United States Ninth Circuit

In criminal proceedings arising from defendant's sending threatening letters to various celebrities and political figures accompanied by a white powdery substance, his conviction for committing threats and hoaxes in violation of 18 U.S.C. section 1038(a)(1) is affirmed where section 1038(a)(1) contained no specific intent element, and thus the government was not required to prove that defendant specifically intended the recipients of his letters reasonably to believe that they contained anthrax.

Appellate Information

• Argued 08/03/2009
• Decided 05/14/2010
• Published 05/14/2010

Judges

• Before WILLIAM C. CANBY, JR., KIM McLANE WARDLAW and CONSUELO M. CALLAHAN, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Elizabeth A. Newman, Deputy Federal Public Defender, Los Angeles, CA, for the defendant-appellant., Eileen M. Decker, Assistant United States Attorney, National Security Section, Los Angeles, CA, for the plaintiff-appellee.