The following excerpt is from U.S. v. Jamison, 78 F.3d 595 (9th Cir. 1996):
As there was no objection to the instruction at trial, this court reviews only for plain error, which will be found only where necessary to prevent a miscarriage of justice or to maintain the integrity of the judicial process. United States v. Ponce, 51 F.3d 820, 830 (9th Cir.1995); United States v. Vincent, 758 F.2d 379, 383 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 838, 106 S.Ct. 116, 88 L.Ed.2d 95 (1985). It is unclear how the court's failure to define a telephone call as a "wire communication" with respect to one count could constitute a miscarriage of justice in this case. The trial court instructed the jury as to the elements of the offense. It simply failed to go a step further: it did not instruct the jury that, as a matter of law, one of those elements was satisfied.
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