Filed: May 26, 2011
Latest Update: Feb. 21, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 10-4674 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. BRANDON WENTKER, Defendant – Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. Catherine C. Blake, District Judge. (1:09-cr-00635-CCB-1) Submitted: May 11, 2011 Decided: May 26, 2011 Before KING and GREGORY, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Martin H. Schreib
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 10-4674 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. BRANDON WENTKER, Defendant – Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. Catherine C. Blake, District Judge. (1:09-cr-00635-CCB-1) Submitted: May 11, 2011 Decided: May 26, 2011 Before KING and GREGORY, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Martin H. Schreibe..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 10-4674
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
BRANDON WENTKER,
Defendant – Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Baltimore. Catherine C. Blake, District Judge.
(1:09-cr-00635-CCB-1)
Submitted: May 11, 2011 Decided: May 26, 2011
Before KING and GREGORY, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Martin H. Schreiber II, LAW OFFICE OF MARTIN H. SCHREIBER II,
LLC, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellant. Rod J. Rosenstein,
United States Attorney, Peter M. Nothstein, Assistant United
States Attorney, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Brandon Wentker appeals his conviction for conspiracy
to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or
more of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 (2006), and for
possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of
cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) (2006). Wentker
makes two arguments on appeal, both concerning the adequacy of
the jury instructions. First, Wentker argues that because there
was evidence that he had conspired to steal only a portion of
the package containing 878.8 grams of cocaine, the district
court should have instructed the jury to determine how much
cocaine Wentker conspired to possess with intent to distribute,
rather than how much cocaine was “involved”. Next, Wentker
argues that the district court erred in declining to give a
lesser-included-offense instruction, because without it, the
jury was unable to find Wentker guilty of simple possession of
cocaine without any intent to distribute. For the reasons that
follow, we affirm.
We “review a district court’s decision whether to give
a jury instruction for abuse of discretion.” See United
States v. Lighty,
616 F.3d 321, 366 (4th Cir. 2010).
A district court commits reversible error in refusing
to provide a proffered jury instruction only when the
instruction (1) was correct; (2) was not substantially
covered by the court’s charge to the jury; and (3)
dealt with some point in the trial so important, that
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failure to give the requested instruction seriously
impaired the defendant’s ability to conduct his
defense.
Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). “[W]e do not view a
single [jury] instruction in isolation; rather we consider
whether taken as a whole and in the context of the entire
charge, the instructions accurately and fairly state the
controlling law.”
Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).
Here, with respect to Wentker’s first argument, and
viewing the jury instructions as a whole, we find that Wentker’s
proposed change to the jury verdict language was unnecessary,
and that the district court did not abuse its discretion in
declining to adopt the change. With respect to Wentker’s second
argument, we find that the evidence did not support the
inclusion of a lesser-included-offense instruction, and that the
district court did not abuse its discretion in declining to give
a simple possession instruction.
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district
court. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials
before the court and argument would not aid the decisional
process.
AFFIRMED
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