Opinion ID: 694763
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Multiple Conspiracy Jury Instruction

Text: 54 Defendants argue that the district court erred by not giving the multiple conspiracy instruction. 10 They point to United States v. Warner, 690 F.2d 545, 551 (6th Cir.1982), in which this court stated that when the jury within reason could find more than one conspiracy, the trial court should give the jury a multiple conspiracy instruction. 11 Defendants contend that, while the indictment alleged a single conspiracy involving all of the defendants, the evidence at trial instead showed the existence of several small conspiracies. 12 55
56 The indictment charged that defendants participated in a single, on-going conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Specifically, the indictment charged that James and Tate (and others who subsequently pleaded guilty) supplied cocaine to Dillehay (and Gordon and Johnson, both of whom pleaded guilty) who then distributed the cocaine to English, Ross, and Saikaly (and others who subsequently pleaded guilty). The indictment charged that Dillehay, Gordon, and Johnson transferred cocaine between themselves when one of their respective sources dried up. 57 At trial, defendants jointly requested a jury instruction that would have directed the jury to acquit them if it found that they did not act as conspirators in one large conspiracy (as charged in the indictment) but rather entered into several smaller conspiracies. The district court rejected the request, instead instructing, [i]t is the burden of the government to prove ... that the charged conspiracy existed ... and that the defendants ... were members of that conspiracy. 58
59 This court reviews challenged jury instructions to determine whether the instructions as a whole fairly submit the law and fact issues to the jury, United States v. Newcomb, 6 F.3d 1129, 1132 (6th Cir.1993), and reviews a district court's refusal to give a particular requested instruction for abuse of discretion. United States v. Frost, 914 F.2d 756, 764-66 (6th Cir.1990). A district court's refusal to give a particular requested instruction presents a basis for reversal only if the instructions as a whole fail to convey the substance of the requested instruction. Newcomb, 6 F.3d at 1132. 60 While a conspiracy might be divided into distinct sub-groups, it remains a single conspiracy [a]s long as the different sub-groups are committing acts in furtherance of one overall plan. Warner, 690 F.2d at 550 n. 8. The fact that each member of a conspiracy did not know of, or become involved in, all the acts of the conspiracy does not transform it into multiple conspiracies. United States v. Moss, 9 F.3d 543, 551 (6th Cir.1993). 61 The district court instructed the jury that the government had to prove that the charged conspiracy existed ... and that the defendants ... were members of that conspiracy. The district court did not commit reversible error by refusing to give the multiple conspiracy instruction. Even assuming that defendants are correct in asserting that the jury could have reasonably found more than one conspiracy, the district court's refusal to give the precise instruction requested by defendants was harmless since the instructions, as a whole, informed the jury that defendants could not be found guilty unless the government proved the existence of the single conspiracy alleged in the indictment. 13 Thus the instructions, as a whole, fairly framed the issues. 62