Opinion ID: 797987
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Availability of Harmless Error Review

Text: 24 As the Supreme Court confirmed in Neder v. United States, the conclusion that a jury instruction was erroneous does not necessarily end the inquiry. 527 U.S. 1, 7, 119 S.Ct. 1827, 144 L.Ed.2d 35 (1999). Rather, like most constitutional violations, an instructional error on an element of the offense is generally subject to harmless error review. 1 Id. at 8-9, 119 S.Ct. 1827; Rose v. Clark, 478 U.S. 570, 579-80, 106 S.Ct. 3101, 92 L.Ed.2d 460 (1986). In this case, however, the apparent availability of harmless error review must be squared with the well-established rule of Stromberg v. California, 283 U.S. 359, 368, 51 S.Ct. 532, 75 L.Ed. 1117 (1931). 25 In Stromberg, the Court was presented with a state conviction for the display of a banner as a sign . . . of opposition to organized government, . . . an invitation . . . to anarchistic action, or [as] propaganda that is of a seditious character. Stromberg, 283 U.S. at 363, 51 S.Ct. 532. The Court held that the first of the three alternative bases upon which the conviction could rest was repugnant to the guaranty of liberty contained in the Fourteenth Amendment and, thus, could not constitute a lawful foundation for a criminal prosecution. Id. at 369, 368, 51 S.Ct. 532. The Court reversed the conviction because it was impossible to determine whether the guilty verdict rested on one of the constitutional grounds. Id. at 369-70, 51 S.Ct. 532. 26 In Zant v. Stephens, the Court clarified that Stromberg requires that a general verdict must be set aside if the jury was instructed that it could rely on any of two or more independent grounds, and one of those grounds is insufficient, unless it is possible to determine the verdict rested on the valid ground. 462 U.S. 862, 881, 103 S.Ct. 2733, 77 L.Ed.2d 235 (1983); see also Griffin v. United States, 502 U.S. 46, 59, 112 S.Ct. 466, 116 L.Ed.2d 371 (1991) (limiting the Stromberg rule to cases involving grounds for conviction that are legally inadequate rather than factually inadequate); Yates v. United States, 354 U.S. 298, 312, 77 S.Ct. 1064, 1 L.Ed.2d 1356 (1957), overruled on other grounds, Burks v. United States, 437 U.S. 1, 98 S.Ct. 2141, 57 L.Ed.2d 1 (1978). In Stromberg, the Court did not conduct a harmless error analysis with respect to the constitutionally invalid ground to determine if it was sufficient to sustain the conviction. Such an analysis was both unnecessary and impossible because there were no circumstances under which a conviction based on the invalid ground could be upheld. Stromberg, 283 U.S. at 369, 51 S.Ct. 532 (holding the invalid ground for conviction was so vague and indefinite that it was repugnant to the guaranty of liberty contained in the Fourteenth Amendment). Thus, the conviction in Stromberg was reversed because the Court was able to determine, without the necessity of conducting a harmless error analysis, that one of the independent grounds was insufficient to sustain the conviction. 27 Like Stromberg, there is nothing in this case to conclusively indicate the jury convicted Holly on the force theory, for which there was a proper jury instruction, rather than on the fear theory, for which the jury instruction was erroneous. Unlike Stromberg, however, the error here was merely an instructional error and did not involve a theory of conviction which could not constitute a lawful foundation for a criminal prosecution. 2 Stromberg, 283 U.S. at 368, 51 S.Ct. 532. As a consequence, application of harmless error review to the erroneous portion of the instruction alone is not unnecessary or impossible, as it was in Stromberg and other cases arising in the typical Stromberg context. 3 Thus, Stromberg does not preclude application of harmless error review to determine whether, absent the instructional error, the jury would nevertheless have convicted Holly of felony civil rights violations involving aggravated sexual abuse, premised on the victims' fear of death, serious bodily injury, or kidnapping. If the error is harmless as to the erroneously instructed ground considered separately, that ground is no longer insufficient to support the conviction and Stromberg does not require reversal. All Stromberg requires is that Holly's convictions be reversed if harmless error review reveals those convictions cannot be sustained on the basis of the fear theory. See Stephens, 462 U.S. at 881, 103 S.Ct. 2733. Application of harmless error review in this manner to an instructional error on an element of the offense pays heed to Neder and yet does not conflict with Stromberg. 4 28 In United States v. Holland, this court held that an instructional error on one of two independent alternative grounds for conviction required the conviction to be set aside unless we can be assured the jury did in fact rely on the valid ground, or unless . . . the jury necessarily made the findings required to support a conviction on the valid ground. 116 F.3d 1353, 1358 (10th Cir.1997), overruled on other grounds, Bousley v. United States, 523 U.S. 614, 118 S.Ct. 1604, 140 L.Ed.2d 828 (1998). While relying on harmless error principles, however, the court essentially did no more than apply the traditional Stromberg rule itself. 5 Because the court concluded the jury findings necessarily established the elements of a conviction on the valid ground, it was unnecessary for the court to consider the application of harmless error review to the erroneously instructed ground. Id. at 1359. 29 In addition, Holland was decided before Neder, which explained that harmless error review allows this court to look beyond what the jury actually found to what a rational jury would have found under a proper instruction. Neder, 527 U.S. at 16-18 & n. 1, 119 S.Ct. 1827 (concluding error was harmless even though jury did not actually make a finding on the erroneously omitted element). Although Stromberg continues to preclude application of harmless error review to the valid ground, except under the narrow standard recognized by Holland, 6 application of harmless error review to the erroneously instructed ground is permitted and is no longer confined to a review of what the jury necessarily found. Therefore, if otherwise appropriate, this court may analyze the evidence of fear of death, serious bodily injury, or kidnapping presented in support of Holly's convictions under the rubric of harmless error.