Opinion ID: 762554
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Instruction of Prior Acquittal.

Text: 16 De La Rosa complains of the trial court's failure to instruct the jury of his prior acquittal. In support of his position he cites to one and only one authority, Dowling v. United States. 20 We agree with our First Circuit colleagues that this case cannot bear the weight [De La Rosa] assigns to it. 21 As our colleagues observed in United States v. Smith, 22 Dowling does not require that the jury be told of an acquittal. Indeed, Dowling does not even address the issue. 23 17 Given the absence of intervening or controlling authority, this panel declines to ignore Kerley, and the rulings by our sister circuits, as De La Rosa suggests. We join with the First, Seventh, and Eighth Circuits in holding that an acquittal instruction is not required merely because evidence of acquitted conduct is introduced. 24 We entrust that matter, in the first instance, to the sound discretion of the trial court. In the case at bar, in refusing the charge, we perceive no abuse of discretion by the trial judge. 18