U.S. v. Rosso

• Decision Date: 14 May 1999
• Docket Number: Nos. 98-2953,98-4109,s. 98-2953
• Parties: , UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. Robert Joseph ROSSO, Jr., Defendant - Appellant. United States of America, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. Gary S. Wainwright, Defendant - Appellant. . Submitted:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

179 F.3d 1102, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. Robert Joseph ROSSO, Jr., Defendant - Appellant.

United States of America, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. Gary S. Wainwright, Defendant - Appellant.

Nos. 98-2953, 98-4109.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: May 14, 1999.

Filed: June 17, 1999.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

BEFORE: WOLLMAN, Chief Judge, BEAM and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.

MURPHY, Circuit J.

In these two criminal cases the appellants raised an identical challenge to the Eighth Circuit Model Jury Instruction on reasonable doubt, and the cases were consolidated for hearing. Appellant Robert Joseph Rosso, Jr. was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and he was sentenced to life imprisonment without release. ¹ Appellant Gary S. Wainwright was convicted of the interstate transportation of stolen goods in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2314, and he received twenty-one months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release after the district court ² denied his post trial motion for judgment of acquittal. Wainwright also claims on appeal that there was insufficient evidence to uphold his conviction. We affirm in both cases.

Appellants claim that the Eighth Circuit pattern instruction on reasonable doubt is unconstitutional under the due process clause because it is vague and fails to stress the government's burden of proof. Both objected to its use at their trials. The model instruction on reasonable doubt reads as follows:

A reasonable doubt is a doubt based upon reason and common sense, and not the mere possibility of innocence. A reasonable doubt is a kind of doubt that would make a reasonable person hesitate to act. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt, therefore, must be proof of such convincing character that a reasonable person would not hesitate to rely and act upon it. However, proof beyond a reasonable doubt does not mean proof beyond all possible doubt.

Eighth Circuit Model Jury Instruction--Criminal, Instruction 3.11 (1996).

Appellants raise several objections to this instruction and cite portions of other definitions of reasonable doubt which they believe to be superior. ³ They argue that the instruction is vague because it circularly defines "reasonable doubt" in terms of "reason" and "reasonable" and that jurors would therefore be unable to understand the concept. They also contend that the instruction is deficient under Holland v. United States, 348 U.S. 121, 140 (1954), because the third sentence uses the phrase "would not hesitate to ... act." ⁴ Finally, appellants argue that the instruction does not stress the gravity of a juror's decision. They prefer language such as that in one of the standard pattern instruction collections which states that the proof must be "of such a convincing character that a reasonable person would not hesitate to rely and act upon it in the most important of his or her own affairs." 1 Edward J. Devitt et al., Federal Jury Practice and Instructions § 12.10 (4th ed.1992) (emphasis added).

We have previously found the circuit model instruction on reasonable doubt to pass constitutional muster in a number of cases. See, e.g., United States v. Kime, 99 F.3d 870, 877 (8th Cir.1996) (challenge for not saying reasonable doubt could arise from lack of evidence); United States v. Harris, 974 F.2d 84, 85 (8th Cir.1992) (challenge was to the phrase "and not the mere possibility of innocence" as lowering the government's burden of proof); United States v. Knight, 547 F.2d 75, 77 (8th Cir.1976) (per curiam) (substantively similar instruction challenged for not defining reasonable doubt "exclusively in terms of hesitation to act"). To the extent this precedent covers the points raised here, we are not free to depart from it. See United States v. Olness, 9 F.3d 716, 717 (8th Cir.1993). To the extent appellants raise somewhat different challenges to the instruction, their arguments fail on the merits. The instruction is not circular just because it uses reason or reasonable to define reasonable doubt. The use of these words is appropriate and unlikely to confuse jurors. Cf. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 317 (1979) ("A 'reasonable doubt' ... is one based upon 'reason.' "). The instruction is not deficient under Holland because it defines doubt in its second sentence exactly as counseled by that case, and the third sentence of the instruction which discusses the measure of proof does not undermine that definition. While appellants prefer certain other formulations of a reasonable doubt instruction, they have not shown that the Eighth Circuit model is unconstitutional or that it fails to inform jurors of the seriousness of their responsibility.

In addition to the jury instruction issue raised by both appellants, Wainwright argues that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of the federal offense of interstate transportation of stolen goods. He claims that the proof at trial showed only that he made bad business judgments or possibly violated state law and that his post trial motion for acquittal should have been granted. On a claim of insufficient evidence we review the evidence at trial "in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict" and "give the verdict the benefit of all reasonable inferences that might be drawn from the evidence." United States v. Wilson, 103 F.3d 1402, 1406 (8th Cir.1997) (citations omitted). "We will overturn the jury's verdict only if no reasonable jury could have concluded that the government proved the elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt." Id.

The evidence at trial showed Wainwright managed the Little Rock, Arkansas store of Dealers Truck Equipment Company, Inc. (Dealers). Dealers is based in Shreveport, Louisiana, and its primary business is retro-fitting trucks for commercial use. Wainwright expanded his store's business to include the sale of accessory equipment for four wheel drive and all terrain vehicles. In the summer of 1995 Wainwright's store began selling accessory equipment to P.G.S. 4X4 Centre (PGS), an Australian company. Dealers' home office had a policy requiring its approval of all new accounts, but it was not made aware of the PGS account. Wainwright sought to become a partner in PGS with a one-third ownership interest, and he established his own export company to facilitate shipment to PGS of products purchased directly from the manufacturer.

Equipment was at first only shipped to PGS after payment had been received, but later it was shipped on credit. Dealers' home office became aware of the PGS account when payment for one shipment had not been received within 60 days. It advised Wainwright to stop doing business with PGS and insisted that a credit application be completed. PGS faxed Wainwright the necessary information in January 1996, and he had his secretary verify the information and prepare a credit application. The credit application was backdated to July 15, 1995, and Wainwright wrote Dealers that a credit application had been completed before any of the shipments to PGS.

Wainwright became aware of a trade show to be held in Australia in February 1996, and he shipped approximately $50,000 ⁵ of Dealers' equipment to Australia five weeks before the show. No one at Dealers' home office knew about the shipment, and it was not handled like an ordinary business transaction. PGS had not ordered the equipment; it was only expecting a few samples to display at the show. ⁶ No invoice had been prepared; the contents of the shipment were only documented on a legal pad. ⁷ Wainwright personally arranged and paid for a...