United States v. Francisco Nolasco

Francisco Nolasco, an illegal alien, appeals from his conviction on 19 counts of harboring illegal aliens in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324 (a)(1)(C). Nolasco contends that the district court erred in denying his request that the jury be instructed on the meaning of the term reasonable doubt. This court was first presented with the issue of when the trial court must define reasonable doubt for the jury in United States v. Witt, 648 F.2d 608 (9th Cir.1981). We noted that there was a split of authority in the circuits as to whether a trial court must upon request give an instruction concerning the meaning of that term. Id. at 610 . We then held that under the circumstances of the case then before us, the district court did not abuse its discretion in not giving an instruction. Id. at 610-11 .

Subsequently, in United States v. Wosepka, 757 F.2d 1006 (9th Cir.), modified, 787 F.2d 1294 (1985), we explained our holding in Witt . We held that while the district court has the discretion to refuse to give an instruction defining reasonable doubt if “the issues to be resolved by the jury ... [are] fairly staightforward and the evidence [is] not complex,” id. at 1009, the court may not…