find that the court's instructions were sufficiently clear to eliminate any likelihood that the jury would confuse the Zannino loan (count 11) with the Angiulo loan (count 12). The court explicitly instructed the jury that counts 7 through 11 had been deleted from the indictment. Furthermore, the court read count 12 to the jury and reviewed each of the elements of the charge. As part of that review, the court explicitly named Gennaro, Donato, and Francesco Angiulo as the individuals being charged with the loan. Finally, the redacted indictment together with written copies of the entire charge were provided to the jury. Given these circumstances, we find it exceedingly difficult to believe that the jury could have been confused about the nature of count 12. Although the court did not give the precise instruction requested by defendants, the careful instructions that were given more than adequately covered the situation.