United States First Circuit

Defendant's convictions for illegally trafficking in sperm whale teeth and narwhal tusks, in violation of CITES, an international compact implemented in the United States via the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and regulations authorized by the ESA, is affirmed where: 1) defendant was not entitled to a lesser-included Lacey Act instruction as no jury could have accepted his testimony and rejected the mountain of evidence that defendant knew his conduct was illegal; and 2) given the absence of any textual or contextual clues that the smuggling statute should be narrowly construed, defendant's smuggling conviction is substantively appropriate.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/21/2012
• Published 08/21/2012

Judges

• Thompson

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel