United States v. Lan Thi Tran Nguyen

MEMORANDUM

Appellant Lan Thi Tran Nguyen, a pharmacist, appeals her conviction for distribution of pseudoephedrine knowing or having reasonable cause to believe it would be used to manufacture methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (c)(2). Nguyen contends that the district court gave an incorrect jury instruction, abused its discretion in admitting certain testimony from government witnesses, and improperly denied her motion for a mistrial based on the government’s alleged burden-shifting during closing arguments.

We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm.

1. Nguyen contends that the district court erred in giving the jury the following instruction:

We have upheld this identical instruction in other prosecutions under § 841(c)(2). See United States v. Kaur, 382 F.3d 1155, 1156-57 (9th Cir.2004); United States v. Johal, 428 F.3d 823, 827 (9th Cir.2005) (reaffirming Kaur). Moreover, because the correct standard for criminal liability under § 841(c)(2) “incorporates both subjective and objective considerations,” Johal, 428 F.3d at 825 , the district court properly rejected Nguyen’s proposed instruction, which “effectively equated reasonable cause to…