Opinion ID: 466323
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Jury Instructions Regarding SAC's Partnership Defense

Text: 32 Theory. 33 In reviewing a trial judge's charge to the jury, the standard of review is whether or not the instructions taken as a whole were misleading or represented a statement inadequate to guide the jury's deliberations. Stoker v. United States, 9 Cir., 1978, 587 F.2d 438, 440. Accord United States v. Pazsint, 9 Cir., 1983, 703 F.2d 420, 424. The instructions must be considered in the context of the whole trial and [i]solated, individual statements do not by themselves establish error. United States v. Elksnis, 9 Cir., 1975, 528 F.2d 236, 238; United States v. Guillette, 2 Cir., 1976, 547 F.2d 743, 750. A court commits reversible error when it fails to instruct the jury as to a defense theory if the theory finds some basis in the record and is supported by law. United States v. Davis, 9 Cir., 1979, 597 F.2d 1237, 1239. See United States v. Escobar de Bright, 9 Cir., 1984, 742 F.2d 1196, 1201-02. 34 One of SAC's defense theories at trial was that Ashida had formed a new partnership on May 4, 1981, so that he was legally permitted to allocate straddle losses incurred on that date to new partners who purchased their interest long after the June 23, 1981 cutoff date. This new partnership was allegedly created when Ashida, who had authority to buy or sell straddle positions for clients, formed the intention to do so on or before the critical date. In instructing the jury on SAC's partnership defense, the trial judge stated that Ashida must have taken some act on or before that date to establish the partnership. SAC claims that this instruction was a misstatement of the law that improperly removed the intended partnership defense from jury consideration. 35 SAC's theory that a partnership may be formed by the unexpressed intention of one individual seems highly improbable. While an explicit act proclaiming a partnership is certainly not required, some sort of act or conduct must take place if a partnership is to be inferred. See, e.g., Commissioner v. Culbertson, 1949, 337 U.S. 733, 742, 69 S.Ct. 1210, 1214, 93 L.Ed. 1659. Even assuming for the purposes of this case that some act is not required to form a partnership, the court did not commit reversible error by its comment. Its instructions on SAC's partnership defense did not begin and end with the act statement. They continued for several pages of the record and included a complete statement of the Supreme Court's definition of the factors to be considered in determining the existence of a partnership. See Commissioner v. Culbertson, supra, 337 U.S. at 742, 69 S.Ct. at 1214. From these instructions, the jury knew that formation of a partnership was not dependent on an express act, but could be inferred from numerous less tangible factors. The court's single statement to the contrary, when viewed in the context of the whole instruction, was not sufficient to mislead the jury and deprive SAC of its partnership theory of defense. See Elksnis, 528 F.2d at 238. 36 AFFIRMED.