The following excerpt is from United States v. Marsh, 13-2549, 13-258 (2nd Cir. 2014):
Jury Instruction. Defendants argue that the conspiracy charge was defective. "We review jury charges de novo, reversing only where a charge either failed to inform the jury adequately of the law or misled the jury about the correct legal rule." United States v. Ford, 435 F.3d 204, 209-10 (2d Cir. 2006) (internal citations omitted).
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Defendants argue that a single sentence of the conspiracy instruction, read in isolation, suggests that a defendant may be convicted without the jury finding that the defendant joined the conspiracy with an intention to further its objective. However, "[w]e do not 'review portions of [jury] instructions in isolation, but rather consider them in their entirety'" to determine whether they were adequate. Id. at 210 (quoting United States v. Weintraub, 273 F.3d 139, 151 (2d Cir. 2001)).
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