United States v. Ronald L. Rushton

963 F.2d 272 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ronald L. RUSHTON, Defendant-Appellant. No. 91-50476. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted April 6, 1992. Decided April 30, 1992. Thomas H. Senters, San Diego, Cal., for defendant-appellant. David P. Curnow, Asst. U.S. Atty., Criminal Div., San Diego, Cal., for plaintiff-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Before: CANBY, REINHARDT and WIGGINS, Circuit Judges. CANBY, Circuit Judge. 1 Defendant Ronald Rushton presents three challenges to his convictions for mail fraud and bankruptcy fraud. First, he contends that the district court erred in refusing to give his proposed "good faith" jury instruction. Second, he asserts that the district court erred in refusing to grant a mistrial based on the alleged revelation to the jury, during a fire drill, that he was in custody. Third, he alleges error in the district court's refusal to grant a mistrial based on a question that the government asked of a defense witness on cross-examination. We affirm. FACTS 2 Rushton was the owner and sole director of a number of real estate companies whose…