Opinion ID: 814677
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Defendants’ Proposed “Theory of Defense”

Text: Instructions The denial of a defendant’s jury instruction due to an inadequate factual basis is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. See United States v. Daane, 475 F.3d 1114, 1119 (9th Cir. 2007). Whether the instructions, taken as a whole, adequately cover the defense theory is a question of law reviewed de novo. See United States v. Wills, 88 F.3d 704, 715 (9th Cir. 1996). At trial, the Defendants requested an instruction on the necessity defense, based on the Defendants’ contention that their immigration to the United States using fraudulently obtained visas was due to fear of harm if they remained in China after being caught. Defendants invoke necessity without proper legal basis. Fear of prosecution for crimes committed is not an appropriate reason to claim necessity. Cf. United States v. Schoon, 971 F.2d 193, 196–97 (9th Cir. 1991) (discussing permissible uses of the necessity defense in cases such as: prisoners escaping a burning prison, a person stealing food from a cabin to survive if lost in the woods, and destruction of property to prevent the spread of fire). 40 UNITED STATES V . XU Defendants also requested three related instructions regarding governmental authorization based on the allegation that their illegal money transactions were due to requirements put in place by Chinese Communist Party leadership. Defendants base their argument on the fact that the state owned the Bank of China and the fact that the Chinese banking sector was in a period of transition at the time of the convicted offenses. The instruction is unnecessary, however, because the elements of the charged conspiracy adequately covered any claim of Chinese government approval of Defendants’ actions. If the jury believed that the money transactions at issue were not fraudulent because the government approved the transactions, the jury could have found for the Defendants under the elements of money laundering and transportation of stolen money. See United States v. Ramirez, 710 F.2d 535, 543 (9th Cir. 1983) (“The refusal to give a requested instruction is not error if the charge as a whole adequately covers the theory of the defense.” (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)). Moreover, Defendants provided no evidence that their immigration fraud was in any way connected to a government directive. See United States v. Dorrell, 758 F.2d 427, 430 (9th Cir. 1985) (where the evidence is insufficient to support a theory of defense, the district court need not instruct the jury on that defense). The district court did not err in refusing to give Defendants’ proffered defense theory instructions.