Opinion ID: 744574
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the history of prior threats and physical violence between the couple;

Text: 49 (c) the socio-economic status of the defendant-that is, was she economically independent, did she have small children to care for; 50 (d) the psychological assessment of her by the expert who testified in this case. 51 If you find from all of your deliberations that evidence presented shows the defendant suffered from battered women [sic] syndrome, you may consider that fact in assessing the reasonableness of the actions she took in furtherance of Julio Ramos's drug conspiracy. 52 A woman who suffers from battered woman syndrome may reasonably believe her actions were necessary at a threshold lower than that which a person who does not so suffer would consider reasonable. 53 Defendant Reyes Proposed Jury Instruction No. 7 Theory of Defense 54 You must decide if given the facts and circumstances in this case the defendant had reasonable grounds to believe and actually did believe that she was in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury to she [sic], her child or her family, and that she had no reasonable opportunity to escape. 55 You have heard evidence that Julio Ramos committed prior acts of violence against Ms. Reyes. If, after your consideration of the evidence, you believe this to be true, you may consider that fact in assessing whether she was in reasonable fear of him. The defendant is not required to prove any of these facts beyond a reasonable doubt in order for you to take them into consideration. 56 Whether we review de novo or for abuse of discretion, however, the district court did not err in refusing to read the offered instructions. On appeal, Reyes concedes that the final paragraph of suggested instruction number six was legally inaccurate. We therefore assume, without deciding, that the instruction was improper. It would have been error for the district court to read a legally incorrect instruction to the jury. 5 It cannot, then, be error to refuse to read it. 57 Reyes contends that these instructions would have informed the jury as to what they were permitted to consider when determining whether she suffered from a reasonable fear of immediate harm. However, instruction number seven was substantially covered by the court's instruction. We do not decide whether, under different circumstances, it would have been error to exclude legally accurate instructions that do what Reyes's offered instructions purported to do: put the duress defense in context with evidence of a battering relationship. C. Reyes's Managerial Role 58 The district court imposed a two-level upward adjustment on Reyes's sentence after concluding that she held a managerial/supervisory role in the heroin organization. U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(c) (two-level increase for a defendant who is an organizer, leader, manager, or supervisor). This court reviews a district court's findings of fact to support an upward adjustment for clear error. United States v. Ponce, 51 F.3d 820, 826 (9th Cir.1995). Although [t]he district court need not make specific findings of fact in support of an upward role adjustment, id., the sentencing court made the following findings: 59 In deciding where one fits in terms of relative culpability and role in the offense, the notes tell me to look to the nature of the participation and to the degree of the participation in planning or organizing, and to the degree and control of authority exercised. 60 In this sense it is true that Ms. Reyes played a role of interpreting and translating, but that role is absolutely critical. The enterprise does not work without that role. You have Spanish-speaking customers, Spanish-speaking distributors, and that role makes this all possible. And she understood that and played that role, so the nature of her participation is that the enterprise does not work with anything remotely like that efficiency without her role playing. 61 ... 62 I don't think there is any question but that she played a lesser role than Julio Ramirez [sic] in that Julio Ramirez [sic] was the person who was the overall organizing leader in this particular enterprise; however, I think, as far as the role played by Maria Reyes, it clearly is one because of the nature of what she did, and the degree of her participation in it, and the exercise of control that she did have over others, that she is a manager or supervisor, and she is one that should be--should have a level of increase by two levels. 63 Reyes argues that the court's reliance on the importance of her role as a translator was inadequate to support a finding that she was a manager or supervisor. Without a showing that the defendant had control over others, even a defendant with an important role in an offense cannot be deemed a manager. United States v. Hoac, 990 F.2d 1099, 1110-11 (9th Cir.1993). 64 While the district court did primarily discuss the importance of Reyes's role, it also made reference to the control that she did have over others. A court's general findings can be sufficient to uphold an upward departure for a supervisor role. Ponce, 51 F.3d at 826. The evidence at trial, including admissions by Reyes, indicated that Reyes dispatched runners whom she selected to distribute the drugs and made decisions regarding where and when to deliver the heroin, particularly when Ramos was not home. We review only for clear error; this evidence sufficiently supports the district court's finding that Reyes controlled others and held a manager or supervisor role. 65 Reyes also argues that, apart from lacking a sufficient evidentiary basis, the district court's adjustment for a managerial enhancement impermissibly punished her for conduct of which she was acquitted by the jury, namely, conspiracy. This argument is foreclosed by the Supreme Court's recent opinion in United States v. Watts, --- U.S. ----, ----, 117 S.Ct. 633, 638, 136 L.Ed.2d 554 (1997), which rejected the reasoning of United States v. Brady, 928 F.2d 844 (1991), on which Reyes relies, and which held instead that a jury's verdict of acquittal does not prevent the sentencing court from considering conduct underlying the acquitted charge, so long as that conduct has been proved by a preponderance of the evidence. And, as we have already concluded, sufficient evidence supports the district court's adjustment for Reyes's managerial or supervisory role. D. Juror Letters 66 After the close of trial, Reyes's lawyer delivered to the district court letters from four jurors explaining their beliefs that Reyes had in fact been severely abused by her husband. The court accepted the letters, but refused to consider them for sentencing purposes. 67 Reyes argues that the district court erred by refusing to consider these explanatory letters offered by the jurors. We review the district court's decision regarding what evidence it will consider in sentencing for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Ayers, 924 F.2d 1468, 1481 (9th Cir.1991); United States v. Messer, 785 F.2d 832, 834 (9th Cir.1986). 68 Contrary to Reyes's contention, the court did not believe that it could not consider the letters. Rather it noted that: 69 it would be wis[e] for the Sentencing Commission to address that issue and to say they are not to be considered. I think the same kind of public policy considerations that go into the Rules of Evidence rule that says they are not to be considered for impeachment is the same for sentencing, so that I would think that that would be the way the law ought to be structured, but it isn't right now. 70 The court clearly exercised its discretion as to whether to consider the letters. The court's belief that a practice of considering letters of this sort could lead to harassment of jurors is reasonable, and its decision not to consider them was not an abuse of discretion. See Fed.R.Evid. 606(b), Comm. Notes, Sen. Rpt. No. 93-1277 (rule prohibiting jurors from testifying about jury deliberations meant to prevent harassment of jurors). E. Acceptance of Responsibility 71 The district court ruled that Reyes's duress defense was inconsistent with acceptance of responsibility. United States v. Johnson held that defendants who rely on a duress defense at trial are not entitled to a reduction for acceptance of responsibility. 956 F.2d 894, 904 (9th Cir.1992). If, however, a defendant accepts responsibility for her crime by statements after the conviction, she may receive a downward departure for that acceptance of responsibility. Id. at 905. 72 In this case, the district court did not rely solely on Johnson to preclude the acceptance of responsibility departure, but noted instead that: 73 The best thing to say is it's your burden to show acceptance of responsibility, and it's clear to the court that hasn't been met, and there is no showing of acceptance of responsibility sufficient to allow the court to permit any reduction on that basis. 74 After trial and through this appeal Reyes continued to argue that while she did commit the crimes she did it under compulsion. It was not clear error for the district court to determine that she did not sufficiently accept responsibility to warrant a downward departure.