Opinion ID: 462580
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: appellant's pretrial motions and the jury instructions

Text: 7 Appellant first challenges his conviction on the ground that the District Court improperly denied his motion to sever the defendants. Because the evidence in this case establishes, at best, merely a one-time conspiracy to distribute only the small sample amount of heroin between Hofongo and appellant, appellant argues, failure of the court to sever defendants Ezebuiro and Obasi was error. Appellant argues that once defendant Hofongo pleaded guilty, no evidence linked appellant with his co-defendants. We reject this argument. A District Court clearly has discretion whether to sever defendants under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 14, and appellant has simply failed to carry his burden of demonstrating an abuse of that discretion. The government's evidence was sufficient to allow the jury to conclude that appellant played a key role in the larger conspiracy as the flag man who screened potential customers. 8 Appellant next challenges his conviction on the ground that the District Court erred in failing to grant his motion for disclosure of the government informant's identity and location. Appellant argues that the informant would have been a material witness and would have been helpful to appellant's defense. Therefore, appellant argues, failure to disclose the informant's current address constituted reversible error. We disagree. 9 As an initial matter, appellant never moved for disclosure of the informant's location and therefore cannot now complain on that score. See Transcript of October 17, 1984 Status Call Hearing at 12-14. Moreover, trial counsel conceded that the government had confirmed Robinson's identity with the Drug Enforcement Agency and disclosed it to defendant. Id. at 12-13. Thus, because appellant failed to seek disclosure of Robinson's location and because he received a confirmation of Robinson's identity, we find no basis for appellant's complaint. 10 Appellant further argues that the District Court erred in its jury instructions. First, he argues, the court failed to give a multiple-conspiracy instruction, informing the jury that the second, larger sale of heroin could be considered a separate and distinct conspiracy unrelated to appellant. Second, he argues, the District Court erred in failing to give a missing informant instruction to the jury. Such an instruction informs the jury that when a party fails to utilize a witness peculiarly within his power to produce and whose testimony would elucidate the transaction, the jury may infer that the witness' testimony would have been unfavorable. See Graves v. United States, 150 U.S. 118, 121, 14 S.Ct. 40, 41, 37 L.Ed. 1021 (1894); Wynn v. United States, 397 F.2d 621, 625 (D.C.Cir.1967). 11 The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, however, expressly bar a party from contesting the jury instructions given by the District Court unless he objects below or the error constitutes plain error. Fed.R.Crim.P. 30, 52(b). See also United States v. Campbell, 684 F.2d 141, 148 (D.C.Cir.1982); United States v. Raper, 676 F.2d 841, 852 (D.C.Cir.1982). 12 Appellant in this case did not object to the instructions below and consequently must demonstrate plain error. We find that the failure to give a multiple-conspiracy instruction was not plain error, given that the government's evidence was clearly sufficient to support a finding that appellant and his co-defendants were engaged in a single overall conspiracy. Further, appellant failed to lay the foundation for a missing informant instruction by demonstrating that the informant was peculiarly within the government's control. Absent such a foundation, a missing informant instruction cannot properly be given. See Brown v. United States, 414 F.2d 1165, 1167-1168 (D.C.Cir.1969) (per curiam ). Thus we reject appellant's challenge to the District Court's jury instructions.