Opinion ID: 51663
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the government rebuts.

Text: Fed.R.Crim.P 29.1. 10 No. 05-51758 of conviction before the defendant is faced with the decision whether to reply and what to reply.” Gonzales, 436 F.3d at 582 (quoting the Advisory Committee note to Fed.R.Crim.P. 29.1). We agree with Cugno that absent special circumstances, allowing the government to save its core arguments for rebuttal may constitute an abuse of discretion; ideally, rebuttal argument should be limited to rebuttal subject matter. After careful review of the record, however, we are convinced that Cugno can demonstrate no prejudice as a result of the government’s argument. In its rebuttal, the government referenced only those pieces of evidence against Cugno that Cugno’s counsel had himself raised during his closing in order to rebut Cugno’s argument that they failed to demonstrate guilt. Cugno has been unable to point to any significant argument that he would have made differently, had the government made more direct reference to him in the first part of its closing. Finally, Cugno failed to request surrebuttal to correct any alleged error. We therefore find no reversible error in the district court’s decisions concerning closing argument as to Cugno.