Opinion ID: 572467
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Jury Instruction Relating to the Buyer-Seller Relationship Between Defendants

Text: 55 The defendants also claim that the district court committed error when it refused to give the following recommended instruction to the jury concerning their theory of defense that they were mere purchasers from the conspiracy: 56 Mere proof of the existence of a buyer-seller relationship is not enough to convict a co-conspirator on drug conspiracy charges. Merely purchasing drugs or other property from the conspiracy, standing alone, can never establish membership in the conspiracy. 57 Our cases make clear that merely purchasing or selling drugs or other property from a conspiracy, standing alone, will not establish membership in a conspiracy. See United States v. Manzella, 791 F.2d 1263, 1265 (7th Cir.1986); United States v. Keck, 773 F.2d 759, 768 (7th Cir.1985). However, our cases also make clear that a defendant is entitled to have a buyer-seller instruction only if such a theory is supported by the evidence. Each drug conspiracy case must be analyzed according to its specific facts to determine whether a buyer-seller instruction is appropriate. United States v. Douglas, 818 F.2d 1317, 1321 (7th Cir.1987). In an effort to distinguish between those defendants who are purchasers to strictly supply their personal consumption versus purchasers who are drug distributors, 3 Douglas establishes that a court, in deciding whether an instruction is supported by the evidence in a particular case, may choose to consider such factors as: the quantity of drugs involved (in this case truckloads containing hundreds of thousands of pounds); the resale value of the drugs involved (here, millions of dollars' worth); whether the defendants were addicts (no evidence of this in the case); and, whether a jury could reasonably believe the quantity and quality of drugs are generally used for personal consumption (inconceivable in this case). Moreover, the court must consider whether the defendant has put forth the buyer-seller defense at trial. 58 In this case, based on the factors outlined in Douglas, the facts support the exclusion of the defendants' proposed instruction. In addition, the trial transcript is void of any assertion by any of the defendants that they were merely buyers or sellers--their defense was that their activities could not be prosecuted in the Southern District of Illinois. Therefore, the defendants were in no way prejudiced by the court's failure to give a buyer-seller instruction; such an instruction would have been an absurdity given the evidence submitted at trial.