Opinion ID: 76334
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Refused Jury Instructions

Text: 83 Lastly, Drury urges this Court to find error in the district court's refusal to give two requested jury instructions. The first proposed instruction, quoted in full supra Part I, addresses improper investigative techniques and the credibility inferences that jurors may draw from them regarding the testimony of government witnesses. Drury contends that the district court's credibility instructions were insufficient due to over-breadth and severely hindered his defense. The second instruction that Drury proposed is 11th Circuit Pattern Jury Instruction 6.7, also quoted in full supra Part I, which concerns a witness's reputation for truthfulness in the community. Drury argues that the district court abused its discretion in declining to provide this instruction because Whatley, whom Drury characterizes as the crux of the government's case, was shown at trial to have a bad reputation for truthfulness in the community. 84 This Court reviews a district court's refusal to give a proposed jury instruction for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Futrell, 209 F.3d 1286, 1288 (11th Cir.2000). The district court's refusal to give the requested instruction is reversible error only if (1) the instruction is substantially correct, (2) the instruction was not addressed in the charge actually given, and (3) the failure to give the requested instruction seriously impaired the defendant's ability to present an effective defense. United States v. De La Mata, 266 F.3d 1275, 1298 (11th Cir.2001). 85 We find no error in the district court's decision not to give Drury's requested instructions. Drury's suggested non-pattern charge was superfluous, as the instruction that the district court did provide adequately addressed the issue of witness credibility. The district court has broad discretion in formulating its charge as long as the charge accurately reflects the law and the facts. United States v. Gold, 743 F.2d 800, 819 (11th Cir.1984). Because the charge given adequately presented the law and the facts regarding witness credibility, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to give Drury's proposed instruction. See United States v. Fulford, 267 F.3d 1241, 1246 (11th Cir.2001). 86 Nor did the district court abuse its discretion by declining to give 11th Circuit Pattern Jury Instruction 6.7. Clearly, this charge is substantially correct and, thus, satisfies the first prong of the jury instruction analysis. United States v. Roberts, 308 F.3d 1147, 1153 (11th Cir.2002), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 123 S.Ct. 2232, 155 L.Ed.2d 1119 (2003). With regard to the second prong, we agree that it is a close question whether the charge provided by the district court adequately covers the same territory as the pattern instruction proffered by Drury. We admit some level of concern because, while the requested instruction refers to a witness's  reputation for truthfulness in the community, see 11th Cir. Pattern J. Instr. 6.7 (emphasis added), the charge given concerns solely the believability and truthfulness of a witness. However, even assuming arguendo that the proposed pattern instruction was not sufficiently addressed in the charge actually given by the district court, see Roberts, 308 F.3d at 1153, we nonetheless conclude that Drury's assignment of error must fail under the third prong of the analysis. See id. Specifically, Drury has not shown that the [district court's] failure to give the [requested] instruction substantially impaired [his] ability to present an effective defense. Id. 87 We perceive no impediment to Drury's effective defense in this particular case. This conclusion is bolstered by the fact that the district court permitted Drury to argue vigorously to the jury that Whatley possessed a bad reputation for truthfulness through (1) the testimony of two character witnesses, (2) a cross-examination of Whatley, and (3) the defense's closing arguments. See United States v. Ryan, 289 F.3d 1339, 1345 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 537 U.S. 927, 123 S.Ct. 324, 154 L.Ed.2d 221 (2002); see also United States v. Chirinos, 112 F.3d 1089, 1101 (11th Cir. 1997) (finding that the district court's failure to instruct did not impair the defendant's ability to defend where the court permitted defendant to elicit supporting testimony and to make closing arguments on the issue). Coupled with the arguably satisfactory truthfulness instruction that the district court did provide, we conclude that the court did not abuse its discretion by refusing Drury's proposed pattern jury instruction.