Opinion ID: 315809
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Correctness of the Charge

Text: 30 The trial court in this case, after giving the standard entrapment charge we approved of in Cruz, instructed the jury with the bifurcated charge which originated with Judge Learned Hand. As stated by Judge Hand, 31 Therefore in such cases two questions of fact arise: (1) did the agent induce the accused to commit the offence charged in the indictment; (2) if so, was the accused ready and willing without persuasion and was he awaiting any propitious opportunity to commit the offence. On the first question the accused has the burden; on the second the prosecution has it. 32 United States v. Sherman, 200 F.2d 880, 882-883 (2d Cir. 1952). 33 The Second Circuit has recently held that the giving of this charge did not constitute reversible error, although the court suggested that in the future 34 It will be enough to tell the jury that if it finds some evidence of government initiation of the illegal conduct, the Government has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was ready and willing to commit the crime. 35 United States v. Braver, 450 F.2d 799, 805 (2d Cir. 1971). 36 Other circuits have also rejected the bifurcated charge. In Notaro v. United States, 363 F.2d 169, 174-175 & n. 6 (9th Cir. 1966), the court stated that the defendant's burden of raising the entrapment issue was met by a showing that the commission of offense was attended by the intervention of a government agent, and that thereupon the burden was on the prosecution to disprove entrapment beyond a reasonable doubt. The court was to decide whether the issue was raised, and the only question going to the jury was the ultimate defense as a whole. 8 37 This court has never had to directly face the question of whether the giving of the bifurcated charge constitutes error. However, we have indicated our preference for a unitary charge. In United States v. Silver, 457 F.2d 1217 (3d Cir. 1972), we called it a 'settled principle' that 'when the defense of entrapment is properly raised the burden of proof is on the Government to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was not entrapped.' 457 F.2d at 1220. 9 38 Furthermore, in Government of the Virgin Islands v. Cruz, 478 F.2d 712 (3d Cir. 1973), decided after the district court decision in this case, we approved of an instruction which places the burden on the Government to disprove the whole defense beyond a reasonable doubt. 478 F.2d at 717 n. 5. We stated: 39 In Notaro v. United States, 363 F.2d 169 (9th Cir. 1966), . . . the Ninth Circuit held that an instruction almost identical to the one above constituted reversible error because it could have created the erroneous impression in some jurors' minds that the accused carried the burden of proof as to the positive elements of an entrapment defense. Moreover, the Notaro court said that it must be made clear to the jury that the accused is 'entitled to be acquitted if, from the evidence, the jury, because of the entertainment of reasonable doubt, should be unable to 'find' that the necessary elements of the defense had not been excluded.' 363 F.2d at 176. This must be made explicit even though the jury is properly informed in a general instruction as to the burden of proof which rests upon the prosecution. 40 Although Notaro has not been specifically adopted by this Circuit, we would follow it and reverse the district court here if the defendant had timely objected to the court's charge . . .. 41 478 F.2d at 717. 42 In this case, there is no contention that the defendant's objection was not timely. We therefore hold that once there is sufficient evidence of Government inducement to commit the crime to entitle the defendant to go to the jury with an entrapment defense, the jury should be given only the instruction we approved in Cruz, putting the burden on the Government to negate the defense as a whole. 43 This conclusion is consistent with the Supreme Court's reaffirmation that the focus of the entrapment defense is on the predisposition of the defendant rather than on the nature of the police behavior. United States v. Russell, 411 U.S. 423, 429, 93 S.Ct. 1637, 36 L.Ed. 2d 366 (1973). Inducement does not become irrelevant to either party, to be sure, since the stronger the inducement, the more likely that any resulting criminal conduct of the defendant was due to the inducement rather than to the defendant's own predisposition. Under the unitary approach we require, inducement therefore enters as an element of predisposition which the Government must disprove, rather than as an independent element which the defendant must prove. 44 Pragmatic considerations also inhibit us from approving an entrapment charge involving two elements, with different burdens of proof on different parties for each element. We see no valid justifications for imposing such a confused standard on a jury in a criminal case for a judicially created defense which, as pointed out above, involves essentially a single element. Indeed, we are supported in this view by the Government brief in this case which concedes that 'it must fairly be said that the initial treatment in the charge of the entrapment issue could generate confusion on the part of the jury.' 10 45 The judgment of the district court will be affirmed as to Count III and reversed as to all other counts on which defendant was convicted. The case will be remanded for a new trial or other proceedings consistent with this opinion.