Opinion ID: 474866
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Absence of Prejudice

Text: 46 The distinction between an amendment and a variance was set out by this court in United States v. Beeler, 587 F.2d 340, 342 (6th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 860, 102 S.Ct. 315, 70 L.Ed.2d 158 (1981): A variance occurs when the proof introduced at trial differs materially from the facts alleged in the indictment. In contrast, an amendment involves a change, whether literal or in effect, in the terms of the indictment. 47 Included in this definition are three types of variations between a grand jury indictment and evidence presented at trial. The least common is an actual amendment. This occurs when the charging terms of the indictment are altered. United States v. Castro, 776 F.2d 1118, 1121 (3d Cir.1985), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 1233, 89 L.Ed.2d 342 (1986). The second, but most common, type of variation encompassed by this definition is a variance. A variance occurs when the charging terms are unchanged, but the evidence at trial proves facts materially different from those alleged in the indictment. Id. The third type of variation, a constructive amendment, falls somewhere in the borderland between an actual amendment and a variance. A constructive amendment occurs when the terms of an indictment are in effect altered by the presentation of evidence and jury instructions which so modify essential elements of the offense charged that there is a substantial likelihood that the defendant may have been convicted of an offense other than that charged in the indictment. See United States v. Davis, 679 F.2d 845, 851 (11th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1207, 103 S.Ct. 1198, 75 L.Ed.2d 441 (1983); Beeler, 587 F.2d at 342; cf. United States v. Ylda, 653 F.2d 912, 914-15 (5th Cir.1981) (per curiam) (trial court's jury instruction altered elements of offense but evidence was consistent with indictment; held, no possibility that defendant was convicted of crime other than that set out in indictment and instruction was thus harmless). 48 Although the distinction between a variance and a constructive amendment is at best shadowy, 3 C. Wright, Federal Practice and Procedure Sec.-516, at 26 (2d ed. 1982), it has been considered significant. In dicta we have repeatedly stated that amendments are deemed prejudicial per se. United States v. Burkhart, 682 F.2d 589, 591 (6th Cir.), cert denied, 459 U.S. 915, 103 S.Ct. 228, 74 L.Ed.2d 181 (1982); see also Beeler, 587 F.2d at 342 (where although prejudice was clearly present, we noted the per se rule). 5 Variances, on the other hand, will not result in reversal unless substantial rights of a defendant have been affected. Fed.R.Crim.P. 52; United States v. Bowers, 739 F.2d 1050, 1053 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 195, 83 L.Ed.2d 128 (1984); Beeler, 587 F.2d at 342. Substantial rights, in turn, are affected only when a defendant shows prejudice to his ability to defend himself at trial, to the general fairness of the trial, or to the indictment's sufficiency to bar subsequent prosecutions. United States v. Miller, 471 U.S. 130, 105 S.Ct. 1811, 1816 n. 5, 85 L.Ed.2d 99 (1985). 49 We have held that a variance crosses the constructive amendment line only when the variance create[s] 'a substantial likelihood' that a defendant may have been 'convicted of an offense other than that charged by the grand jury.'  Beeler, 587 F.2d at 342; see also United States v. Gray, 790 F.2d 1290, 1297 (6th Cir.1986) (per curiam). No such danger is present in the instant case, and, thus, the problem, if any, is one of a variance. 50 Since we are dealing with a variance, and not an amendment, the only remaining question is whether prejudice is present. [B]ecause variances between indictments and proof at trial are not regarded as per se error, the burden of proof as to error has been placed on defendants, who must not only show the variance exists but also that the variance is 'fatal.'  Cola v. Reardon, 787 F.2d 681, 700 (1st Cir.1986) (emphasis in original). In the instant case, defendant has not shown any prejudice, and, accordingly, this assignment of error is rejected. 51