Court Opinion

ID: 9457565
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 20:25:43.982097+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:35:24.334803
License: Public Domain

ON PETITION FOR REHEARING
Appellants claim that their contentions relating to the impropriety of the trial court’s instructions have not had our full consideration. Appellants specifically ask for an answer to the following question:
Is it reversible error for the trial court to fail to instruct the jury that the defendant has no burden or duty of calling any witnesses or producing any evidence?
 Of course, the answer to that question generally is yes, but here the district court’s instruction properly enunciated the duty, although not in the exact language requested by defendants. On this subject, we quote from the transcript:
The law presumes a defendant to be innocent of crime. Thus, these defendants, although accused, begin this trial with a clean slate, so-to-speak, with no evidence against them. This is called presumption of innocence, and I advise you that this presumption of innocence alone is sufficient to acquit a defendant unless from all of the evidence in the case you jurors are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt of the guilt of each of these defendants.
What is a reasonable doubt? It is a fair doubt based upon reason and common sense and arising from the state of the evidence. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is established if the evidence is such as you would be willing to rely upon in the most important of your own affairs. A verdict of guilty must be based on substantial evidence which leaves you with an abiding conviction that that particular defendant is guilty.
A reasonable doubt may arise not only from the evidence presented, but also from a lack of evidence. The burden is upon the prosecution to prove the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of every essential element of the crime charged. And so a defendant has the right to rely upon the failure of the prosecution to establish such proof.
A defendant may also rely upon evidence brought out on cross-examina*340tion of the witnesses for the Government. A defendant need not prove Ms innocence. (Tr. 450-51) (Emphasis added)
Appellants have also made several other contentions relating to the instructions ; i. e., that the trial court committed prejudicial error in instructing on reasonable doubt, in instructing on burden of proof, in instructing on specific intent, in summarizing defendants’ case, in commenting upon the failure of law enforcement officers to arrest defendants at an earlier time than they did, and in failing to instruct the jury on evi-dentiary inferences to be taken against the government for its failure to produce or call certain witnesses.
Within the context of this case and after examining the instructions as a whole, we also find these further contentions without any merit. No useful purpose would be served by extending this opinion by quoting the trial court’s instructions in their entirety and we decline to do so.
Appellants in their petition for rehearing, however, state that the court’s discussion of certain “principal” issues did not properly reflect appellants’ characterization of their relative importance. Accordingly, we modify the third paragraph of our opinion. It shall now read as follows:
In this appeal, appellants Turchick and Tilton urged the following, which we deem as the principal grounds which might require a reversal, (a) that the evidence was insufficient to sustain their conviction, and (b) that the trial court committed prejudicial error in overruling appellants’ motions to discover the identity of the person or persons who provided the government with the information that led to appellants’ arrest.
In all other respects, we deny the petition for rehearing.