Case o' The Week: Ninth Rejects Gov't's "Attempt" Attempt - Kuok and 18 USC Section 2
This holding ain't easy, but it's good, and well-worth the mulling it takes to understand:
It is a crime to cause someone to attempt to unlawfully export restricted military gear -- but it is not a crime to attempt to cause someone to do so. United States v. Kuok, __ F.3d __, 2012 WL 118571 (9th Cir. Jan. 17, 2012), decision available here.
Players: Decision by Judge Bybee (above right), big win by San Diego Ass’t Federal Defender Todd Burns.
Facts: Kuok, a citizen of Macau, attempted to cause undercover ICE agents to unlawfully export restricted military gear. Id. at *1.They didn’t, of course: instead they arrested Kuok as he hit the Atlanta airport on his way to Panama to complete the deal. Id. at *2. He was charged in San Diego (more on that below) with attempting to export restricted military gear without the required license: a violation of the “Armed Export Control Act” or “AECA.” Id. at *1. That statute does not have an “attempt” provision. Id. at *7. Kuok was convicted at trial.
Issue(s): “Kuok challenges his conviction on the grounds that the AECA and its implementing regulations do not create liability for attempting to cause another person to violate the AECA.” Id. at *7. “In response, the government points to 18 USC § 2(b), which states: ‘Whoever willfully causes an act to be done which if directly performed by him or another would be an offense against the United States, is punishable as a principal.’” Id. at *7.
Held: “[T]he government’s case at trial did not establish that Kuok caused an attempt to export: it established that he attempted to cause an export. That is, Kuok attempted to cause the undercover ICE agent to export the [restricted material] without a license.” Id. at *7 (emphases in original). “The government’s argument that attempt should rationally be read into § 2(b) fails in light of the rule against reading an attempt into a criminal statute that does not explicitly include it.” Id. “We hold that attempting to cause an export of defense articles without a license is not a violation of U.S. law, and vacate Kuok’s conviction on count three.” Id. at *9.
Of Note: While this is a nice little win on an obscure and rarely-used statute, it is an important victory on a much bigger principle. The government’s argument in Kuok was dangerous: it would have created criminal liability if you attempted to cause a federal agent to do something. Id. at *7. The theory would have done so by radically expanding an already expansive statute: 18 USC § 2, the general federal “principal / aider & abettor” provision. Put differently, the government wanted to make it a crime for an aider and abettor to attempt to cause an offense – even if that offense was impossible (like getting federal agents to export restricted gear) and even if that offense was never completed. Judge Bybee doesn’t buy it, and explains why in a thoughtful and extended discussion. Kuok will be an key opinion for both “principal” and “attempt” law in the circuit.
How to Use: Why San Diego? Just because the ICE agents decided to cash Kuok’s money order there. Id. at *4. This smacks of “manufactured venue” – agents cherry-picking the district by manipulating the facts of the offense. Judge Bybee doesn’t bite, and because the Court doesn’t find the venue-manufacture “extreme” in this case Kuok’s venue challenge fails. Id. Critically, however, the Court declines to“decide the issue today” of whether “manufactured venue” exists as a defense in the Circuit. Id. If your case involves venue-manipulation, take a close look at Kuok’s venue discussion, and specifically the distinction between manufacture of jurisdiction and manufacture of venue. Id.
For Further Reading: How could Kuok be any better? By giving us a terrific defense of the duress defense – with a reversal for failure to give duress instructions. Id. at *13. Kuok is now one of the important, post-Dixon decisions in the Ninth on the right to a duress instruction. For a recent discussion of the federal duress defense – and its kissing cousin, “necessity,” – see Monu Bedi, Excusing Behavior: Reclassifying the Federal Common Law Defenses of Duress and Necessity Relying on the Victim’s Role, available here.
Image of the Honorable Judge Jay Bybee from http://oneutah.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/bybee.jpg
Steven Kalar, Senior Litigator ND Cal FPD. Website available at www.ndcalfpd.org
.
It is a crime to cause someone to attempt to unlawfully export restricted military gear -- but it is not a crime to attempt to cause someone to do so. United States v. Kuok, __ F.3d __, 2012 WL 118571 (9th Cir. Jan. 17, 2012), decision available here. Players: Decision by Judge Bybee (above right), big win by San Diego Ass’t Federal Defender Todd Burns.
Facts: Kuok, a citizen of Macau, attempted to cause undercover ICE agents to unlawfully export restricted military gear. Id. at *1.They didn’t, of course: instead they arrested Kuok as he hit the Atlanta airport on his way to Panama to complete the deal. Id. at *2. He was charged in San Diego (more on that below) with attempting to export restricted military gear without the required license: a violation of the “Armed Export Control Act” or “AECA.” Id. at *1. That statute does not have an “attempt” provision. Id. at *7. Kuok was convicted at trial.
Issue(s): “Kuok challenges his conviction on the grounds that the AECA and its implementing regulations do not create liability for attempting to cause another person to violate the AECA.” Id. at *7. “In response, the government points to 18 USC § 2(b), which states: ‘Whoever willfully causes an act to be done which if directly performed by him or another would be an offense against the United States, is punishable as a principal.’” Id. at *7.
Held: “[T]he government’s case at trial did not establish that Kuok caused an attempt to export: it established that he attempted to cause an export. That is, Kuok attempted to cause the undercover ICE agent to export the [restricted material] without a license.” Id. at *7 (emphases in original). “The government’s argument that attempt should rationally be read into § 2(b) fails in light of the rule against reading an attempt into a criminal statute that does not explicitly include it.” Id. “We hold that attempting to cause an export of defense articles without a license is not a violation of U.S. law, and vacate Kuok’s conviction on count three.” Id. at *9.
Of Note: While this is a nice little win on an obscure and rarely-used statute, it is an important victory on a much bigger principle. The government’s argument in Kuok was dangerous: it would have created criminal liability if you attempted to cause a federal agent to do something. Id. at *7. The theory would have done so by radically expanding an already expansive statute: 18 USC § 2, the general federal “principal / aider & abettor” provision. Put differently, the government wanted to make it a crime for an aider and abettor to attempt to cause an offense – even if that offense was impossible (like getting federal agents to export restricted gear) and even if that offense was never completed. Judge Bybee doesn’t buy it, and explains why in a thoughtful and extended discussion. Kuok will be an key opinion for both “principal” and “attempt” law in the circuit.
How to Use: Why San Diego? Just because the ICE agents decided to cash Kuok’s money order there. Id. at *4. This smacks of “manufactured venue” – agents cherry-picking the district by manipulating the facts of the offense. Judge Bybee doesn’t bite, and because the Court doesn’t find the venue-manufacture “extreme” in this case Kuok’s venue challenge fails. Id. Critically, however, the Court declines to“decide the issue today” of whether “manufactured venue” exists as a defense in the Circuit. Id. If your case involves venue-manipulation, take a close look at Kuok’s venue discussion, and specifically the distinction between manufacture of jurisdiction and manufacture of venue. Id.
For Further Reading: How could Kuok be any better? By giving us a terrific defense of the duress defense – with a reversal for failure to give duress instructions. Id. at *13. Kuok is now one of the important, post-Dixon decisions in the Ninth on the right to a duress instruction. For a recent discussion of the federal duress defense – and its kissing cousin, “necessity,” – see Monu Bedi, Excusing Behavior: Reclassifying the Federal Common Law Defenses of Duress and Necessity Relying on the Victim’s Role, available here.
Image of the Honorable Judge Jay Bybee from http://oneutah.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/bybee.jpg
Steven Kalar, Senior Litigator ND Cal FPD. Website available at www.ndcalfpd.org
.
posted by Steve Kalar at 1/22/2012 09:43:00 AM
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