No Easy Answers

       Case 1:05-cr-00394-RBW         Document 227         Filed 12/23/2006       Page 1 of 21



                              UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
                              FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA                       )
                                               )      CR. NO 05-394 (RBW)
                v.                             )
                                               )
I. LEWIS LIBBY,                                )
      also known as "Scooter Libby"            )

                      GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSE TO DEFENDANT'S
                           PROPOSED JURY INSTRUCTIONS

         The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, by PATRICK J. FITZGERALD, SPECIAL

COUNSEL, respectfully submits the following response to defendant's proposed jury instructions.

                                        INTRODUCTION

         On November 13, 2006, both parties submitted proposed jury instructions to the Court. In

their submissions, both parties proposed that the Court give the following instructions from the Bar

Association of the District of Columbia's Criminal Jury Instructions (4th ed. Revised 2005)(The

Red Book)("D.C. Form Instructions"):

1.02                 2.02           2.06              2.11               2.52              2.75
1.10                 2.03           2.07              2.13               2.71              2.76
1.16                 2.04           2.08              2.27               2.73
2.01                 2.05           2.09              2.42

Defendant proposed that the Court give two additional D.C. Form Instructions: 1.05 (Cautionary

Instruction Prior to First Recess); and 1.11 (Evidence of Prior Consistent Statement of a Witness)

(if warranted). The government proposed that the Court give 15 additional D.C. Form Instructions:

1.07 (Questions Not Evidence); 1.08 (Expert Testimony) (if applicable); 2.10 (Direct and

Circumstantial Evidence); 2.14 (Nature of Charges Not to Be Considered); 2.23 (Testimony of

Immunized Witness) (if applicable); 2.26 (Law Enforcement Officer's Testimony); 2.28 (Defendant

as Witness) (if applicable); 2.29 (False or Inconsistent Statement by Defendant) (if applicable); 2.43

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(Cross-examination of Character Witnesses) (if applicable); 2.48 (Statements of the Defendant -

Substantive Evidence); 2.70 (Redacted Documents); 2.72 (Unanimity); 2.74 (Possible Punishment

Not Relevant); 3.02 (Proof of State of Mind); and 3.07 ("On or about" ­ Proof of).

       In connection with proceedings under the Classified Information Procedures Act, and the

parties' motions in limine, both parties proposed additional instructions, including instructions

relating to: (a) admonition regarding classified details; (b) the employment status of Valerie Plame

Wilson; (c) the propriety of defendant's disclosures of portions of the October 2002 National

Intelligence Estimate; and (d) the absence of charges related to defendant's disclosure of information

regarding Valerie Plame Wilson.

       The government has no objection to the giving of Defense Proposed Jury Instructions

numbered 3, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 16. The government sets forth herein its (a) objections to certain of

defendant's proposed instructions, and (b) proposed alternative instructions.

                     OBJECTIONS AND PROPOSED ALTERNATIVES

I.     Defense Proposed Instruction No. 1 (Pretrial Instructions)

       The defendant has proposed a modified version of D.C. Form Instruction No. 103, which the

government proposed using. The government agrees to the use of defendant's modified version with

four exceptions.

       First, based on the procedure agreed upon in court on December 19, 2005, the reference to

the jury's being introduced to witnesses should be deleted. See Def. Prop. Instr. at 5.

       Second, the government objects to the proposed description of the nature of the case because

it is incomplete. The government offers the following proposed description of the case:




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       According to the indictment, the government began an investigation in September
       2003 into possible unauthorized disclosures to various reporters of classified
       information regarding the CIA employment of Valerie Wilson, the wife of
       Ambassador Joseph Wilson, in the spring of 2003. The indictment charges that,
       during the course of this investigation, defendant I. Lewis Libby, then Chief of Staff
       and National Security Advisor to the Vice President of the United States knowingly
       and willfully made false and material statements during two interviews with FBI
       agents in the fall of 2003, and that Mr. Libby knowingly and willfully provided false
       testimony under oath during two appearances before a federal grand jury in March
       2004. The indictment further alleges that, by deliberately providing false testimony
       to the grand jury, Mr. Libby corruptly endeavored to obstruct the due administration
       of justice.

       The defendant denies that he is guilty of any of the offenses charged in the
       indictment.

       The government also objects to certain aspects of all three sets of elements instructions

included in Proposed Instruction No. 1. With respect to the proposed formulation of the elements

of Obstruction of Justice (§ 1503), the definition of "corruptly" is inappropriate and confusing in the

context of this case. Defendant's formulation,

       That Mr. Libby's act was done "corruptly," that is, that he acted knowingly and
       dishonestly, with the specific intent to subvert or undermine the due administration
       of justice and with consciousness of wrongdoing.

Def. Prop. Instr. at 6, is drawn from United States v. Arthur Andersen, 544 U.S. 696 (2005), a case

in which the Supreme Court held that the requisite mental state under 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(2)(A) and

(B) included "consciousness of wrongdoing."  The Court in Arthur Andersen specifically

distinguished the language of § 1512(b)(2)(A) and (B) from that of § 1503, however, observing that,

whereas the relevant provision of § 1512 requires that a defendant have acted both"knowingly" and

"corruptly," § 1503 (and § 1505) require that a defendant merely have acted "corruptly." 544 U.S.

at 706, n. 9. Thus, the Court found, analogy between § 1512 and §1503 was "inexact." Id. The

Court emphasized that where the conduct at issue is not inherently malign, the requisite intent must


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be clearly and separately stated in order to avoid convicting a person based on entirely innocent

conduct. Id. at 703-707. Thus, in the context of the statute at issue in Arthur Andersen, in the

absence of a separate requirement of "corrupt" intent, both a defendant who suggested that a witness

go into hiding to avoid being subpoenaed to testify against him and an attorney who advised his

client to assert his rights under the Fifth Amendment could be convicted of "persuad[ing] another

person `with intent to . . . cause' that person to `withhold' testimony from a government proceeding."

See id. at 703-707. In contrast, the alleged conduct involved in this case is inherently "dishonest"

and improper. Knowingly making a material false statement in a matter within the jurisdiction of

the executive branch cannot be innocuous, and thus it is unnecessary to add the requirement that the

defendant have acted "dishonestly."

       Thus, neither the holding nor the analysis of the Court in Arthur Andersen requires that this

Court define "corruptly" using the words "dishonestly" or "with intent to subvert or undermine the

due administration of justice" or "consciousness of guilt" in the context of this case. Rather, the

Court should use the simpler and clearer definition of "corruptly" drawn from O'Malley et al.,

Federal Jury Practice and Instructions § 48.04 (5th ed. 2000) (hereinafter, "O'Malley")

("voluntarily and deliberately and for the purpose of improperly influencing, or obstructing, or

interfering with the administration of justice") proposed by the government and the defendant's

proposed formulation of the elements of § 1503 should be modified as follows (changes in italics):

       1.      That there was a proceeding pending before a federal grand jury;

       2.      That Mr. Libby knew of the pending grand jury proceeding;

       3.      That Mr. Libby endeavored to influence, obstruct, [:ital] or [ital:] impede the due
               administration of justice in that proceeding; and



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       4.      That Mr. Libby acted corruptly, that is, [:ital] voluntarily and deliberately and for
               the purpose of improperly influencing, or obstructing, or interfering with the
               administration of justice. [ital:]

       The government also objects to defendant's formulation of the elements of § 1001. Apart

from the fact that it omits a definition of the term "material" which should be included for the sake

of clarity, defendant's formulation includes a superfluous fifth element, "intent to deceive the FBI,"

which is not an essential element of § 1001 under D.C. Circuit law. See United States v. Yermian,

468 U.S. 63, 69-75 (1984)(no requirement that defendant be proved to have intended to deceive the

federal agency in question); United States v. Hsia, 176 F.3d 517, 522 (D.C. Cir. 1999); United

States v. Pickett, 209 F. Supp. 2d 84 (D. D.C. 2002) (Jackson, J.). Rather, the government need only

prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant acted willfully and knowingly which means, in the

context of this provision, that the defendant made one of the charged statements intentionally,

knowing that it was false. Hsia, 176 F.3d at 522 ("[t]he natural reading of . . . 1001 is this: the

government may show mens rea simply by proof . . . that the defendant knew that the statements to

be made were false.") All that is required to establish a violation of § 1001 is that the defendant

made at least one of the charged statements intentionally and deliberately, knowing that it was false.

Thus, defendant's formulation of the elements of § 1001 should be changed to track O'Malley

§ 40.07, as proposed by the government:

       1.      That Mr. Libby knowingly made a false, fictitious or fraudulent statement;

       2.      That Mr. Libby made the statement willfully, that is, intentionally, knowing
               that it was false;

       3.      That the statement was made in a matter within the jurisdiction of the FBI;
               and




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        4.     That the statement was material, that is, that it had the effect of influencing
               the decision or actions of the FBI, or was capable of or had the potential to
               do so.

        The government objects to the defendant's proposed formulation of the elements of perjury

(§ 1623) in that it omits a definition for the term "materiality," which should be included for the sake

of clarity. Accordingly, the government suggests that the elements be revised as follows (changes

in italics): [no italics in original]

        1.     That Mr. Libby made a statement before the grand jury while he was under oath;

        2.     That such statement was false in one or more of the respects charged;

        3.     That Mr. Libby knew such statement was false when he made it; and

        4.     That the false statement was material to the grand jury's inquiry, that is, that it had
               the effect of influencing the decision or actions of the grand jury, or was capable of
               or had the potential to do so.

        The government's final issue with respect to defendant's modified version of D.C. Form

Instruction No. 103 is that certain material has been removed from the end of the instruction which

the government believes would be helpful. Thus, the government proposes that defendant's

proposed instruction be modified to add back the following language:

        You must also completely disregard any press coverage, including newspaper,
        television, or radio reports that you may read, see or hear. If you are exposed to any
        news reports inadvertently, you should immediately disregard them and direct your
        attention elsewhere.

                        *      *       *

        You must not discuss this case with anyone until this case is submitted to you for
        decision at the end of my final instructions.




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II.      Defense Proposed Instruction No. 2 (Pretrial Publicity)

         Defendant has proposed the use of a modified version of O'Malley § 10.02 regarding pretrial

publicity. The government agrees to the giving of this instruction ^1 but objects to the modification

defendant has made. Defendant has added the following sentence to the form instruction:

         These statements may be one person's opinion or speculation, or even unfounded
         rumor, dressed up as fact.

This sentence encourages the jurors to speculate about pretrial publicity to which they may not even

have been exposed, and detracts from the essential message that jurors must disregard all pretrial

publicity, regardless of whether it is reliable or unreliable. It should be excluded.

III.     Defense Proposed Instruction No. 4 (Credibility of Law Enforcement Witnesses)

         The government proposed the use of D.C. Form Instruction No. 2.26 with the modification

that the term "police officer" be changed to "law enforcement agent." The government's proposed

instruction reads,

         A law enforcement officer's testimony should be evaluated by you just as any other
         evidence in the case. In evaluating the officer's credibility you should use the same
         guidelines that you apply to the testimony of any witness. In no event should you
         give either greater or lesser weight to the testimony of any witness merely because
         he or she is a law enforcement officer.

The government strongly objects to the giving of the alternative formulation proposed by defendant,

which is drawn from 1 Sand Instruction 7-16, in that it is does not plainly state the legal requirement

that a law enforcement officer's testimony should be treated the same as that of any other witness

in a fair and neutral fashion, and in that it interjects the issue of bias, improperly suggesting to the

jury that a law enforcement agent's testimony may be, or likely is, "colored by a personal or


         1
       The use of this instruction would obviate the need to give D.C. Form Instruction No. 1.16,
which was proposed by both parties.

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professional interest in the outcome of the case." The defense is free to use cross-examination and

argument to make this point if it chooses, but it should not be made in the form of a legal instruction

from the Court before the trial even begins.

IV.     Defense Proposed Instruction No. 7 (Propriety of Defendant's Disclosures of the NIE)

        In his proposed jury instructions, defendant proposed the following:

        You have heard testimony that Mr. Libby discussed with reporters information from
        the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate regarding Iraqi weapons of mass
        destruction programs. There are no allegations that these discussions were in any
        way improper or illegal.

        Subsequently, as part of the briefing on defendant's Motion to Preclude Government from

Offering Any Evidence or Argument that his Disclosure of Information from the October 2002

National Intelligence Estimate Was Illegal or Improper, defendant proposed the following

instruction:

        You have heard [testimony/evidence] that Mr. Libby discussed with reporters information
        from the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate. None of this [testimony/evidence]
        is being offered to show, or should be taken as establishing, that Mr. Libby's discussions of
        the NIE were improper or illegal. The government is not alleging that Mr. Libby's
        discussions with reporters were in any way wrongful, and you should not consider that issue
        in your deliberations.

As this Court is aware, the timing of the de-classification of portions of the October 2002 NIE

relative to defendant's disclosures to reporters is uncertain and therefore it is unclear whether

defendant's earliest disclosures may have been premature and therefore improper. Under these

circumstances, it is inappropriate to instruct the jury, or to suggest that they draw the inference, that

each one of defendant's disclosures of the NIE was authorized and proper.

        The instructions proposed by the defendant are susceptible to being understood as a

stipulation that all of defendant's disclosures were proper. Moreover, the proposed instructions


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suggest that the government is of the view that all of the defendant's disclosures were authorized and

proper. This is not only incorrect, but improper. The legitimate purpose of directing the jury that

the propriety of defendant's disclosures of portions of the NIE is not at issue in this case, and that

they should not consider the issue in their deliberations, easily can be accomplished without

misleading or confusing the jury. All that is necessary is to frame the instruction so that it focuses

directly on the point that both parties have agreed should be made:

       The propriety of Mr. Libby's discussions with reporters regarding from the October
       2002 National Intelligence Estimate is not an issue in this case. You should not
       speculate regarding whether these discussions were proper or improper, or consider
       that issue in your deliberations.

The government proposes that the above instruction be given in lieu of either of defendant's

proposals.

V.     Defendant Proposed Instruction No. 8 ("Findings from the Science of Memory")

       Having unsuccessfully moved for permission to call an expert witness to testify about the

vagaries of human memory, defendant now seeks to introduce the previously proffered expert

testimony in the form of a jury instruction. The instruction defendant seeks would improperly put

before the jury various claims and conclusions that this Court has previously found to be either

supported only by studies involving substantially different factual situations, or well within the ken

of the average juror. Moreover, giving the requested instruction would not only deprive the

government of an opportunity to refute through cross-examination the reliability and applicability

of the claims and conclusions included therein in the context of this case, but would give them undue

weight. Defendant's proposed Instruction No. 8 should not be given, in whole or in part.




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       Defendant's proposed Instruction No. 8 includes ten of the thirteen assertions identified as

the topics concerning which defendant sought to introduce expert testimony. The Court ruled that

every one of these topics was well within the knowledge and experience of the average juror:

       "[T]his Court has no doubt that the average juror understands that if, for example, A
       learns from B that B had been on vacation in Hawaii and then later learns from C that
       she spent her vacation in Jamaica, that A could later misremember where each spent
       their vacations because he was consumed with pressing matters when he acquired
       this information, when he was asked to recall it, and possibly at any time in between.
       Accordingly, the jury does not need a tutorial on the science of `content borrowing,'
       `memory conjunction,' or `source misattribution' errors to appreciate that people
       sometimes experience mistaken memories. The same applies for each of the thirteen
       areas upon which Dr. Bjork would testify, as the defendant has not established that
       the principles are either so complex or counter-intuitive that jurors do not
       understand them." 11/2/06 Memo. Op. 16 (emphasis supplied).

       Addressing common sense matters in instructions of law is unnecessary, and poses the danger

of unduly highlighting some common sense considerations over others that are equally relevant in

assessing the credibility of witnesses. The government has not asked the Court to instruct the jury

as a matter of law that they should consider the fact that sometimes people lie to avoid negative

consequences; the Court likewise should resist defendant's request to instruct the jury as a matter

of law that people sometimes forget.

       Defendant's proposed Instruction No. 8 includes generalizations that are misleading as stated.

For example, paragraph 7 of the defendant's proposed instruction no. 8 provides that:

       A person's confidence in the accuracy of his recollection of an event has little, if any,
       relation to the accuracy of the person's recollection. In other words, a person may
       be very confident that his memory of an event is accurate when in fact it is
       inaccurate.

Def. Prop. Instr. at 19. Yet defendant's expert, Dr. Loftus, admitted that while studies across

subjects reflected little correlation between confidence and accuracy, studies within subjects showed



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stronger correlation. 10/26/06 Tr. 85. Instructing the jury on such matters clearly would be improper.

       Finally, it would be fundamentally unfair to give the proposed instruction. Doing so would

eliminate any opportunity to challenge the bases, accuracy and applicability of the instruction's

blanket assertions, and would give those assertions more weight than even a stipulation of fact ­

given that they would be presented by the Court as "law" the jury was required to apply. Indeed,

giving defendant's proposed Instruction No. 8 would pose a risk that "jur[ors would] surrender their

own common sense in weighing [the] testimony" (see 11/2/06 Memo. Op. 26)(citation omitted), that

would be similar, but worse, than the risk posed by the introduction of Dr. Bjork's expert testimony.

Substituting the Court's imprimatur for Dr. Bjork's expert testimony only exacerbates the problem..

       In its Memorandum Opinion denying the defendant's motion to admit expert testimony, the

Court indicated that it would "advise the jury of the factors that may impact on the accuracy of

memory." 11/2/06 Memo. Op. 18. The government has no objection to this proposal in principle.

Indeed, both the government and the defense have requested the Redbook instruction 2.11

(Credibility of Witnesses) which includes the following language:

               In reaching a conclusion as to the credibility of any witness, you may consider
       any matter that may have a bearing on the subject. You may consider the demeanor
       and behavior of the witness on the witness stand; the witness' manner of testifying;
       whether the witness impresses you as a truthful person; whether the witness
       impresses you as having an accurate memory and recollection; whether the witness
       has any motive for not telling the truth; whether the witness had a full opportunity to
       observe the matters about which he or she has testified; whether the witness has any
       interest in the outcome of this case, or friendship or hostility toward other people
       concerned with this case.

                Inconsistencies or discrepancies in the testimony of a witness, or between the
       testimony of different witnesses, may or may not cause you to discredit such
       testimony. Two or more persons witnessing an incident or transaction may see or
       hear it differently; an innocent mis-recollection, like a failure of recollection, is not
       an uncommon experience. In weighing the effect of the inconsistency or discrepancy,


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       always consider whether it pertains to a matter of important or unimportant detail,
       and whether the inconsistency or discrepancy results from innocent error or
       intentional falsehood.

       This is the instruction that should be given. This instruction adequately and properly advises

the jury what factors it should consider when weighing the testimony of witnesses, and includes

without unduly highlighting, factors related to memory. It specifically notes that mis-recollections

are common experiences and can be innocent. It also reminds jurors that discrepancies between

different versions of events need not be sinister; that innocent explanations may account for the

inconsistencies, as well as the fact that the jury should be mindful that some matters may be more

important than others.

       It is one thing to "provide the jury with an instruction that will remind them of the factors

they may consider in assessing the accuracy of memory" (11/2/06 Memo. Op. 21) and quite another

to provide the jury with "conclusions" and "facts" of dubious merit and applicability and then direct

the jury to consider these factors in weighing the testimony at trial. These jury instructions, when

coupled with cross-examination and argument by counsel, will be more than adequate to make clear

to the jury the various factors that the defense believes should be considered by the jury in

determining whether defendant ­ or, indeed, any other witness ­ was simply the victim of a faulty

memory. ^2


       2
          The government objects to interjecting the claims and assertions of defendant's proposed
expert into voir dire as well. For example, the suggested voir dire question that asks the jurors
whether human memory "is like a tape recorder and therefore people are able to remember exactly
what they were said or told in the past" poses the risk of injecting confusion into the jury selection
process as well as in the trial. It is unclear what "like a tape recorder" means and, to the extent that
Dr. Loftus assumed that a juror agreeing that memory was "like a tape recorder" was the "wrong
answer," other questions in that same survey showed that many of the people giving that "wrong"
answer correctly answered other questions that established that people can innocently remember
things incorrectly. If anything, that study shows that the "tape recorder" question is a bad question,

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VI. Defendant's Proposed Instruction No. 11 (Obstruction of Justice, § 1503)

       The government objects to defendant's formulation of the elements of § 1503, Obstruction

of Justice, on three grounds: (a) the definition of "corruptly" included in the instruction misstates

the law in the context of this case; (b) the instruction interjects definitions of "false statement" and

"materiality" which are not elements of § 1503; and (c) the description of the term "endeavors" and

the nature of the charged offense are presented in a manner that is vague and confusing.

       As discussed above, the term "corruptly" in the context of § 1503, as set forth in O'Malley

§ 48.04, means: "voluntarily and deliberately and for the purpose of improperly influencing, or

obstructing, or interfering with the administration of justice." Defendant repeats the definition of

"corruptly" used in his modified version of Instruction 103 which, as the government discussed

above, is not appropriate to the conduct or statute at issue in this case. In his proposed Instruction

12, however, defendant goes even further, defining "corrupt" to include acting in a manner that is

"wrongful, immoral, depraved, or evil," terms taken from the dictionary definition of the term

"corrupt." This language is not helpful; it is misleading. Section 1503 does not require that the jury

find that the defendant's conduct was "depraved" or "evil."

       While defendant's formulation of what it means to "endeavor" is generally accurate, it is

more complicated and less clear than the formulation suggested by the government, O'Malley

§ 48.05:


not that most jurors have a poor understanding of memory problems.

Moreover, the other two subparts come dangerously close to asking about the defense theories in this
this case -- we wouldn't ordinarily ask people: "Do you think it is possible that a person could be
asked to deliver a package to an unknown person on a street corner by another person who offers
$100 for doing this, and the person requested not believe he was being asked to participate in a
narcotics transaction?" We should not ask a similar question here.

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       The term "endeavors" as used in these instructions means to knowingly and
       deliberately act or to knowingly and deliberately make any effort which has a
       reasonable tendency to bring about the desired result.

       It is not necessary for the government to prove that the "endeavor" was successful,
       or, in fact, achieved the desired result.

The government requests O'Malley § 48.05 be used.

       Defendant's description of the charged offense is also objectionable. First, it improperly

interjects elements of § 1001 and § 1623, creating the false impression that the government must

prove these additional elements in order to sustain the charge in Count One. Second, the definition

of "materiality" that is interjected includes language that, as discussed in reference to defendant's

proposed Instructions Nos. 12 and 14, is incorrect and confusing. Finally, the nature of the charged

offense as described by defendant is unnecessarily confusing. To remedy these problems, the

government suggests the following language:

       Count One charges that, in March 2004, Mr. Libby corruptly endeavored to
       influence, obstruct or impede proceedings before Grand Jury 03-3 in the federal
       district court of the District of Columbia by knowingly making the following
       materially false and misleading statements and representations under oath: [Continue
       with paragraphs numbered 1 through 3 as set forth on page 23 of the defendant's
       proposed instructions, and omit the language that follows.]

VII. Defendant's Proposed Instruction No. 12 (False Statements, § 1001(a)(2))

       The government objects to defendant's Proposed Instruction No. 12 on three grounds. First,

the defendant's proposed instruction misstates the law by including as an element "intent to deceive

the FBI." As discussed above, this is not an essential element of § 1001 under D.C. Circuit law.

United States v. Hsia, 176 F.3d 517, 522 (D.C. Cir. 1999)("[t]he natural reading of . . . 1001 is this:

the government may show mens rea simply by proof . . . that the defendant knew that the statements

to be made were false.") Accordingly, the government requests that the Court give O'Malley form


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instructions numbered 40.05, 40.06 and 40.07, as proposed by the government, in lieu of defendant's

Proposed Instruction No. 12.

       Second, the defendant's proposed instruction misstates the law by adding the following

language to the definition of "materiality" approved by the Supreme Court ("a statement is material

if it has a natural tendency to influence, or is capable of influencing")(see United States v. Gaudin,

515 U.S. 506, 509 (1995)(quoting Kungys v. United States, 485 U.S. 759, 770 (1988)):

       The test is whether the false statement has the capacity to impair or pervert the
       functioning of the FBI. In other words, a statement is material if it relates to an
       important fact as distinguished from some unimportant or trivial detail.


       The source of the additional language is Instruction 36 of the Eleventh Circuit Criminal

Instructions (2003) and research reveals no pattern instruction from any other source that contains

it. The language is vague, confusing, and misleading. As stated in Gaudin, the questions the jury

must answer are simple and straightforward: (a) "[W]hat statement was made?" (b) "[W]hat decision

was the agency trying to make?" and (c) "[W]hether the statement was material to the decision." 515

U.S. at 512. Thus, the jury must determine whether the statement could influence a decision or

action of the FBI, not whether it could "impair or pervert the functioning of the FBI."

       Nor should the jury be instructed that it must determine whether the fact or facts to which the

statement relates are "important" or "trivial," in a general sense. The use of the undefined terms

"important" and "trivial" is particularly confusing and potentially misleading in the context of the

arguments that are expected to be made in this case. Defendant will argue that information regarding

Ms. Wilson and his conversations regarding this information were not sufficiently important for him

to remember it. It is important that the jury not be led to confuse that issue with the question of



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whether the defendant's statements could have influenced the FBI in its investigation. The

government objects to this additional language, and requests that the Court instruct the jury regarding

the term "materiality" using O'Malley § 40.07.

       Finally, defendant's description of the charged false statement offenses does not incorporate

the requisite mental state. Accordingly, the defendant's proposed description of the offense charged

in Count Two be modified to state: "Count Two alleges that Mr. Libby knowingly and willfully

made the following false statements to the FBI: [continue with description of false statement]."

Likewise, the government proposes that the defendant's proposed description of the offense charged

in Count Three be modified to state: "Count Three alleges that Mr. Libby knowingly and willfully

made the following false statements to the FBI [continue with description of false statements].

VIII. Defendant's Proposed Instruction No. 13 (Ambiguity)

       The government objects to the giving of the defendant's Proposed Jury Instruction No. 13,

as there is no factual basis for giving the instruction. A defendant is entitled to an instruction on a

defense theory only if that theory is supported by an adequate factual basis. See, e.g., Mathews v.

United States, 485 U.S. 58, 63 (1988)(stating that defendant is "entitled to an instruction as to any

recognized defense for which there exists evidence sufficient for a reasonable jury to find in his

favor"). Here, there is no evidence that any of the charged false statements were made in response

to questions that were ambiguous, or that any of Mr. Libby's answers to questions put to him were

"literally true." Defendant's Proposed Instruction No. 13 should not be given.

IX. Defendant's Proposed Instruction No. 14 (Perjury)




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       The government objects to the defendant's proposed Instruction No. 14 on the grounds

previously stated in connection with defendant's proposed Instruction No. 1, as well as the following

additional grounds.

       First, as discussed above, the jury should not be instructed to determine whether the charged

declarations are "important" or "trivial" in a general sense, particularly given the arguments to be

made by both parties in this case.

       Second, because none of the charged declarations were made in response to questions that

could even remotely be characterized as ambiguous, there is no factual basis for including any

instruction regarding ambiguity.

       Finally, the concluding paragraph appears to have been inadvertently copied from another

instruction, and should not be included in an elements instruction.

X. Unanimity

       The government is of the view that a separate unanimity instruction is required for Counts

Two, Three, Four and Five, and proposes the following language:

       Counts Two, Three, Four and Five each contain multiple alleged false statements or
       declarations under oath made by Mr. Libby. To find Mr. Libby guilty of these
       counts, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that at least one of the
       alleged statements or declarations contained in each count was false, fictitious, or
       fraudulent. However, as to each count, you must unanimously agree on which
       statement was false.

XI. Employment Status of Valerie Wilson

       As the Court is aware, the parties have agreed that no evidence will be presented with respect

to whether Valerie Wilson's CIA employment actually was classified, or whether the disclosure of

her employment actually caused, or had the potential to cause, damage. In connection with briefing



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and argument related to his motion in limine with respect to this issue, defendant proposed the

following instruction:

       No evidence has been presented that Valerie Wilson's CIA employment status was,
       or was not , classified or covert, or that disclosure of that status did, or did not, pose
       a risk of damage to the national security, the CIA, or Ms. Wilson herself. You may
       consider what, if anything, Mr. Libby knew or believed about her status or damage
       in determining his state of mind when he spoke to the FBI and testified before the
       grand jury. But you may not speculate as to whether Ms. Wilson's employment was
       actually classified or covert, or whether disclosure of that employment did in fact
       cause a risk of damage to anyone.

The government objects to the defendant's proposed instruction in that it does not present the issue

in a neutral manner, and in that it falsely suggests that the government was unable to present

evidence regarding the classified status of Ms. Wilson's employment on and after January 1, 2002,

and that it fails to note that Ms. Wilson's employment status was material to the grand jury's

investigation. The legitimate purpose of removing from the jury's consideration the issues of

whether Ms. Wilson's employment status was in fact classified and whether disclosure of that status

could cause damage can be accomplished without misleading or confusing the jury. Thus, the

government proposes the following alternative:

       The questions of whether Valerie Wilson's CIA employment status was, or was not,
       classified or covert, and whether the disclosure of that status did, or did not, pose a
       risk of damage to the national security, the CIA, or Ms. Wilson herself, are not issues
       in this trial, and you must not speculate as to whether Ms. Wilson's employment was
       actually classified or covert, or whether disclosure of that employment did in fact
       cause a risk of damage. You may, however, consider the nature of the FBI's and
       grand jury's investigations, including the possible crimes that were being
       investigated, in determining whether the charged false statements and declarations
       were material to those investigations. You also may consider what, if anything, Mr.
       Libby knew or believed about her status or about potential damage that could be
       caused by disclosure in determining his state of mind when he spoke to the FBI and
       testified before the grand jury.

XII. Testimony Regarding Classified Information


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       In connection with proceedings under the Classified Information Procedures Act ("CIPA"),

the government proposed the following instruction:

       The Court advises the jury as follows: Much of the information Mr. Libby received
       in the course of his duties was classified, indeed highly classified. I have previously
       read you a stipulation by the government in which the government agreed that Mr.
       Libby worked on these various matters and that the information Mr. Libby received
       was highly classified and much of it remains classified. Accordingly, in order to
       protect national security, the Court has directed that Mr. Libby and his counsel not
       describe certain classified details of which Mr. Libby was made aware. In light of the
       Court's directions to Mr. Libby and his counsel, you should of course not hold
       against Mr. Libby the fact that he has not provided further details regarding those
       matters.

XIII. Documents Related to National Security Matters

       During the CIPA proceedings, the Court ruled that defendant could testify regarding a

number of matters with which he allegedly was consumed during relevant periods. The Court

indicated that these matters would be admissible solely with respect to defendant's state of mind.

Accordingly, the government proposes that the following limiting instruction be given with respect

to such matters:

       During the trial, certain documents and evidence were offered in evidence for the
       limited purpose of establishing the effect on defendant's state of mind. You should
       not consider such documents and evidence for any other purpose.




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                                          CONCLUSION

       For all of the foregoing reasons, the United States respectfully requests that this Court sustain

the government's objections to defendant's proposed jury instructions.

                                                       Respectfully submitted,


                                                       _________/s/___________
                                                       PATRICK J. FITZGERALD
                                                       Special Counsel
                                                       Office of the United States Attorney
                                                       Northern District of Illinois
                                                       219 South Dearborn Street
                                                       Chicago, Illinois 60604
                                                       (312) 353-5300



Dated: December 22, 2006.




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    Case 1:05-cr-00394-RBW           Document 227        Filed 12/23/2006      Page 21 of 21



                                CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

       I, the undersigned, hereby certify that on this 22nd day of December, 2006, I caused true and

correct copies of the foregoing to be served on the following parties by electronic mail:

                          William Jeffress, Esq.
                          Baker Botts
                          The Warner
                          1299 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
                          Washington, DC 20004-2400
                          Facsimile: 202-585-1087

                          Theodore V. Wells, Esq.
                          Paul Weiss
                          1285 Avenue of the Americas
                          New York, NY 10019-6064
                          Facsimile: 212-373-2217

                          John D. Cline, Esq.
                          Jones Day
                          555 California Street
                          San Francisco, CA 94104
                          Facsimile: 415-875-5700

                                                             Patrick J. Fitzgerald
                                                             Special Counsel
                                                             U.S. Department of Justice
                                                             1400 New York Ave., N.W.
                                                             Washington, D.C. 20530
                                                             202-514-1187

                                                             By:      /s/
                                                             Debra Riggs Bonamici
                                                             Deputy Special Counsel




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posted by cboldt  # 12/23/2006 07:55:00 AM