United States v. Luis Enrique Gallegos-Corrales

Luis Enrique Gallegos-Corrales was convicted, among other things, for using or carrying a firearm “during and in relation to” a drug trafficking crime in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924 (c). He challenges his conviction on the ground that the district court’s jury instructions were inadequate. The court instructed the jury as follows:

Reporter’s Transcript at 457. Gallegos-Cor-rales argues this instruction violated his due process rights because it did not include the “in relation to” language in its recital of the essential elements of the offense and therefore did not make clear to the jury that the government bore the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt the. relationship between the gun and the drug trafficking crime.

The government contends other instructions adequately informed the jury on the “in relation to” element. In particular, the government argues that any constitutional error was cured by a supplemental instruction given by the district court:

Reporter’s Transcript at 457-58 (emphasis added).

Gallegos-Corrales relies on our recent decision in United States v. Mendoza, 11 F.3d 126 (9th Cir.1993). In Mendoza , we held a jury instruction similar to the one at…