United States First Circuit

Defendant's conviction for interfering with the operation of an aircraft with reckless disregard for human life and for making false statements is affirmed in part, vacated in part and remanded where: 1) defendant's motion for acquittal was appropriately denied because a rational jury could conclude that the government satisfied its burden of proving all the elements of the charged crime beyond a reasonable doubt; but 2) the conviction on the section 32(a)(5) count is vacated and remanded for a new trial because defendant's claim of instructional error is well-founded since reasonable jurors could understand from the quoted instructions that it would be enough to convict the defendant if they found that he deliberately pointed a laser in the helicopter's direction and interference occurred as a natural and probable consequence of that action, regardless of whether the defendant knew that interference was a natural and probable effect of the action, and this error was not harmless.

Appellate Information

• Decided 09/17/2012
• Published 09/17/2012

Judges

• Seyla

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel