The following excerpt is from United States v. Becerra, 939 F.3d 995 (9th Cir. 2019):
Defendant did not object to the district court's method of instructing the jury, so we review for plain error only. United States v. Olano , 507 U.S. 725, 113 S.Ct. 1770, 123 L.Ed.2d 508 (1993). "Plain error is (1) error, (2) that is plain, and (3) that affects substantial rights." United States v. Depue , 912 F.3d 1227, 1232 (9th Cir. 2019) (en banc) (internal quotation marks omitted). If those conditions are met, we have "the discretion to grant relief so long as the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings." Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). We held in Guam v. Marquez , 963 F.2d 1311, 131415 (9th Cir. 1992), that "all jury instructions must be read aloud to the jury in the presence of counsel and the defendant." So the error here was plain. But the error here neither affected Defendant's substantial rights nor warrants discretionary relief.
A. Substantial Rights and "Structural" Error
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.