Opinion ID: 15662
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: compensated witness jury instruction

Text: 68 Roderick Mouton testified for the Government against the defendants as part of his plea agreement. The district court informed the jury about his plea agreement and instructed them to consider his testimony with caution and great care. McCray complains on appeal that the district court failed to give the jury a compensated witness instruction concerning Mouton's suspect credibility. Because McCray failed to request such an instruction from the trial court, we employ the plain error standard of review. See United States v. Reyes, 102 F.3d 1361, 1364 (5th Cir.1996). The specific compensated witness instruction that McCray argues he is entitled to applies to witnesses who are paid a fee for their testimony, not to those who, like Mouton, receive a reduced sentence. See United States v. Cervantes-Pacheco, 826 F.2d 310, 315 (5th Cir.1987). We therefore conclude that the district court's instruction cautioning the jury about Mouton's credibility was not plain error. 69