Ostrich Instruction Approved

U.S. v. Baz, 2006 WL 895487 (4/6/06) - The d.ct. did not abuse its discretion by submitting a deliberate ignorance instruction under the following circumstances: the defendant testified he knew very little about his co-defendant, yet he agreed to transport boxes for the co-defendant in a plane across the country; the boxes, (which contained marijuana), were not labeled in any way to indicate they contained computer equipment, as the co-defendant told the defendant they did; the defendant had no documents referring to the co-defendant or the cargo; the defendant never asked the co-defendant why the co-defendant took a commercial plane to the drop-off location, rather than travel with him in the private plane; the defendant claimed he never inspected the boxes; and the defendant appeared nervous during the police search of the plane and gave conflicting statements.