United States v. Christian Gochis
Opinion
Opinion
MEMORANDUM
Defendants Christian Gochis and Develin Moore appeal their convictions for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 . Gochis also appeals his sentence. We affirm.
1. Gochis’ Conviction
The district court did not err in giving a jury instruction addressing the relationship of state and federal law on marijuana. The instruction accurately characterized the law and did not convey any undue emphasis. See, e.g., Monsma v. Cent. Mut. Ins. Co., 392 F.2d 49, 52 (9th Cir. 1968).
As Gochis conceded during oral argument, the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Gochis’ motion for change of venue or continuance of trial due to pretrial publicity. The pretrial publicity consisted of only a single newspaper article, not a “barrage of inflammatory publicity,” the article did not contain inflammatory prejudicial information and the article was factual in nature. Randolph v. California, 380 F.3d 1133, 1142 (9th Cir.2004) (quoting Ainsworth v. Calderon, 138 F.3d 787, 795 (9th Cir.1998)) (quotation marks omitted).
2. Gochis’ Sentence
Gochis’ sentence was not disproportionate. He received the mandatory minimum 60-month…