Opinion ID: 533777
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: immunized witness instruction

Text: 20 The defendants contend that the judge committed reversible error by failing to give an accomplice witness instruction or, at least, the instruction defendants requested. 8 Interestingly, after the jury charge, none of the parties could even remember if the substance of the instruction had been given. Thus, we are skeptical of Newton's contention that the bench conference that occurred after the charge was sufficient notice to the judge that he was objecting to the charge. 9 Newton's lawyer certainly did not object to the specific words of the instruction given and therefore the instruction may only be attacked if there was plain error. Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(b). Defendants may not rely upon a general objection and the fact that they submitted a request to discharge their obligations under Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(b). United States v. Capone, 683 F.2d 582, 588 (1st Cir.1982). Moreover, if he did object properly, the jury instructions were not reversible error. 21 The failure to give a requested jury instruction is reversible error only if 22 the [requested] instruction (1) is substantially correct; (2) was not substantially covered in the charge given to the jury; and (3) concerns an important point in the trial so that the failure to give it seriously impaired the defendant's ability to effectively present a given defense. 23 United States v. Williams, 809 F.2d 75, 86 (1st Cir.1986) (quoting United States v. Gibson, 726 F.2d 869, 874 (1st Cir.1984), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 960, 104 S.Ct. 2174, 80 L.Ed.2d 557 (1984)). As this court has noted before, although an accomplice witness instruction is advisable when there is accomplice testimony, its absence does not require reversal. United States v. Olmstead, 832 F.2d 642, 647 (1st Cir.1987), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1009, 108 S.Ct. 1739, 100 L.Ed.2d 202 (1988); United States v. Wright, 573 F.2d 681, 685 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 436 U.S. 949, 98 S.Ct. 2857, 56 L.Ed.2d 792 (1978). None of the cases cited by counsel, nor any that we could find, stand for the proposition that the failure to give an accomplice instruction constitutes reversible error. See, e.g., United States v. Swiderski, 539 F.2d 854, 859-860 (2d Cir.1976) (judge should give charge on testimony of accomplices and informers, but not necessarily reversible error not to); United States v. Daniels, 558 F.2d 122, 127 (2d Cir.1977) (preferable that a charge be given); United States v. Leonard, 494 F.2d 955, 960 (2d Cir.1974) (dicta that refusal to give requested instruction is reversible error but failure to give without request is not plain error). The question is not whether the trial court failed to isolate and cure a particularly ailing instruction but whether the ailing instruction by itself so infected the trial that the resulting conviction violates due process. Cupp v. Naughten, 414 U.S. 141, 147, 94 S.Ct. 396, 400, 38 L.Ed.2d 368 (1973). We find that it did not. 24 Furthermore, jury instructions must be interpreted as a whole. United States v. Pitocchelli, 830 F.2d 401, 404 (1st Cir.1987). Any particular instruction must be evaluated in the context of the entire charge. Cupp, 414 U.S. at 146-47, 94 S.Ct. at 400-01; United States v. Morris, 700 F.2d 427, 433 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 947, 103 S.Ct. 2128, 77 L.Ed.2d 1306 (1983). 25 The district court gave the substance of the requested charge by instructing the jury to be aware of any interest that a witness might have and to examine the testimony of witnesses testifying under immunity with particularly great care. There is no significant distinction between a cautionary instruction on the testimony of an accomplice and a cautionary instruction on a witness granted immunity. United States v. Hickey, 596 F.2d 1082, 1091 & 1091 n. 6 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 853, 100 S.Ct. 107, 62 L.Ed.2d 70 (1979) (court's instruction cautioning jury with respect to informant testimony held adequate where request was one cautioning jury against accomplice testimony). In both instances, the jury is instructed that the testimony must be received with caution and weighed with care. Consequently, whether we treat the government witnesses as accomplices or as persons granted immunity, or both, is immaterial because the instruction would be the same. United States v. Morgan, 555 F.2d 238, 243 (9th Cir.1977) (cited with favor in Capone, 683 F.2d at 588). The charge as given did not deny defendants any substantial rights. 26 Defendants also argue that by failing to give the instruction they requested, the judge failed to charge on a defense theory of the case. Defendants use defense theory in a broad sense to mean that their trial strategy was an attempt to undermine the credibility of the Kukielski brothers. The charge that was given amply put that issue before the jury. While it is true that a trial court must instruct a jury on a defense theory that is sufficiently supported by both the evidence and the law, the judge is not required to give the exact instructions proposed. Olmstead, 832 F.2d at 647-48 (citing United States v. Sommerstedt, 752 F.2d 1494, 1496 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 851, 106 S.Ct. 149, 88 L.Ed.2d 123 (1985)); United States v. Dyer, 821 F.2d 35, 38-39 (1st Cir.1987); United States v. Zeuli, 725 F.2d 813, 817 (1st Cir.1984); United States v. Morris, 700 F.2d 427, 433 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 947, 103 S.Ct. 2128, 77 L.Ed.2d 1306 (1983). Furthermore, defendants cannot couch their requested instructions as defense theories and expect to get them read verbatim to the jury. United States v. Turkette, 656 F.2d 5, 11 n. 3 (1st Cir.1981). The instruction in substance told the jury exactly what the defendants wanted to convey: examine the testimony of accomplices more carefully than other witnesses.