Opinion ID: 582485
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Benary

Text: 41 Benary contends that the government failed to carry its burden of proving that Tracon stock was not exempt from registration and that his conviction under count 13 (interstate sale of unregistered securities in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 77e) was therefore improper. It is Benary, however, who bears the burden of proof on this issue. See SEC v. Murphy, 626 F.2d 633, 641 (9th Cir.1980) (citing SEC v. Ralston Purina Co., 346 U.S. 119, 126 (1953)). Even if the government did bear the burden of proof, there was ample evidence from which a rational jury could conclude that it was carried, 4 and no evidence that the stock in question was exempt from SEC registration requirements. Therefore, it is immaterial that the district court instructed the jury that the government bore the burden; it is also immaterial whether, as Benary argues, the government elected ... to bear the burden of proof by charging in count 1 of the indictment that the defendants failed to disclose that the stock of Tracon was neither registered nor exempt from registration as required by federal securities laws.