Opinion ID: 443979
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Discussion of errors alleged.

Text: 10 A. The district court's instructions. Ramirez-Preciado contends that the district court's instructions to the jury failed to distinguish clearly the elements of a violation of the Export Administration Act of 1979, 50 U.S.C. app. Sec. 2410(b) from those of a violation of the Trading with the Enemy Act, 50 U.S.C. app. Sec. 5(b). Ramirez-Preciado maintains that the district court, in effect, merged the two statutes into a single charge, thereby allowing the jury to pick and choose among the elements of both statutes. Ramirez-Preciado argues that this Court can therefore not be certain that the jurors understood that in order to convict him of conspiracy, they had to agree unanimously that either all elements of the Trading with the Enemy Act or all elements of the Export Administration Act or all elements of both statutes had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. 11 We reject Ramirez-Preciado's contention because we find that the district court in fact only instructed the jury with respect to the alleged Export Administration Act violation. While it is true that both the indictment and the district court's instructions refer to the Trading with the Enemy Act by name, a review of the elements listed in both the indictment and the instructions makes clear that this case involves a violation of the Export Administration Act. The primary difference between the two statutes on these facts is the source of the required authorization. In its instructions, the district court never discussed the lack of a license from the Treasury Department, a critical element of a Trading with the Enemy Act violation. The court did, however, explain the necessity of proof of the lack of a license from the Commerce Department, an element of the Export Administration Act aspect of the indictment. On these facts, the other two elements of the two statutes are similar. 3 We are therefore convinced that the jury was instructed only as to the Export Administration Act violation. 12 In this case, the district court instructed the jury without the benefit of the parties' assistance, and there was no objection. On those facts, our review of the instructions is limited to plain error. United States v. Hinds, 662 F.2d 362, 370 (5th Cir.1981). Viewing the instructions as a whole, we find no such error. See United States v. Graves, 669 F.2d 964, 970 (5th Cir.1982). While the district court's instructions were less than a model of clarity, we believe that they succeeded in adequately conveying to the jury the essential elements of the alleged Export Administration Act conspiracy: conspiring to wilfully export pellet mills to Cuba without a license from the Department of Commerce. Moreover, we do not believe that the gratuitous allusion in the instructions to the Trading with the Enemy Act in any way prejudiced Ramirez-Preciado. Accordingly, we find no plain error in the district court's instructions to the jury. 13 B. The sufficiency of the evidence. Ramirez-Preciado next contends that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction for conspiracy to violate the Export Administration Act. 4 He notes that the Export Administration Act prohibits the export only of specified items. Here, he argues, there was no showing before the jury at the time of trial that the pellet mills were specified in the regulations enforcing the Export Administration Act. Therefore, there was no evidence to support the jury's finding on that essential element of the offense. 14 In making this point, Ramirez-Preciado fundamentally misunderstands the nature of the jury's role as a factfinder. Whether or not it is illegal to export pellet mills to Cuba is a question of law, one which the trial judge ably answered in the proceedings below. See 15 C.F.R. Sec. 399.1. Indeed, Ramirez-Preciado concedes that pellet mills are items specified by the regulations. He merely maintains that this is a matter for the jury rather than for judicial notice. However, all the court below judicially noticed was the law; it left for the jury to decide the fact issue: whether Ramirez-Preciado in fact conspired to export pellet mills to Cuba. 5 The jury's finding that Ramirez-Preciado violated that law is amply supported by the evidence. 15