00-2643 U.S. v. Carrillo

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“There is no question that the jury instructions should have been finalized before closing arguments. However, although a technical violation of Rule 30 did occur, it is clear that the error did not violate the defendants’ substantial rights. The district court gave the defendants ample opportunity to object to the proposed instructions. Moreover, this is not a case in which defense counsel were forced to present their closing arguments with no idea what the jury instructions were going to be. Nor did the district judge indicate that he would not give a specific instruction and then give it, cf. United States v. Ienco, 92 F.3d 564, 569 (7th Cir. 1996) (finding that defendant was prejudiced where trial court gave Pinkerton instruction after advising counsel that he would not), or refuse to give an instruction that he had tentatively agreed to give. Instead, the district judge provisionally approved the tendered instructions and then gave all of those instructions except for one which was withdrawn by the government. Therefore, we reject defendants’ contention that the timing of the Rule 30 conference ‘affect[ed] the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the judicial proceedings.’ Olano, 507 U.S. at 736.”

Affirmed.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Norgle, J., Kanne, J.