Case o' The Week: It Isn't What You Know . . . - Price and Mens Rea Requirements for Int'l Flight Sex Offense Statute

 No “know?”

 No problem.  

United States v. Price, 2019 WL 1575875 (9th Cir. Apr. 12, 2019), decision available here.

Players: Decision by Judge Wardlaw, joined by Judge Nguyen. 
  Concurrence by visiting Sixth Circuit judge Ronald Lee Gilman, “unabashedly” adopting draft opinion written by Judge Stephen Reinhardt, before his untimely passing. 
  Hard-fought appeal by CD Cal AFPD Jonathan Libby.  

Facts: Price, a 46-year old man, moved from his assigned seat to sit next to a young woman on a flight from Tokyo to L.A.. Id. at *1. He fondled the breast of the sleeping 21-year old Japanese student, slipped his hand in her underwear, and touched her vagina. Id. 
  Price was charged with a violation of 18 USC § 2244(b), which prohibits knowingly engaging in sexual contact with another person, without their permission, on an international flight. Id.

  At trial, Price disputed the § 2244(b) jury instruction. Id. at *3. Price asked for an instruction that required proof that he knew the sexual contact was without the woman’s permission. Id.

  The district court denied that instruction, Price was convicted, and appealed.

Issue(s): “Price appeals his conviction, contending that the government was also required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he subjectively knew that his victim did not consent.” Id. at *1.

Held: “To read ‘knowingly’ to apply to the second element in § 2244(a) [prohibiting sex acts criminalized in other statutes] would both be grammatically unnatural and produce absurd results. Because a conviction under § 2244(a) does not require that the government prove the defendant’s knowledge of the additional element, we should read § 2244(b) in the same manner.” Id. at *6.

  “In enacting the Sexual Abuse Act of 1986, of which 18 U.S.C. § 2244(b) is a part, Congress sought to expand criminal culpability for sexual acts and contacts and facilitate prosecution of those crimes. Thus it placed the burden on the actor who knowingly engages in sexual contact with another person to first obtain that person’s consent, objectively given. The government need not prove that the defendant subjectively knew he lacked consent, as Price asserted here. It need only prove that the victim did not consent as an objective matter.” Id. at *11.

Of Note: The Ninth’s April 2018 decision in Yovino v. Rizo made recent news. In Yovino, the Supreme Court rejected an en banc vote by Judge Reinhardt that was cast before he passed away, and before the opinion was issued. See Washington Post article here. “Federal judges are appointed for life, not for eternity,” the high Court clucked disapprovingly. Id.

The Hon. Judge Stephen Reinhardt

  It is interesting to remember this SCOTUS’ scolding, when reading the compelling concurrence in Price. See id. at *11 (Gilman, J., concurring). Visiting Judge Gilman persuasively explains why this statute should be read to include a knowing mens rea as to whether the defendant was acting with permission. Id. Judge Gilman explains that before his death, Judge Reinhardt was a member of the Price panel and wrote a draft opinion. Judge Gilman reveals, “Unabashedly, much of this concurrence can be attributed to the portions of Judge Reinhardt’s draft opinion with which I fully agree.” Id.

  “Eternity” might be a stretch, but it is fair to say that Judge Reinhardt’s remarkable legacy continues well beyond his death.

How to Use: Sex offenses on international flights? Rare. 

  Disputes over mens rea requirements? Common. 

   The bulk of Price is statutory analysis of this infrequently-charged crime, inferred from adjacent statutes and assumed from the (low) custodial term at stake for this offense. Id. at *7-*8. For better or worse, turn to Price when mens rea and statutory interpretation battles arise – the decision has some helpful inverse propositions (for example, high-exposure statutes support the need for higher mens rea requirements. Id. at *7.

                                               

For Further Reading: Ninth - 4:3:2. Four vacancies, three nominees, hearings held on two. 
   For a quick tabular recap of the current nomination status of the Ninth Circuit in the 116th Congress, see “Judicial Vacancies and Nominations,” available here.  

Image of “The Price Isn’t Right” from http://bentwoodrealty.com/the-price-isnt-right/429/

Image of the Honorable Judge Stephen Reinhardt from https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1132273

Steven Kalar, Federal Public Defender N.D. Cal. Website at www.ndcalfpd.org

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