Opinion ID: 331634
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Charge to Jury--

Text: 15 The trial judge included in his charge to the jury one statement that defendant now alleges constitutes reversible error: 16 It is reasonable to infer that a person ordinarily intends the natural and probable consequences of acts knowingly done or knowingly omitted. So, unless the contrary appears from the evidence, you, the jury, may draw the inference that the accused intended all the consequences that one standing in like circumstances and possessing like knowledge could reasonably have expected to result from any act knowingly done or knowingly omitted by the accused. (Emphasis added.) 17 While the defense attorney entered no objection at the time of the charge, he now argues that this statement constitutes plain error, under Fed.R.Crim.P., 52(b), and requires reversal. 18 The charge in question has been the subject of much attention in this court. We first examined it in Mann v. United States, 319 F.2d 404 (5th Cir. 1963), cert. denied, 375 U.S. 986, 84 S.Ct. 520, 11 L.Ed.2d 474 (1964). In that case, the defendant was on trial for a willful attempt to evade income taxes when the trial judge issued the above charge to the jury. Upon appeal, this court held that the part of the charge stating 'So, unless the contrary appears from the evidence' (italicized in quote above) improperly shifted the burden of proof on the crucial issue of intent from the government to the defendant. Because the charge went to the essence of the case, we held it to be plain error justifying a reversal of the conviction, even though no objection to the charge had been entered at trial. In addition, we held that even though other statements in the charge tended to place the burden of proof on the government, these statements could not cure the effect of the objectionable burden-shifting remark. 19 We have since encountered the Mann charge, as it is popularly known, on several occasions. We carved our first exception to the Mann rule in Helms v. United States, 340 F.2d 15 (5th Cir. 1964). In that case, as in Mann, the trial judge gave the charge in question in a prosecution for income tax evasion. Yet, in Helms, we held that the giving of the Mann charge did not constitute reversible error since 'while in both cases the government bore the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt the defendant's willfulness or criminal intent, in the Mann case the purely mental state was the crucial issue while here the contest centers about objective conduct . . ..' Id. at 18--19. We also held that the giving of the Mann charge did not always constitute plain error in that (p)lain error' depends upon the particular facts and circumstances of each case. In the present case it does not appear that any error in giving the instruction affected substantial rights of the defendant, and any such error does not rise to the dignity of 'plain error. Id. at 19. Thus, from Helms came the first dilution of what appeared to be the inflexible rule of Mann. 20 We encounter the next significant interpretation of the Mann rule in United States v. Jenkins, 442 F.2d 429 (5th Cir. 1971), in which the trial judge gave the Mann charge during a prosecution for a violation of the Mann Act. In that case we refused to reverse the conviction on the basis of the objectionable charge. Yet, rather than base our holding on the Helms 'objective conduct' exception to the Mann rule, we held that a curative provision 5 added by the trial judge immediately after the objectionable charge 'avoided the vice in the charge in Mann v. United States . . ..' Id. at 438. Accord, United States v. Beasley, 519 F.2d 233 (5th Cir. 1975); United States v. DeSimone, 452 F.2d 554 (5th Cir. 1971), cert. denied, 406 U.S. 959, 92 S.Ct. 2067, 32 L.Ed.2d 346 (1972). 21 Next, in United States v. Wilkinson, 460 F.2d 725 (5th Cir. 1972), Judge Clark thoroughly explored the Mann rule and its exceptions. In Wilkinson, a prosecution for mail fraud, the trial judge had given a charge very similar to the forbidden Mann charge. While the court distinguished this Wilkinson charge, it noted that even a Mann charge would not have constituted reversible error in this context: 22 Mann did not hold that the offensive sentences created incurable error. The holding there is broader: 23 'It is not our holding that every charge using the word 'presumption' is reversible error. We do hold that it is error to give a charge in a criminal case of this nature, the overall effect of which is to place a burden upon the defendant to produce evidence to overcome a presumption of guilt.' Mann v. United States, supra, at 410 . . . (I)t is well-established that the fairness and accuracy of a jury charge is to be read and tested as a whole, and not by a single isolated sentence or remark. . . . (A)ny decision as to whether asserted 'burden-shifting' language is so prejudicial as to necessitate reversal must to some extent turn upon the type of case and nature of the evidence which has been presented to the jury. . . . We decline now, as we did in Jenkins, to place this case squarely in either a Mann-subjective or Helms-objective category. However, we do note that here the jurors were not reduced solely to presuming intent as they were in Mann and Driscoll . . .. Here, if they chose to accept it, they were presented with undisputed evidence that Wilkinson made admissions indicating he knew certain invoices were fraudulent . . .. To paraphrase Mann, in a criminal case of this nature, the overall effect of the charge did not place a burden upon the defendant to produce evidence to overcome a presumption of guilt. United States v. Wilkinson, at 732--33. (Emphasis added.) 24 Finally, in United States v. Durham, 512 F.2d 1281 (5th Cir. 1975), we held that language in the charge stating that the defendant was entitled to a presumption of innocence, that the government had the burden of proving the guilt of the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt, and that the burden never shifted to the defendant, was somewhat curative of the court's error in giving the Mann charge, even though remotely placed in relation to that charge. 6 Id. at 1288. 25 After a thorough examination of the facts and charge given in this case, we hold that in light of Jenkins, Wilkinson, and Durham, the use of the Mann charge does not here constitute reversible error. Aware that a 'jury charge is to be read and tested as a whole, and not by a single isolated sentence,' Wilkinson, supra at 732, we note that the trial judge included within his charge several statements that properly placed the burden of proof on the government. These curative statements include the charge that the law presumes a defendant to be innocent of crime, that the presumption of innocence alone is sufficient to acquit the defendant unless the jury is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of the defendant's guilt, that the burden is always upon the government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and that the burden never shifts to a defendant, either to call any witnesses or to produce any evidence. (Emphasis added.) These same statements were included in the charges in Jenkins, Wilkinson, and Durham and, in each of these cases, were mentioned as factors in the court's decision not to reverse the conviction on the basis of the Mann charge. 26 Important to our decision today is an examination of 'the type of case and nature of the evidence which has been presented to the jury.' United States v. Wilkinson, supra at 733. The defendant here was prosecuted for a violation of 21 U.S.C. § 844 which provides in pertinent part that it shall be unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally to possess a controlled substance unless the controlled substance was obtained under circumstances not here present. At trial, the defendant took the stand and conceded that he consciously picked up the vial and observed that it contained marijuana. 7 In our view, the defendant at that point conceded the elements of the crime. His attorney had already withdrawn an insanity defense; after establishing that the substance in the vial was a 'controlled substance,' the only element left to be proved was whether the defendant 'knowingly or intentionally' possessed the substance. The term 'knowingly' has been defined as 'purposeful, intentional, as distinguished from accidental or inadvertent.' Fromberg v. Thornhill, 315 F.2d 407 (5th Cir. 1963). We interpret this to mean that the act in question was volitional. Certainly, defendant's testimony that he saw the vial, decided to see what was in it, observed the substance and realized that it was marijuana establishes volition. The judge also instructed the jury that the government had to prove that the defendant 'willfully' possessed the marijuana. He defined 'willfully' to mean that the defendant knew that his act was prohibited by law. While the prosecution did use the word 'willfully' in its information, the term, as used by the trial judge, was not an element of the crime as defined by statute. At any rate, even assuming that the prosecution had to prove that the defendant knew that his possession of marijuana was a violation of the law and that the Mann charge improperly shifted the burden of proof on that issue to the defendant, defendant's testimony that he had a prior conviction for possession of marijuana should render that error harmless. 27 While we do not find it necessary to reverse this particular case, we emphasize that the Mann charge has been declared to constitute error many times since the Mann decision was handed down in 1963. Why trial judges continue to maintain this charge in their repertoire is a mystery to us. We cannot too strongly admonish them to discontinue its use immediately. The charge suggested in Wilkinson, supra at 733, should be an acceptable substitute. 28