Opinion ID: 426997
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Court's Charge Relating to the Date of the Extension of Credit

Text: 26 Defendants Greenwood and Lombard complain that the trial judge's failure to instruct the jury when the extension of credit was created was error, because the case was tried on the theory that the extension of credit arose on April 23, 1975. Thus, the defendants argue that the jury was allowed to convict them on a finding that the extension of credit arose between May 1 and May 13, 1981--the period during which the extortionate means were used. Greenwood and Lombard took no exception to this portion of the charge and now raise this point for the first time on appeal. Therefore, it cannot be considered unless the charge constituted plain error. Fed.R.Crim.P. 30. We are unable to see any harm or error in the charge, much less plain error. The evidence adduced at the trial was clearly to the effect that the underlying credit transaction took place in April 1975, and no testimony suggested that it occurred in May 1981. We fail to see how the jury could have been misled or the defendants harmed by the court's charge in this regard, and it is clear that no plain error occurred. 27