Jury Instructions

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Jyshawn Jackson

Case No.: 20-2408

Officials: BRENNAN, SCUDDER, and KIRSCH, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Jury Instructions

Jyshawn Jackson, together with Marnetta Walker, sold drugs on six occasions to a confidential source (“CS”) during a two-month span in 2019. This appeal concerns only the last sale, for which Jackson was indicted on one count of distributing 28 grams or more of crack cocaine. That sale occurred in two steps, but that was not how the sale was originally structured—Jackson, through Walker, had agreed to sell 35 grams of crack cocaine to the CS for $1,800.

But when the CS arrived with Walker to the location for the buy, Jackson handed over only 24.92 grams of crack cocaine. After some handwringing about the shorted amount, the CS paid Jackson $1,500, and Jackson said that he would retrieve and provide the CS the full amount discussed previously. Jackson then traveled to a nearby town to get more crack cocaine before again meeting the CS and Walker at a location one mile from the original meet-up. Once there, Jackson exchanged 6.28 grams of crack cocaine for the remaining $300. At trial, a jury found Jackson guilty of distributing more than 28 grams of crack cocaine.

Jackson argues that the district court erred when it denied his motion for acquittal under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29 because the government’s evidence showed that the sale involved two transactions, not one, each amounting to less than 28 grams of crack cocaine. He also asserts that the district court should have given a lesser-included-offense instruction to allow the jury to find Jackson distributed less than 28 grams of crack cocaine. We disagree and affirm Jackson’s conviction.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is Corporate Counsel, at Salesforce.