Opinion ID: 802824
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Technical Data Jury Instructions

Text: [4] Mak next challenges the jury instructions on “technical data” on the ground that they relieved the Government of its burden of proving that the documents did not fall within the public domain. The Court’s Instructions 15, 16, 19 and 22 pertain to technical data and the public domain. Because Mak objected to the jury instructions on the public domain at trial, we review his challenge de novo. Hofus, 598 F.3d at 1174. The Court’s Instruction 15 told the jury that “all technical data is subject to export control” and that “[t]echnical data is information required for the design, development, production, manufacture, assembly, operation, testing, or modification of UNITED STATES v. MAK 7387 defense articles.” The Court’s Instructions 15, 19, and 22 emphasized to the jury that “technical data” does not include information in the public domain. The district court’s instructions made clear that the definition of technical data has two parts: it is information which is (1) “required for the design, development, production, manufacture, assembly, operation, repair, testing, maintenance, or modification of defense articles;” that (2) does not fall in the public domain. 22 C.F.R. § 120.10(a)(1); 120.10(a)(5). From the court’s instructions, it was clear that information in the public domain cannot constitute “technical data.” [5] Mak contends that the district court’s instructions on technical data constituted reversible error because the court’s instructions removed from the jury’s consideration whether the QED and Solid State documents were in the public domain. Specifically, Mak contends that because the Court’s Instructions 19 and 22 told the jury that the QED and Solid State documents were information which was “required for the design, development, production, manufacture, assembly, operation, repair, testing, maintenance, or modification of defense articles,” the instructions relieved the Government of its burden to prove the documents were not in the public domain. We disagree with Mak’s circuitous logic. The technical data instructions clearly identified the two elements of technical data, and then broke down the Government’s relative burdens concerning each element. The first element was inclusive, describing the different types of information that could qualify as technical data—“Information which is required for the design, development, production, manufacture, assembly, operation, repair, testing, maintenance, or modification of defense articles.” The second element was exclusive, disqualifying from the designation as technical data any information that fell within the public domain. Because the district court specifically instructed the jury that any information in the public domain cannot be “technical data,” we find that the district court did not err in its jury instructions concerning technical data. 7388 UNITED STATES v. MAK III. Jury Instructions and Deliberations on Willfulness Every criminal defendant has a constitutional right to a “meaningful opportunity to present a complete defense.” California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479, 485 (1984); see also United States v. Stever, 603 F.3d 747, 755 (9th Cir. 2010) (grounding right to a meaningful defense in the Fifth and Sixth Amendments). An accused can defend against a charge that requires the Government to prove willfulness by presenting evidence that he did not voluntarily or intentionally violate a known legal duty. Cheek v. United States, 498 U.S. 192, 202-03 (1991). [6] Mak contends that the district court deprived him of full jury deliberations on willfulness on the following three grounds: (1) the district court’s refusal to accept his proposed jury instruction deprived him of his Sixth Amendment right to present a complete defense; (2) the district court’s willfulness instruction deprived Mak of a jury determination as to whether he voluntarily or intentionally violated a known legal duty when he attempted to send the QED and Solid State documents to China; and (3) the district court erred in its failure to instruct the jury on the basic marketing information and general system descriptions exceptions to technical data. We disagree, and we address each of Mak’s arguments in turn. We review for plain error Mak’s claim that the court’s instructions deprived him of his Sixth Amendment right to a meaningful defense.1 Santiago, 46 F.3d at 890. Specifically, 1 In the district court, Mak objected to the Court’s Instruction No. 23 only on the ground that it was argumentative. Mak did not object to the instruction on the ground that it limited the jury’s consideration of evidence suggesting that Mak did not believe the documents were technical data. Nor did Mak object to the instruction on Sixth Amendment grounds. Mak’s single “argumentative” objection was insufficient to put the court on notice of his defense theory challenge or his constitutional challenge. Indeed, after the final instruction was presented to Mak, he was even UNITED STATES v. MAK 7389 Mak contends that the district court erred when it rejected the following proposed jury instruction: Information which is in the public domain does not constitute technical data and therefore is not subject to the export controls of the United States Munitions List. Even if you determine that any of the items at issue in Counts two, three or four were not in the Public Domain, you the jury must consider whether Mr. Chi Mak believed the items were in the Public Domain in order to determine whether he willfully and knowingly exported defense articles. Although the court must instruct on a defense theory if it has a basis in law and fact, “it is not reversible error to reject a defendant’s proposed instruction on his theory of the case if other instructions, in their entirety, adequately cover that defense theory.” United States v. Mason, 902 F.2d 1434, 1438 (9th Cir. 1990). We find that the district court adequately instructed the jury on Mak’s defense theory regarding specific intent. Specifically, in the Court’s Instructions 20 and 23, the court informed the jury that the Government had the burden to prove that Mak had acted “willfully” “with the purpose of violating a known legal duty” in attempting to export the QED and Solid State documents. In the same instructions, the district court emphasized, however, that the Government was not required to prove that “the defendant had read, was aware of, or had consulted the specific regulations governing his activities,” but rather, in its determination of intent, the jury invited by the court to further supplement the instruction if he believed the jury would need further direction on the definition of “violating a known legal duty”—Mak failed to offer any supplemental instruction despite the court’s invitation. Accordingly, we review his claim on appeal for plain error. Hofus, 598 F.3d at 1175; see also United States v. Pineda-Doval, 614 F.3d 1019, 1025 (9th Cir. 2010). 7390 UNITED STATES v. MAK must consider “the totality of the circumstances.” Both instructions directed the jury to deliberate on whether Mak possessed the specific intent to violate the AECA. Because Mak’s theory of the case was already reflected in the entirety of the court’s other instructions, the court was not obligated to accept Mak’s proposed instruction. Mason, 902 F.2d at 1438. Accordingly, we hold that the court’s instruction did not prevent Mak from providing a meaningful defense. Mak did not raise his claim that the jury instructions removed the issue of willfulness from the jury’s consideration at trial; therefore we also review this challenge for plain error. Hofus, 598 F.3d at 1175. Mak contends that the court violated his right to a jury determination of his willfulness. We disagree. Mak ignores the fact that the district court permitted him to present defense witnesses (including experts and Mak’s co-authors) who contended that the QED and Solid State documents were not technical data, and to argue that the evidence showed that the defendant did not believe the documents required an export license. [7] Mak also argues that the language of the court’s instructions permitted the Government to make an improper argument and did not allow him to effectively respond to that argument. In closing argument, the prosecutor said: “[Mak’s witnesses] tried hard to say that what we’re dealing with here, in the QED document, is not technical data. You just heard from the court that whatever those witnesses said, this is technical data.” Considered out of context, this appears to be an objectionable and inaccurate characterization of the jury instructions, which told the jurors that they had to accept that the QED and Solid State documents contained information “required for the design, development, production, manufacture, assembly, operation, testing, or modification of defense articles.” As we have noted, the court’s instructions did not conclusively state that the information in the QED and Solid State documents was “technical data.” However, the thrust of the Government’s argument, in which that objectionable stateUNITED STATES v. MAK 7391 ment was made, concerned the credibility of Mak’s witnesses who testified that they believed the information in the QED document was either in the public domain or not related to submarines. Specifically, the Government focused on Mak’s failure to address the fact that the information in the QED document was not disclosed in the most relevant patent—the most likely way in which it would have fallen within the public domain. The Government then explained that the QED document plainly described, and sometimes even illustrated, the submarine technology that served as the focus of the QED project—clearly falling under Paragraph (a) of Category (VI) of the USML. 22 C.F.R. § 121.1(VI)(a). These arguments related to the Government’s claim that Mak must have known that the QED document pertained to submarine technology because just four days before he attempted to send the QED document to China he had emailed another Paragon employee about a submarine-related question for the QED project. The Government thus argued that the jury should infer that Mak knew the QED document was “technical data” because he knew it related to the development of submarine technology. The jury instructions on public domain and willfulness left Mak free to argue that the evidence, including the testimony of the witnesses he presented, did not support this inference. The instructions did not remove the issue of Mak’s willfulness from the jury’s consideration, nor did they violate his Sixth Amendment right to present a meaningful defense. [8] Even if Mak’s right to present a meaningful defense was compromised, he cannot show the requisite prejudice because there was overwhelming evidence that he knew his actions were illegal. See United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 741 (1993) (defendant bears burden of showing that violation would have affected the outcome of the proceedings under third prong of plain error review). Indeed, there was ample evidence of Mak’s extensive export compliance training and knowledge, as well as evidence that he knew exactly what was contained in the QED and Solid State documents. Accordingly, we hold that the court did not plainly err in its 7392 UNITED STATES v. MAK instructions concerning willfulness, nor did it deprive Mak of his Sixth Amendment right to present a meaningful defense. Finally, Mak challenges the district court’s failure to instruct the jury on the general systems descriptions and basic marketing information exceptions to technical data, under the Sixth Amendment. This constitutional challenge was not raised at the district court, nor did Mak proffer as a defense at trial that the information in the charged documents was generally-taught scientific information or basic marketing information. Accordingly, we review his challenge for plain error. Santiago, 46 F.3d at 890. Mak never proffered as a defense that the information in the charged documents was generally-taught scientific information or basic marketing information; therefore, the district court was under no obligation to include the exceptions in its instructions. United States v. Freter, 31 F.3d 783, 788 (9th Cir. 1994). Moreover, the jury’s rejection of Mak’s public domain argument demonstrates that the omission of the aforementioned exceptions from the technical data instructions could not have affected the outcome of the proceedings as required under plain error review. Ultimately, Mak can neither show that the omission of this jury instruction clearly and obviously deprived him of a defense, nor that it prejudiced his substantial rights. Olano, 507 U.S. at 741. We hold that the district court did not plainly err because the three exceptions not included by the court are not elements of the offense, and therefore are not requisite components of the jury instructions.