Opinion ID: 747628
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Jury Instructions on Conspiracy

Text: 72 (Count One) 73 Defendant argues that his conviction on the count of conspiracy must be reversed because the District Court committed plain error in the manner in which it instructed the jury on the issue of criminal liability for the acts of co-conspirators under Pinkerton v. United States, 328 U.S. 640, 66 S.Ct. 1180, 90 L.Ed. 1489 (1946). 7 Because defendant did not object to this instruction at trial, we again review for plain error. 74 The District Court's jury instructions regarding the conspiracy charge included the following charge: 75 Count 1 of the indictment accuses the defendant of committing the crime of conspiracy with others to commit the offenses of mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and interstate transportation transmission or transfer of property with a value exceeding $5,000 which was stolen, converted or taken by fraud. 76 There are two ways that the government can prove the defendant guilty of this crime. The first is by convincing you that he personally committed or participated in this crime. The second is based on the legal rule that all members of a conspiracy are responsible for acts committed by the other members, as long as those acts are committed to help advance the conspiracy as are within the reasonably foreseeable scope of the agreement. 77 (Emphases added.) The instruction then continued to explain the essential elements for a finding of guilt based on the Pinkerton doctrine. Defendant argues that this instruction might have allowed the jury to rely on the criminal acts of others to convict defendant for participating in a conspiracy, instead of relying on the acts of others to convict defendant of crimes committed by other members of the conspiracy. 78 The District Court delivered this particular instruction just after it had finished delivering a complete set of instructions on the elements required for the jury to find the defendant guilty of conspiracy. The court had already instructed the jury, among other things, that it could not find the defendant guilty of the conspiracy charge unless it found that he knowingly and voluntarily joined the conspiracy. The record shows that instruction at issue here intended to inform the jury of the elements required to convict the defendant of the crimes that were committed by members of the conspiracy, namely counts two through 106 of the indictment. The problem with the instructions was that the Court used the singular this crime instead of the plural these crimes. If the phrase these crimes had been used in the place of this crime, the purpose of this particular instruction would have been more clear. Because the District Court had already delivered a complete and accurate set of jury instructions regarding the conspiracy count, we hold that, although it was awkwardly phrased, this instruction was not plain error, and reversal of his conviction for conspiracy is not warranted. 8 79