Opinion ID: 757025
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Bully Hypothetical

Text: 244 Salameh, Abouhalima and Ajaj each contend that the district court committed reversible error by employing in its jury charge a prejudicial example of a school bully to relate how circumstantial evidence could be used to infer culpable knowledge or intent, a material element of the crime of conspiracy. Specifically, after delivering an entirely appropriate hypothetical example of Robinson Crusoe to illustrate the meaning of circumstantial evidence, and after instructing that circumstantial evidence ... is of no less value than direct evidence, the court charged the jury: 245 Knowledge and intent exists in the mind. No way, even with wonderful machines, with our Cat scans and all the rest of it that we can ever crawl into someone's head and figure out what's going on exactly, what is in his mind. You can't take a Cat scan of someone's brain and say, so, he was thinking this or that sometime. You can't conclude from that, and yet we draw a conclusion from actions of the person, what his knowledge was, what his intent was. You do it all the time. You do it from circumstantial evidence. 246 When you were a kid and you were in school, do you remember there was a bully. There was a bully in every kid's class, I am sure of it. Some kid, he'd come along and he'd step on the toe of the person beside him. The victim would yell. And the bully would look at the teacher and say, oh, it was a mistake. I didn't mean to do that. That was an accident. Every other kid in the neighborhood knew that it was no mistake. Right? 247 The direct evidence would be his declaration that it was a mistake and an accident. But by circumstantial evidence, ladies and gentlemen, you knew that it wasn't a mistake. It was him being a bully. You know, grown-ups are just big kids. We think the same way. You can conclude from circumstantial evidence what someone's intent or knowledge was. Direct evidence i[s] often misleading. Circumstantial evidence is quite sufficient. One thing you should recognize, it still must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. 248 Salameh objected to the charge, stating that, I just don't think [it is] a good example and I object to that. Abouhalima also objected to the charge on the ground that it purported to give circumstantial evidence more weight than direct evidence. No other objections were articulated. Ajaj merely asked the court to instruct the jury on reasonable inferences again, to ensure that the jury understood it was not required to draw any inferences from the evidence. Judge Duffy acquiesced, giving the following reminder: 249 I suggest to you that there are times when different inferences may be drawn from facts, whether they are proved by direct or circumstantial evidence. The government asks you to draw one set of inferences. The defendant asks you to draw another set. 250 [It is] for you and for you alone to decide what inferences, if any, you are willing to draw. If you decide to draw no inferences, that's fine. That's up to you. That's a determination that you are to make. 251 On appeal Salameh argues that in this case where the government's proof was entirely circumstantial, the charge improperly attributed more weight to circumstantial evidence than to direct evidence, relieving the government of its obligation to prove the mental element of the crime of conspiracy. In this regard, Salameh avers that the charge disparaged evidence of his own words, purportedly direct evidence, that indicated that he did not knowingly participate in the conspiracy. This evidence included that Salameh: (1) gave his true name to DIB Leasing (the Ryder van rental agency) and volunteered his friends' names and telephone numbers, making it easy for law enforcement officers to trace him; (2) reported the Ryder van stolen to the police a full day before the bombing, creating the risk that the van would be stopped on its way to the World Trade Center, and presented Jersey City police officers with documents that showed the van's true identification number; (3) naively inquired of an ALG Welding Company employee whether stored hydrogen was dangerous; and (4) told David Robinson, the assistant manager of the Space Station, that his boss and his employers were expecting delivery of the hydrogen tanks. Furthermore, Salameh argues that Judge Duffy, by stating that he preferred the quite sufficient circumstantial evidence over often misleading direct evidence, unfairly suggested that the inferences requested by the government were warranted. 252 Echoing these concerns, Abouhalima and Ajaj join Salameh in also arguing that the charge, by assuming the guilt of a fictitious bully, suggested their guilt by likening them to bullies and liars and encouraged the jury to disregard inferences consistent with innocence. Moreover, they contend that because the hypothetical presumed that, like the bully, they had committed prior bad acts and had lied to conceal them, the charge violated a basic foundation of our criminal justice jurisprudence--[that] evidence of prior bad acts is inadmissible to support an inference that the defendant committed the crimes with which he has been charged. See Fed.R.Evid. 404(b). 253 The government responds that the appellants failed to preserve for appeal their objection to the bully hypothetical to the extent it improperly assumed guilt. Furthermore, the government avers that even assuming that all objections were properly preserved, any error was purely harmless when considered in the context of the charge as a whole, which included the wholly appropriate Robinson Crusoe hypothetical 7 to explain circumstantial evidence. 254 A criminal defendant is required to state distinctly the grounds for his objection in order to preserve it for appeal. United States v. Biaggi, 909 F.2d 662, 697 (2d Cir.1990) (quoting Fed.R.Crim.P. 30). The purpose of this provision is to provide the trial court with an opportunity to correct any error in the jury instructions before the jury begins deliberating. United States v. Masotto, 73 F.3d 1233, 1237 (2d Cir.1996), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 54, 136 L.Ed.2d 18 (1996). When an objection is properly preserved, we review that ground for error and may reverse only if the government is unable to demonstrate that the error was harmless, that is, that the error did not affect the defendant's substantial rights or influence the jury's verdict. See Olano, 507 U.S. at 734, 113 S.Ct. 1770 (under the harmless error standard, the government bears the burden of persuasion with respect to prejudice.); United States v. Mussaleen, 35 F.3d 692, 695 (2d Cir.1994); see also Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(a). 255 [W]here no timely objection [is] made to the instruction ... we may reverse ... only if the district court committed plain error in its charge. Latsis v. Chandris, Inc., 20 F.3d 45, 49 (2d Cir.1994) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted), aff'd, 515 U.S. 347, 115 S.Ct. 2172, 132 L.Ed.2d 314 (1995). Under the plain error standard, [i]t is the defendant rather than the [g]overnment who bears the burden of persuasion with respect to prejudice. Olano, 507 U.S. at 734, 113 S.Ct. 1770. That showing must include a miscarriage of justice, or ... an obvious instance of misapplied law. Latsis, 20 F.3d at 49 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted); see also Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(b); Olano, 507 U.S. at 732, 113 S.Ct. 1770 (we should not exercise that discretion unless the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings (citations, internal quotation marks and alteration omitted)). 256 Applying these principles to the instant case, the defendants' objection to the charge for improperly attributing more weight to circumstantial evidence than to direct evidence was distinctly stated at trial and hence preserved for appeal. However, because the defendants failed to articulate distinctly an objection to the bully hypothetical to the extent it improperly assumed guilt, we normally would review that ground for plain error. In this case, though, it appears that Judge Duffy denied the defendants the opportunity to provide the basis for their objection. 8 Accordingly, we review that ground under the harmless error standard. 257 Whether jury instructions were properly given is a question of law that this court reviews de novo and, when assessing prejudice to the defendant, we appraise the significance of an error in instructions to the jury by comparing the instructions actually given with those that should have been given. United States v. Dove, 916 F.2d 41, 45 (2d Cir.1990). In considering whether there is prejudice, we view[ ] as a whole the charge actually given. Id. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). 258 Although Judge Duffy would have been better advised to use a neutral example in describing the difference between direct and circumstantial evidence to prove culpable knowledge, we conclude that, based on a review of the charge as a whole, the use of the bully hypothetical was not sufficiently prejudicial to require reversal. Generally speaking, the use in a criminal case of [a] hypothetical that assumes guilt where a defendant asserts his innocence is disfavored. Certainly the use of such an example [is] more prejudicial than helpful and ... tend[s] to skew the jury away from the truth rather than toward it. Id. at 46. In Dove, we found reversible error where the district court employed a hypothetical example of whether Jack shot Mary to illustrate the difference between circumstantial evidence and direct evidence. Id. at 44. In that example, Jack's guilt was assumed in the hypothetical's premise and the jury was merely instructed on how to look for evidence of that guilt. Although the hypothetical was not analogous to the facts of that case, we nevertheless found prejudicial error because [v]irtually all of the circumstantial evidence pointed towards the possibility of innocence and, consequently, the hypothetical may have led the jury to discount the circumstantial evidence ... of innocence. Id. at 46. Similarly, in both Gleason, 616 F.2d at 14-15, and United States v. Dizdar, 581 F.2d 1031, 1037 (2d Cir.1978), we reviewed circumstantial evidence instructions containing hypothetical examples which assumed guilt. Although in both cases the examples employed were analogous to the evidence before the jury, we found no reversible error. A review of the charges revealed that in each case the court had eliminated whatever prejudice might have been created by instructing the jury that the hypothetical ha[d] nothing to do with [the] case and was not intended ... to suggest any particular direction to be given to the evidence. Dizdar, 581 F.2d at 1037 (internal quotation marks omitted); see Gleason, 616 F.2d at 14. Moreover, in Gleason, we specifically noted that the jury had been adequately advised of the nature of circumstantial evidence [and] was repeatedly told to use 'common sense' ... in drawing inferences from facts. 616 F.2d at 14. 259 The problem with the instant charge is that, as in Dove, the bully's guilt is assumed in the hypothetical's premise and the jury is merely instructed on how to look for evidence of that guilt. Consequently, if virtually all of the circumstantial evidence pointed towards the possibility of innocence, we might well assume prejudice. However, most of the circumstantial evidence in this case points towards guilt. Furthermore, as in Dizdar, the district court cannot be said to have suggested to the jury that a particular direction should be given to the evidence, as the court, after the bully hypothetical, specifically reminded the jurors that they were free to draw any inferences in either direction. Moreover, as in Gleason, the jury was more than adequately advised of the nature of circumstantial evidence by the neutral Robinson Crusoe instruction and was told to use common sense in drawing inferences from the facts. In addition, any presumption of prejudice is strongly tempered by the lack of analogy between the bully hypothetical and the facts of this case. While it would not be a stretch for a jury to liken these defendants to bullies, [w]e believe it would be denigrating the intelligence of the average jury to conclude that it would forsake its own common sense and experience for the suggestions implied in the court's ... example. Gleason, 616 F.2d at 15 (internal quotation marks omitted). Thus, we find that to the extent there was error, it was harmless. 260 We finally address the appellants' contention that the court improperly attributed more weight to circumstantial evidence than to direct evidence by stating that, [d]irect evidence i[s] often misleading [while] circumstantial evidence is quite sufficient. While the court should have instructed the jury, as it did earlier in its charge, that both types of evidence are weighed equally, United States v. Botsch, 364 F.2d 542, 550 (2d Cir.1966), it is noteworthy that the court gave this instruction in the context of inferring culpable knowledge or intent. 261 Commentators agree that it is seldom possible to present testimonial or direct evidence of an accused's state of mind. Intent as a separate item of proof does not commonly exist. Thus, whenever intent is an element of a crime, its existence must be inferred by considering the laws that generally govern human conduct.... Circumstantial evidence of this subjective fact is therefore indispensable. 262 Mallette v. Scully, 752 F.2d 26, 32 (2d Cir.1984) (citations omitted). Because as a general rule most evidence of intent is circumstantial, it was perfectly reasonable for the court to emphasize the importance of that type of evidence. In any event, because the appellants' exculpatory evidence was also exclusively circumstantial (even Salameh's evidence of his own words), the court's instruction could not have resulted in prejudice. We further observe that, at Ajaj's request, the court explicitly repeated its earlier instruction on inferences, stating that jurors were free to draw inferences of innocence as well as guilt from the evidence, or no inferences at all. It therefore cannot be said that the court suggested to the jury that inferences favorable to the government were warranted. Consequently, we believe that to the extent the court erred, that error was harmless.