Opinion ID: 678890
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Drug Addict Instruction

Text: 9 After the close of evidence, the court instructed the jury as follows: 10 If a witness is a narcotics addict, there are additional reasons why his testimony should be considered with great care. An addict has a constant need for a supply of drugs and for money to support his habit, and may also have an abnormal fear of imprisonment in which his supply of drugs might be cut off. These are special circumstances which you may consider in weighing testimony of this kind. You of course may give the testimony such weight as you think proper, after considering all relevant circumstances. 11 RT 6/9/92 at 138. This instruction was requested by codefendant Rodriguez, who had been inculpated by Burrows's testimony; the instruction was read over Burrows's objection. The court also admonished the jury to examine the testimony of an accomplice and of a cooperating individual with greater care than the testimony of an ordinary witness. It is undisputed that all three instructions were intended to refer to Burrows. Burrows now argues that the addict instruction was inappropriate, particularly in the context of the two other cautionary instructions given by the court. We review the jury instructions as a whole, United States v. Joetzki, 952 F.2d 1090, 1095 (9th Cir.1991), and accord to the trial judge substantial latitude, so long as the instructions fairly and adequately covered the issues presented. United States v. Powell, 955 F.2d 1206, 1210 (9th Cir.1991). 12 We have long recognized the appropriateness of the instruction given by the district court when it refers to government witnesses. People of Territory of Guam v. Dela Rosa, 644 F.2d 1257, 1261 (9th Cir.1980); United States v. Bernard, 625 F.2d 854, 858-59 (9th Cir.1980). At the same time, we have recognized that each of the following circumstances renders the addict instruction unnecessary: (1) a dispute as to the witness's addiction; (2) adequate opportunity for the adverse party to cross-examine the witness about his addiction; and (3) the court's reading of other cautionary instructions. United States v. Ochoa-Sanchez, 676 F.2d 1283, 1289 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 911, 103 S.Ct. 219, 74 L.Ed.2d 174 (1982). 2 13 Burrows argues that because all three circumstances were present in his case, the addict instruction should not have been given. But Ochoa, like the scores of other cases dealing with the addict instruction, arose in a different context than this case. In nearly every other case, the defendant appeals the district court's refusal to give an instruction pertaining to the testimony of a prosecution witness--not the district court's granting of the request to give an instruction pertaining to the testimony of the defendant himself. 3 Hence the focus in the caselaw has been on whether an addict instruction is necessary as it applies to a government witness--not on whether it is permissible when it refers to a defendant. 14 We agree with Burrows that in this case the instruction was unnecessary, if for no other reason than that the jury was given other cautionary instructions. See Ochoa, and cases cited at note 2, supra. 4 The question here, however, is whether the instruction was permissible. That is a separate inquiry. See, e.g., United States v. Smith, 692 F.2d 658, 661 (10th Cir.1982) (under certain circumstances, court may give addict instruction even where unnecessary), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1200, 103 S.Ct. 1183, 75 L.Ed.2d 431 (1983). 15 We need not decide the degree to which Burrows's position as a defendant renders the instruction impermissible, see Godfrey v. United States, 353 F.2d 456, 458 (D.C.Cir.1966) (addict instruction that aimed more pointedly at accused than at prosecution witnesses is plain error), because in any event the instruction should not have been given if there was no adequate evidentiary basis for it. See, e.g., United States v. Tabacca, 924 F.2d 906, 912 (9th Cir.1991) (defendant not entitled to instruction which has no foundation in evidence); United States v. Pace, 833 F.2d 1307, 1314 (9th Cir.1987) (same), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1011, 108 S.Ct. 1742, 100 L.Ed.2d 205 (1988). The evidence of addiction consisted primarily of Burrows's statement I am a recovering cocaine addict. RT 6/5/92 at 80. 16 We draw guidance from cases concerning the factual basis which renders the addict instruction necessary. In United States v. Tousant, 619 F.2d 810 (9th Cir.1980), we held that the district court correctly refused to give an addict instruction where the witness had at one time been addicted to heroin but was not using it at the time of trial, had not used the drug for more than six months before trial, and even then had used drugs only twice a week. Id. at 812. In Dela Rosa, a case in which we reversed defendant's conviction on other grounds, we instructed the trial court that on remand it should determine whether or not the witness, who was involved in a Methadone rehabilitation program, was actually a heroin addict. 644 F.2d at 1261. 17 Dela Rosa is instructive. Its implicit teaching is that the mere fact that a person is a recovering drug addict is not sufficient to warrant an addict instruction. A person who is attending a Methadone program, as was the witness in Dela Rosa, is almost by definition a recovering drug addict. But the Dela Rosa court required more than this, and stated that the addict instruction would be appropriate only if it were proved that the witness was actually an addict. 644 F.2d at 1261. In the present case, no such additional showing was made. It was shown only that Burrows was a recovering drug addict. 5 18 The need to show current drug addiction as a foundation for giving the instruction is underscored by the language of the instruction itself. The instruction refers to an addict's need for money to support his habit, and to his abnormal fear of prison, a place where his drug supply may be cut off. These observations have little if any application to the recovering addict, who presumably has determined that he will no longer use drugs and hence has no need for money with which to buy them and no abnormal fear of being deprived of them while in prison. The addict instruction is close to irrelevant in the absence of an evidentiary foundation of present addiction. Because it has the danger of unfairly prejudicing the jury against the defendant, it is also improper. 19 We thus conclude that the district court erred by giving the addict instruction. 6 We also conclude, however, that under the circumstances of this case, the prejudice resulting from the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. See United States v. Rubio-Villareal, 967 F.2d 294, 296-97 n. 3 (9th Cir.1992) (en banc). 7 Although Burrows insisted that he was a confidential informant (CI), Deputy Vann testified that he employs CI's only pursuant to signed contracts, and that he never entered into such a contract with Burrows. Vann also testified that he asked Burrows to call him in connection with targeting Rodriguez when he got out of jail, but that Burrows never contacted him until after the deal had gone down and he had been arrested by the DEA. While Burrows explained that he tried to call Vann many times after beginning to deal with Bugsy (a story partially corroborated by Burrows's fiancee), Burrows was unable to explain why all of his pre-arrest attempts at communication were unsuccessful. 20 Because in this case so much turned on credibility, ordinarily we would be reluctant to conclude that an instruction undermining credibility could be harmless. But Burrows's credibility was very seriously damaged even apart from the addict instruction. Burrows's own testimony called his credibility into serious question. On one occasion, Burrows was caught in a lie on the stand concerning his dealings with Deputy Vann. On another occasion, Burrows backed down once it became clear that the prosecutor had personal knowledge of the matter about which Burrows was testifying. The testimony of other witnesses had the same damaging effect. Deputy Vann testified that Burrows was not reliable. Terry Hill, Burrows's probation officer, testified that Burrows was only sometimes truthful. In addition, the jury was told to examine Burrows's testimony with special care because Burrows was a felon, a cooperating individual, and an accomplice. Numerous cases have held that if another cautionary instruction is given, the addict instruction becomes unnecessary. See supra at 878 & n. 2. These cases are premised on the principle that once the jury is on notice that a witness's testimony is inherently open to suspicion, the force of additional cautionary instructions is limited. In this case, given the number of instances in which other witnesses or Burrows himself put Burrows's credibility into question, and given the number of other instructions alerting the jury to the inherently suspect nature of his testimony, we conclude the district court's error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. 8